Amongst multiple religions around the world, Hinduism holds its unique place – like each of those others. But being a religion of multiple deities, we have specifically, cleanly and beautifully divided the days for the worship of some deities. One of those is Lord Hanuman whose day it is believed is Tuesday. But, almost everyone who believes in Hanumanji knows that he is worshipped on Saturdays too.
Faith isn’t dependent on logic, and that being there, many of us, especially from the young generation do not know why we worship Hanumanji on Saturdays. And THAT is what I will be writing about today.
So there are two theories as to why Saturdays are believed to be a special day to get blessings and boons of Hanumanji.
Here is the first!
Hanumanji and Suryadev, his teacher:
Hanumanji was the son of a Vaanar chief Kesari and his wife Anjana. Strong and mighty Hanuman when grew up, was sent to Suryadev, Lord Sun to receive the education and knowledge which is in the immense form with Lord Sun it is believed.
Suryadev – the Sun God, guru of Hanumanji
After completing the education and receiving all the divine knowledge that Suryadev bestowed upon him, he asked Lord Sun to ask him to grant a Guru Dakshina to the former(Lord Sun); Guru Dakshina being an integral part of the ancient Indian education system in which a disciple after the completion of education gives something to the guru, the spiritual master. Dejected and despondent Lord Sun told his excellent and obedient student that the only sorrow of his life is his son Shani (Shanidev or Lord Shani – who later got referred as the savior of justice). Suryadev told Hanumanji that Shani is a disobedient son, and is full of pride and arrogance owing to his power to destroy anything with just one glimpse. All he (Suryadev) wants is that his son’s pride should be contained. If that is done, nothing more will be there that Suryadev could desire. Hanumanji obliged and flew with the wind-speed towards the abode of Shanidev. He defeated many Grah and other servants of Shanidev in his way and finally after a duel with Shanidev, defeated the latter. Pleased with Hanuman’s might and thankful to him for repressing his pride, Shanidev granted a boon to Hanumanji that although the day of Shanivar(Saturday) is his, anyone who will worship Hanumanji on that day and will ask for his forgiveness for any wrongdoing, Shanidev won’t even touch the happiness of that devotee, let alone be harming them. From that day onwards, Saturday got special status for all Hanumanj’s devotees and those too, who want to get rid of punishments inflicted by Shanidev.
Now, coming to the second story.
Hanumanji, Ravana, and Shanidev:
All of us who have ever heard of the story of Ramayana or seen the serials or movies on this epic have seen how Hanumanji burnt the golden palaces of Lanka(now Sri Lanka) when he reached there in search of Maa Sita to give information to Lord Rama about the place where Ravana, the demon king, the Asura had kept Maa Sita as a hostage. And also, that before burning the golden palaces of Lanka, he was presented as a prisoner in front of Ravana, and there was given an order that let his tail be burnt. BUT, fewer people know that something of very very crucial importance also occurred when Hanumanji reached Ravana’s court.
It is believed that Ravana was so powerful, that he had held as captive all the 9 planets (Nav Grahas) including Shanidev in his court and they were there, in a humiliating state. When Hanumanji reached there, all the planets paid their obeisance to Hanuman including Shanidev. Hanumanji freed those planets and Shanidev as well from Ravana’s captivity.
In some versions, it is said that Ravana would keep Shanidev as a dais, a low platform and would keep his feet on Shanidev’s back. Not only to humiliate Shanidev but also to save himself from the crooked vision of Shanidev which can bring bad-luck and destruction to anyone that it falls upon.
Shanidev in the feet of Ravana. Courtesy: Sagar Films
The moment Hanumanji reached the court of Hanumanji, it is believed that Shanidev lifted his head and looked at Hanumanji and then Ravana. Hanumanji was immune to his vision as Brahmaji gave him a boon that no power of destruction could ever affect Hanuman; but it is said that Ravana’s bad luck begun the moment Shanidev’s eyes, his vision fell on him. And after that, due to that vision, the whole Lanka got burnt, and eventually all the sons of Ravana and his army got defeated and completely annihilated from the hands of Lord Rama and his Vaanar Sena.
Lord Rama ji killing Demon King Ravana
Now coming back to our story; when Hanumanji freed all the planets and Shanidev from Ravana’s captivity, Shanidev granted him a boon that he, along with Shanidev will be worshipped on Saturdays, and anyone who will worship him will always be saved from the anger of Shanidev.
And here we are, visit any temple of Hanumanji on Saturday and you will see people offering him laddoos, orange vermillion, flag, and a lot more things. Not only that, but also, if you visit any temple of Shanidev, you will often find an idol of Hanumanji near him, and people worshipping him too, especially on Saturdays.
Hanumanji and Shanidev in temples
Fascinating isn’t it? That’s the culture of Hinduism – full of tales that will not be dependent on rationality but pure love, and that is the culture of India – land of purity, love and immense affection for all the beings!
I hope you liked this article; let me know through comments and show some love. ALSO, drop in the comment box if any other question bothers you about Hinduism or India!
For Hindus, he is the God himself, for non-Hindus, he is a legendary figure, and for all of us his believers, he is the ideal man, a complete man, and perfection personified. That’s the reason he’s called Maryada Purushottam – the man who is supreme in honor and righteousness. And about five lesser known facts about Lord Ram, I will write down today. So, let’s have a look at some fascinating facts about Lord Shree Ramachandraji and I hope this knowledge will bring you closer to the Hindu religion’s facts, closer to God, and will enrich your knowledge about the same. Let’s begin!
Shree Ram With Maa Sita, Hanumanji, And His Brothers
1. Lord Ram Is Not A Poorna Avatar(Complete Incarnation)
Now before many of you start feeling that I am trying to say that Lord Ram was any less, let me tell you that you are mistaken. Because Lord Ram is complete and absolute; he is the Lord himself and everything is in him, from him. However, when I say that he is not a complete incarnation, I imply that he possessed the 14 out of 16 Kalas or qualities in him and 2 were not to be seen. Now there is a reason behind it. Although he is a god, why he doesn’t possess all the 16 qualities that are there in Lord Vishnu, whose incarnation Lord Ram is? The reason is, that Lord Ram appeared on this earth to safeguard the righteousness and annihilate the evil, by killing the demon Ravan. And since Ravan had a boon that he could be killed by a man and not a God, Lord Ram had to come like a man in this world. And THAT is the reason why Lord Ram never displayed the remaining two qualities. For if he would, he could no more be called a man born of a man. The two qualities that he never showed were Paripurna & Swarupavasthitha. And the result of the absence of these Kalas could be seen on incidents such as the moment when Lord Ram cried when Maa Sita was abducted by the demon king Ravan, and when he took the aid of monkeys and bears and other beings in his journey to cross the ocean and annihilate the evil; these(crying and taking help from others) are qualities, emotions, and actions that we humans display, not God, and the reason Lord did it was that he was here as a human to kill Ravan. So basically, he had all the qualities, but he never displayed those just to respect the boon received by Ravan from Brahma to be killed by a man.
Shree Ram Killing The Demon King Ravana
Trivia: The remaining two qualities along with others were present in the next incarnation of Lord Vishnu, LordShree Krishnaji which is why he is called a Poorna-avatar, God almighty, and Parabrahma, the supreme soul who is the cause of all!
2. Lord Ram’s Weapon And Height
Lord Ram is a master of multiple weapons of diverse powers. He can make oceans dry, he can destroy the whole creation with his single arrow, and he can make any of his opponents cry – Rodayati Nishacharan Yah Sa Rudrah. But it is not the reason why he is God; in fact, since he IS God, he holds such divine powers. But majorly, what we see him holding in his hand in pictures is his legendary Bow known as Sharanga, the Bow of Lord Vishnu. But there’s an interesting incident that tells how Lord Ram got this Sharanga bow in his human form. The story is like this – when Shree Ram went to Mithila(modern-day Nepal) in Maa Sita’s Swayamvar, he was required to tie the string of the legendary bow of Lord Shiva to win Maa Sita’s hand in marriage. While tying the string, the bow broke and he could now marry his divine consort, Maa Sita.
Shree Ram Breaking Bow In The Swayamvar Of Maa Sita
Now as per Valmiki Ramayan, when Shree Ram was going back to Ayodhya with all his brothers and family, Parshuram encountered him and stopped his way, as he was extremely furious as the bow of Lord Shiva was given to him which he had given to king Janak(Maa Sita’s father) for keeping it safe. He was angry at the man who had broken it. In his angry conversation, when he sensed that Ram was no ordinary a man, he asked Shri Ram to hold the famous Sharanga bow of Lord Vishnu which was with Parshuram at that time (I will write about this story in the upcoming post) and pull an arrow on it. Lord Ram, being the Lord who is God yet simplicity personified, did what was asked, and Parshuram finally realized that Ram was none other than the preserver of the creation, Lord Vishnu. It is also said that he actually saw Vishnu in Ram. The very moment, Parshuram gave the bow to Shree Ram, to whom it belonged, and asked him to use it in his Ram avatar.
And that is how Lord Ram received his weapon, his bow from Parshuram, who too was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, although not a complete incarnation.
But as to the weapon that Ram used to kill Ravana, it was another weapon, a divine bow that was given to him by sage Agastya when the former was in his exile period. Along with the bow, Agastya gave Lord Ram a divine quiver which would never run out of arrows.
Enactment Of Shree Ram Receiving Weapons From Sage Agastya
And after the meeting of Ram and Parshuram, the Sharanga remained with Lord Ram.
Lord Ram’s HEIGHT is something that we can quite often see people discussing. Especially when people call him Aajaanubaahu. Here, people sometimes mistake this name with the one who is very tall with broad shoulders where in reality, this name is used for the one who has hands long enough to reach his knees. And it is needless to say that we all know and have read it at many places that Shree Ram has hands that reach to his knees.
Actually, in Ramayana, Shree Ram is said to be of a height of 4 Kishkus, where,
1 Kishkus = 24 inches; So,
4 Kishkus = 96 inches = 8 feet.
So Shree Ram is considered to be 8 feet in height. Although in some references, he is considered to be 10 or 12 feet tall, depending upon the religious text which is under the discussion. And trust me, it is one of the lesser known facts about Lord Ram.
Interestingly, if he was 8 feet tall, we can say that his bow must have been around 10 feet or so. Mighty and magnificent I must say!
Shree Ram
3. Lord Ram And A Squirrel
How can I not include the story of a small squirrel amongst the five lesserknown facts about Lord Ram? So, when Lord Ram was creating a bridge to cross the ocean to set foot in Lanka, all the creatures nearby were helping him vigorously. Not only monkeys and bears, but deers, tortoises, ocean entities, and birds like vultures were there among many.
Huge Animals & Small Squirrel At Bottom Left
Amidst all of them, there could be seen a squirrel who was holding a small pebble to through it in the ocean to create the bridge. Suddenly, when monkeys and other beings saw the squirrel, they burst out laughing, mocked the squirrel, and made the fun of the little being on its petty contribution in the noble cause. The squirrel felt hurt and became sad. However, God was around her in the very manifested form and couldn’t see her sorrow. Lord Ram took the small squirrel in his hands and caressed it, asking her not to be sad as she was God’s creation too and was no less important either in creating the bridge or in its existence in the world. He told the squirrel that it too was very crucial in the process. The monkeys and others around realized their mistake and repented.
Ramji Caressing The Squirrel
While caressing the squirrel, Shree Ram brushed the back of the squirrel with his three fingers and it is said my friends that that is the reason why we see the three lines or strokes in black on the back of squirrels to this day. Yes, the three black lines on white squirrels’ back are the mark left by Shree Ram in the Treta Yug – the mark of affection and love towards the smallest of entities created by God.
Squirrel
And this way, Shree Ram delivered a tremendous motivational lesson as well, that no matter how small you are, or how small your contribution in a cause is, you and your hard work matters along with your existence. He taught that God has created each being for a reason and each one of us matters in this world.
4. Lord Ram’s Death/ His Decision To Go Back. How He Distracted Hanuman?
According to Ramayan, Lord Shri Ram ruled for long 11,000 years. But there came a time when he realized that it was time for him to end his leela (his divine and pleasing deeds on this earth). Maa Sita had already left the earth long back and had gone back to Baikuntha Lok(the place where Lord Vishnu resides with Maa Lakshmi) via mother earth. But how was he going to convince Hanuman? Since Shree Ram was on earth as a human, he needed to co-ordinate with Yamaraj(deity of death in Hinduism) to end his leela. But Hanuman would never let Yama enter the vicinity where Lord Ram would be.
Hanuman – The Protector
However, Lord Ram is almighty. One day, he took off his ring and dropped it inside a crack in the earth and asked Hanuman to get his ring back. Innocent and obedient Hanumanji obeyed and went inside the crack which was deep enough to take him to the underworld/Paataal Lok/Naag Lok(the abode of snakes) where he asked the king of serpents where the ring of Lord Ram was. The king understood the whole scenario and showed Hanumanji a valley of rings where innumerable identical rings could be seen. Each ring was identical and resembled the ring of Shree Ram. Hanumanji got confused! And then, king of serpents told him that Shri Ram is eternal- he is without a beginning or an end. He told that –
Shree Ram takes birth not once but in each and every cycle of this creation. It means that after the whole creation ends and begins once again, then all four Yuga start all over again. And then, in Tretayug, Lord Ram takes birth each time with his consort Maa Sita and the leela begins all over again. And whenever he wishes to end his leela of Tretayug, he drops the ring in this crack to distract Hanuman. Because guess what, Hanuman too is there in each manifestation of Shree Ram, like other characters of Ramayan. That is the reason there are so many rings there. Hanuman got astonished. Although he knew that Lord Ram is God, he got even more surprised to know that Lord Ram has taken so many avatars again and again, by seeing the numbers of rings.
Ram Hanuman Milan
5. Lord Ram’s Journey Back To The Baikuntha. His Order For Lakshman’s Death!
So now when 11,000 years passed, Yamaraj/Kaal went to meet Lord to remind him that he has been sent by Brahmaji to remind the lord that to let the world run according to the plan of creation by Brahmaji, he would have to end his residency on earth. Now let me clarify that Lord Ram is omniscient and he knows everything and doesn’t need any reminder, but he does so just to gives others the golden opportunity to be a part of his leela.
So Kaal/Yamaraj went to meet Shree Ram in a form of a sage, a rishi. Before starting the meeting, he put forward a condition that he wanted to have a word with Shree Ram in private and to maintain the secrecy of the topic that would be under the discussion, Lord Ram will give death sentence to anyone who will interrupt their meeting. Shree Ram agreed. He gave the responsibility of keeping a guard at the door to his beloved, obedient brother Lakshman. At the same time sage Durvasa, known for his fierce anger across the world arrived to meet Shree Ram – again a leela of God!
Sage Durvasa expressed his wish to meet Lord Ram, to Lakshman. And on being denied he threatened to destroy the whole capital city of Ayodhya. Lakshman got confused as to what to do.
LakshmanJi
As Ayodhya is much more dear to Shree Ram than even the best of the capitals of other universes, Lakshman thought he should tell Shree Ram about Durvasa’s arrival. He went inside the chamber and there it was! Kaal was sitting with Shree Ram in his real form, reminding him about his time on earth.
As per the condition, Shree Ram had to give death sentence to Lakshman, but on sage Vashishta’s insistence, capital punishment was converted into Lakshman being abandoned by Shree Ram forever, because, in those days, these two punishments were considered equal under certain circumstances.
And this is how Lakhmanji who is Sheshnaag incarnated, went inside river Saryu and ended his part of Shree Ram’s leela and went back to Baikuntha.
After some time, Shree Ram too left this earth for Baikuntha, where he met his consort Maa Sita/Maa Lakshmi.
Lord Ram As Lord Vishnu With Maa Lakshmi(Maa Seeta)
So these were the five lesser known facts about Lord Ram, our beloved Lord Shree Ram, that I thought I should share with you. Hope you liked it. For more, you may drop a comment or a message on my contact section via Instagram, Facebook, or email. Thanks! Jai Shree Ram.
Hindu mythology has characters that are so formidable, impressively large and larger than life that it sometimes seems impossible to believe that such characters ever walked this planet or ever existed. Today I would write about such female characters of Hindu mythology who are not only considered magnificently strong but also had magnetic and extraordinary beauty and charm in terms of physical appearance. These beautiful women were not only mere objects of beauty but they also changed the course of Hindu mythology time to time.
Tilottama– In Adi Parva of Mahabharata, when Pandavas marry Draupadi, sage Naarad tells them that a woman can become a reason of quarrel between brothers and recites the story of two demon brothers Sunda and Upsunda who loved each other so much that when Lord Brahma refused to grant them boon of immortality, they asked for the boon that only they could kill each other for they knew the fact that they would never kill each other as there was no object that could come between the brotherly love that they had had. But a woman became the reason of quarrel between them. You are right. That woman was Tilottama!
Half-clothed Tilottama flying in the sky playing with a red ball. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma
When Sunda and Upsunda wreaked havoc in the universe, drove devatas out of heaven and started killing and harassing the sages and common humans, devatas witnessed that there is no reason of quarrel between these demon brothers and there is no hope of their death, they went to Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma ordered the divine architect Vishwakarma to create a woman whose beauty is something never witnessed in the three worlds so that she could seduce them and bring them to their fate i.e. death by each other. Now Vishwakarma collected all the valuable gems he could possibly gather from the three worlds and created a woman who had the beauty unrivaled and unparalleled. She was sent for the task and she started plucking flowers at the bank of the river in Vindhya Mountains where the two brothers were relishing liquor. After witnessing the beauty they never had seen in the three worlds they both wanted to marry her but none of them wanted to hand her to the other. They eventually started the duel and ultimately killed each other. The reason of the contention between brothers was made and had won the battle from devatas’s side.
Name given to her was Tilottama. Now ‘Til’ means sesame seeds and ‘Uttam’ means of very high quality or best quality making the meaning of Tilottama=every bit (even the size of sesame seed) of whose body is perfect. Such was her beauty that even Lord Shiva who is known for his ascetic nature and no materialistic wish or desire was enchanted by her beauty.
There is a story that lord Brahma despite of the fact that she was like his daughter, was aroused by her charm and luster emanating from her body and hence sent her to mount Kailash so that she could offer her obeisance to lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was spellbound and since goddess Parvati was sitting beside him and he couldn’t see Tilottama because of her presence, faces emerged on all four sides of his head so that he could see Tilottama while she was circumambulating around him and goddess Parvati. Goddess Parvati put her hands on his eyes veiling the universe in darkness and thus his third eye emerges.
Another version says that Shiva revealed himself to Tilottama as the five Brahmans, with his five faces. The east face signifying his sovereignty over the world, the north face to sport with Parvati, the west to ensure the happiness of creatures; the south face, to destroy the universe and the fifth face was invisible as it was beyond the comprehension of Tilottama.
At last, Lord Brahma granted Tilottama a boon that no one could stare at her for more than few seconds for her glittering luster and enchanting beauty and also that she could roam freely in whole universe without any restriction.
Urvashi– When Nar–Narayan(Nar later on took birth as Arjun of Mahabharata, and Narayan was of course Lord Krishna aka Narayan) were practicing penance and meditating in Badrinath region, Indra(King of demigods in heaven) got scared due to the intensity of their meditation of one thousand years and didn’t want them to acquire divine powers and hence, in order to break their meditation sent two celestial nymphs or apsaras–Rambha and Menaka along with other supporting apsaras. Indra was of course ignorant in knowing the reality of Nar and lord Narayan.
When apsaras told Nar and Narayan that Indra has presented Nar–Narayan the most beautiful apsaras of heaven and Narayan realized that she was supercilious about her beauty and was extremely proud of herself, he struck his thigh with a flower and from there emerged a woman whose beauty was more than enough to put the apsaras of Indra to shame. She was born from the ‘UR’ part of the thigh, and thus was named Urvashi by Narayan.
Narayan did so to make apsaras realize that physical beauty and materialistic possessions are not to be so proud of and then asked the apsaras to take Urvashi with them and to present her to Indra from his behalf. Apsaras finally realized their mistake and apologized to Nar–Narayan and left for the heaven.
Since Urvashi was born from the thigh of lord himself, her beauty is considered as unparalleled. After this incident, Urvashi became the glory or the most beautiful apsara of Indra’s court. Not only this but she is also considered as one of the most beautiful women in Hindu Mythology.
Mandodari-Mandodari(wife of demon king Raavan)is described in Ramayan as a ‘beautiful’ woman.
Though her beauty is not much discussed in the epic but her beauty can be understood by some versions of Ramayan which narrates that when Hanuman visited Lanka for the very first time to search Sita, he thought Mandodari to be Sita because the description of Sita’s beauty by Ram and others matched that of Mandodari’s appearance. That, in itself is sufficient to tell that Mandodari was extremely beautiful and virtuous lady.
Ahalya- What can be said of the woman who is considered as not born of a woman. Yes you read that right. According to Ramayan it is considered that Ahalya was created by Lord Brahma by molding pure creative energy.
According to Mahari dance tradition, Brahma created her with water as the most beautiful woman in order to break pride and arrogance of Urvashi whose beauty is already known to us and has also been stated above. Such was her beauty that Indra(king of demigods in heaven) couldn’t control his desire to get her and took form of her husband sage Gautam to seduce her, eventually getting a curse both for himself as well as her.
Ahalya is considered as one of the most beautiful woman ever created.
Damyanti- Princess of Vidharbha kingdom, Damyanti was extremely beautiful. It was her beauty that made demigods like Indra, Yama, Agni, and Varun come from heaven to participate and marry her in her Swayamvar.
But she fell in love with Nala of Nishad kingdom just by listening about his virtues. Described in VanaParva of epic Mahabharata, Damyanti is one of the most beautiful and revered woman in Hindu Myhtology.
Mohini- What can anyone say about the beauty of a woman who was god almighty himself who took form of a woman and that too to entice the asuras. After Samudramanthan i.e. the churning of the ocean when devatas and asuras got into a quarrel about the possession of amrit i.e. nector of immortality, lord Vishnu came himself for the solution taking form of a woman named Mohini(one who attracts) who was so beautiful that asuras couldn’t resist her beauty and forgot all about amrit giving Mohini the chance to present all the amrit to devatas. She also beheaded a demon named Rahu who, by deception tried to consume amrit.
But this is not enough. Known as an ascetic who is completely detached from the worldly affairs, Lord Shiva also got allured by Mohini’s beauty. According to many different versions of Mohini’s story, Shiva went completely mad and crazy about Mohini and wanted to consummate with her.
As per BrahmandaPuran, as a result of Lord Shiva’s love for her, two deities, Ayappa of Kerala and Aiyanar of Tamil Nadu were born. At last, Lord Vishnu revealed his real form to Lord Shiva and told him that even Lord Shiva could not escape his Maya(illusion).
Mohini, known as femme fatale and a beauty that brings doom to the seduced male, again comes in Hindu Mythology. This time to save Lord Shiva from demon Bhasmasur who at last met his end by using the boon given by Shiva on himself which said that anyone on whose head he would put his hand, would burst into flames and would turn into ashes. Mohini seduced and allured Bhasmasur and he forgot about boon and put his hand on his own head while dancing and imitating Mohini.
Known as an ultimate enchantress, Mohini is one of the most or some say, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN in Hindu Mythology.
Rukmini- Incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi herself, Rukmini is considered as one of the two most beautiful women in Mahabharata. Daughter of king Bheeshmak, king of Vidarbha, Rukmini was a perfect princess. In Mahabharata, it is said that she was such a beauty of Dwapar yug that every king of that era wished to marry her but she was already in love with Lord Krishna whose virtue, valour, gallantry and charm was enough to make her fall in love with him.
Rejection of Shishupal by Rukmini was one major reason of hostility in his heart for Lord Krishna.
Draupadi- As I wrote above that Rukmini was one of the two most beautiful women of Mahabharata, its obvious to write about the other one as well who was none other than one of the main characters of Mahabharata i.e., Draupadi. Born out of sacrificial fire of Yagna, Draupadi’s beauty was fiery as well. Dark in complexion, Draupadi was a beauty whose swayamvar was attended by almost all the greatest warrior kings and princes of that era but it was the hero of Mahabharata, Arjun who won her in the swayamvar.
Draupadi’s virtue and beauty was known to whole world since she was born as an adult from sacrificial fire. According to Mahabharata, she was the most beautiful woman of Dwaparyug whose beauty could be matched only with Rukmini. It was her beauty which made Naarad recite Pandavas the story of Tilottama telling them how such a beautiful woman can make even brothers enemies of each other.
In Hindu Mythology, Draupadi is considered as one of the most beautiful women ever walked this earth.
Sita- We often talk about the best creation in any list of best people in the last and that logic applies here as well. Last but definitely not the least but in fact the MOST beautiful woman ever created or known to the creation of God in Hindu Mythology is undoubtedly Goddess or MaaSita. Unlike many other women stated above, Sita was neither created by god nor born of some divine course. She in fact was a self manifested form of Goddess Lakshmi in Tretayug to be with his divine consort Lord Vishnu in RamAvatar and was found from the womb of earth by King Janak of Mithila who raised her as his own daughter.
In Ramayan, it is said that her beauty was unparalleled and was second to none. It is even written that even Goddess Parvati and Goddess Lakshmi could not match her beauty as they had particular physical appearances and attires because of living in mountains and ocean respectively. But Sita was completely PERFECT in all the manners possible. If Mandodari’s beauty was not described in much detail in Ramayan then a reason behind it is the presence of Sita in the epic.
The beauty that she had can be understood by the fact that Raavan(demon king who had conquered the three worlds and who abducted her later) who had all the apsaras or heavenly nymphs, and all the most beautiful women from the three worlds as his maids was spellbound when he, for the very first time had the opportunity to behold her. Raavan who had become crazy for Sita just by the description given by Shurpnakha was speechless after witnessing it himself and ultimately abducted her.
In KambaRamayanam,Tamil version of the epic, it is written how Raavan got maddened by Sita’s beauty. When Raavan sees her for the first time he compares her hair with thunderbolt, he compares and asks himself if he is watching the second moon on earth! He feels so numb that he gets confused if it’s all a reality or he is under some kind of illusion. At last he convinces himself that she could only be the lady that her sister Shurpnakha had described to him.
But all this just describes Sita’s physical beauty. Sita’s inner beauty was many times more beautiful than her physical appearance. Her virtue, her morality, her motherly affection, her love for every single creature-living and non living, her nobility and all aspects in her nature can be compared only with her and not with anyone else born before or after her.
She forgave all those who pointed fingers on her chastity and her character. In fact, before leaving earth and going back to mother earth’s womb, she requested Lord Ram to forgive all those who questioned and blamed her character. Such was her love for all that all the creatures called her VanDevi (prime deity of forest)and considered her as their mother when she was in 14 years of exile with Ram and also when she was abandoned by Ram and lived in sage Valmiki’s hermitage.
Due to her persona and perfection, Sita is considered as an epitome of perfection of womanhood making all the women described above second to her and also making her the most beautiful woman in Hindu Mythology.
Travelling Krishnaite 
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