Sita’s anklets

Rāmayanam is a Hindu epic that details the life history of King Rāma of Ayodhya, his brothers, his wife Sītā and their trials and tribulations.

In most stories about women and jewelry, women play the central character driving the story forward. However, in this incident from Rāmayanam, the woman, Sītā is only spoken about. Her identification is through the identification of the anklets that she used to wear.

Abduction of Sītā

Rāma, along with his wife Sītā and his half-brother Laksmanā leaves the kingdom of Ayodhya in a 14-year exile to fulfill a promise made by his father. Even as they live in a humble hermitage in the forest, they live in joy, enveloped in familial love.

A few years later, Sītā is abducted by Rāvanā the King of Lanka. He takes her to his island capital, across the sea, in his flying chariot. To mark her flight path, she removes her jewels that were gifted to her by and throws them down, one by one. A vulture named Jatāyu attempts to rescue her but fails as he is gravely injured. He reports all that he has seen to Rāma before breathing his last.

Sītā’s Anklets

Grief stricken and in anger, Rāma and Lakshmanā look for Sītā. They meet Sugriva, the monkey king in exile. Upon hearing the tragic tale, the monkeys bring about jewels that had fallen over their land. Rāma is unsure what to make of them. However, Lakshmanā identifies the anklets as those belonging to Sītā.

The monkeys are surprised and wonder how he is able to identify them. Lakshmanā remarks that he always walked behind Rāma and Sītā when they traveled. As their sworn protector, he kept his eye on them at all times. Since Sītā was his brother’s wife, he did not gaze upon her face or body but at her feet. Therefore, the only ornament that he was able to identify were the anklets that she wore.

Pādagacheri

There is temple at Pādagacheri near Kumbakonam, where the presiding deity is referred to as the “God who is delighted on seeing” (கண்டுள்ளம் மகிழ்ந்த பெருமாள்). The origins of this term may be traced to the story narrated above, and refers to the delight that Rāma experiences when he sees what is identified as Sītā’s Anklets. Pādagacheri literally means the place where paadagam (jewelry worn on the feet – anklets) fell.

References

Krishnan, Sai. 2019. “Padagacheri temples2019.” Wanderings of a Pilgrim. 2019. http://wanderingtamil.blogspot.com/2019/04/padagacheri-temples.html.
N, Divya, and Padmapriya TS. 2021. Temple histories and jewelry. Personal Interview.
Smith, H Daniel, ed. 1981. Picture Book Ramayana: An Illustrated Version of Valmiki’s Story (Foreign and Comparative Studies). Syracuse, New York: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

Note

All stories have been collected from various sources, including oral histories and temple histories and compiled to form one narrative. Hence, there may be differences from the master narrative. The project hopes only to be a curator of stories and not an expert on history, religion and iconography.