Thread by @meemainseen

The Ghat at Banaras
The Prince of Rohtasgarh
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At Harishchandra Ghat with burning pyres in background funeral priests of Kashi tell a tale
Once upon a time when it was Satya Yuga, Indra, Vedic god of heavens invited Vasishtha to preside over a divine sacrifice he had arranged

Vasishtha turned down the invitation being engaged in an important 'shraddha' himself
Consequently Indra had to summon Vishvamitra instead
On the eve of sacrifice Vasishtha having completed his prayer also turned up only to find his arch rival Vishvamitra presiding the ceremony

Two rival sages contesting an event in Indra's presence challenged each other
'Name the most truthful being in whole world'
Vishvamitra was quick to name Indra
reply from Vasishtha stunned everyone, Raja Harishchandra of Ayodhya
It was thus decided to put the pious Raja to test

Vishvamitra disguised as a poor Brahman appeared in Harishchandra's dream and asked his kingdom in 'daan'
As soldiers searched & fetched the rishi of Raja's dream Harishchandra was quick to forfeit his kingdom
but Vishvamitra had more to ask, a 'dakshana' (gift on top of 'daan')

Poor Raja left with nothing more to offer set out to Kashi
he'd end up selling his wife Taramati and son Rohitaswa to a Brahman household to earn 'dakshana' promised to Vishvamitra
Still short of money Harishchandra sold himself to the Raja of Doms (funeral attendants at Kashi)

Now to extract his dakshana and to put Harishchandra to real test Vishvamitra had other plans
One day he turned into a snake and in the Brahman household where Raja had sold his wife & son, Vishwamitra bit Rohitaswa while he was plucking flowers for the puja
Rohit was soon dead

Fate brought Taramati carrying the soulless body of Rohitaswa to the ghat where Harishchandra was in the service of Doms
As his wife wailed in grief that she did not have 'kar' to pay for the final rites of their son, our pious Raja insisted on paying what was due to his master

As the tale goes, Taramati offered the ring once given to her by Raja, but Rohit's body still lacked a shroud as per the funeral norm
Here Taramati started to unwrap her sari to offer the Dom in lieu of shroud and there appeared Vishvamitra and with him Vasishtha and Indra

With our Raja tested and found true to his words, the gods gave back the boon of life to dead Rohitaswa
Kingdom of Ayudhaya was returned to the pious rule of Harishchandra and his queen Taramati
Legend has it that in Bihar the small town of Rohtas is named after Prince Rohitaswa

So, my dear readers, around the town of Rohtas named after Prince Rohitaswa, on the upper reach of Sone River, atop the 'silent and mysterious' hills of Kaimur lies the fort of Rohtasgarh

our series, on Rohtasgarh continues …
#StayTuned
and more importantly #StaySafe

@Zeest__ I thought of Masaan too many times as I was writing this