Rāma Installs Vāmana at Mathurā

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells how Rāma, after the war in Laṅkā, made a great journey to the south. He visited Laṅkā with Bharata and Sugrīva. In Laṅkā he was received by Vibhīshaṇa, by Kekasī, who was Rāvaṇa’s mother, and by Sāramā, Vibhīshaṇa’s wife. He broke the Setu, the bridge to Laṅkā, and set up Rāmeśvara on the southern shore. In Laṅkā he found a mūrti (sacred image) of Vāmana that Indrajit had brought from svarga. At Pushkara, Brahmā told Rāma to install it at Mathurā. Rāma did so, and Śaṅkara appeared and blessed him.

Rāma’s visit to Laṅkā with Bharata and Sugrīva

The war in Laṅkā was over, and Vibhīshaṇa had been crowned king of Laṅkā. Rāma then made a second visit to the island kingdom, this time with Bharata and Sugrīva. It was a return to the field of his great victory and a time to honour his allies. Rāma moved through the regions of the south and saw again the places of the great war. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Kekasī receives Rāma

In Laṅkā, Kekasī, the mother of Rāvaṇa, came before Rāma. She was the mother of his great enemy, yet she came to Rāma with humility and devotion and honoured his greatness. Rāma received her with fitting respect, showing his dharma in never treating a beaten enemy, or the innocent in his family, with contempt. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Sāramā speaks of Sītā

Sāramā, the faithful wife of Vibhīshaṇa, had been kind to Sītā when she was held in the Aśoka grove. She spoke to Rāma of Sītā’s suffering and of her own care for her through those dark months. The meeting between Rāma and Sāramā was full of feeling. She stood for the compassion of dharma that had lived even in the enemy camp, and Rāma honoured her for it. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Breaking the Setu

Rāma ordered the great Setu broken. This was the bridge of rocks and boulders that the vānara army had built across the ocean to reach Laṅkā. The war was over and the bridge was no longer needed, so Rāma ordered it taken down and the ocean left as it was before. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Rāmeśvara is established

On the southern shore, where the Setu had begun, at a place holy to Śiva, Rāma set up Rāmeśvara. This is the śivaliṅga that bears his name and marks the southern end of his great journey. By setting up Rāmeśvara himself, as a lasting holy mark of his crossing and his victory, Rāma made it a tīrtha of the highest order. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

The Vāmana mūrti from Laṅkā

While in Laṅkā, Rāma found a holy mūrti of Vāmana. This image of Vāmana, the fifth avatāra of Vishṇu, had first been in the realms of the devas. Indrajit, Rāvaṇa’s son, also called Meghanāda, had taken it from svarga by his great powers and brought it to Laṅkā. So the mūrti had been held in the rākshasa kingdom. Rāma took back this Vāmana image with great reverence. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Brahmā’s word at Pushkara

Rāma’s journey next brought him to Pushkara, the greatest tīrtha of Brahmā. There Brahmā himself appeared and spoke to Rāma. He told Rāma that the Vāmana mūrti was to be installed at Mathurā, also called Kanyākubja, on the bank of the Gaṅgā. Brahmā explained why the installation mattered. Vāmana had measured the three worlds in three steps and bound the great Bali. He was to have a lasting holy home in this northern holy city, where the memory of the avatāras of Vishṇu would always be honoured. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Rāma installs Vāmana at Mathurā

As Brahmā had told him, Rāma went to Mathurā (Kanyākubja) and did the pratishṭhā, the formal installation, of the Vāmana mūrti with all the proper rites. The Vāmana mūrti, taken back from Laṅkā and installed by Rāma himself at Mathurā, became a holy image of great power. It joined the holiness of the Vāmana avatāra, the recovery from captivity, and Rāma’s own part as the one who installed it. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Śaṅkara’s blessing

After the installation of Vāmana, Śaṅkara appeared and blessed Rāma. This blessing from Parameśvara Śiva showed that Rāma’s journey in the south, from the forest exile to the war in Laṅkā to the installation of Vāmana, had been a mission upheld by the devas and by dharma at every step. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in chapter 38 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, chapter 38