Vetāla Varada Tīrtha is a sacred tīrtha (pilgrimage place) within the Setu-kshetra, the sacred region of Rāmasetu. It is named after the freeing of the vidyādhara (a class of divine beings) Sudarśana. The ṛshi (seer) Gālava had cursed him, and he had to wander as a vetāla (ghost) until he was freed at this tīrtha.

The name “Vetāla Varada” means “the tīrtha that grants liberation from the vetāla state”. It keeps alive the memory of the grace that freed Sudarśana from his curse.

Origin: Gālava’s curse on Sudarśana

The origin of this tīrtha is linked to an episode between the ṛshi Gālava, his daughter Kāntimati, and a vidyādhara named Sudarśana. Sudarśana came into a conflict with Gālava, and Gālava cursed him.

Under the force of this śāpa (curse), Sudarśana fell from his divine vidyādhara form. He was condemned to wander as a vetāla, a ghost that haunts cremation grounds. He also came to be known as Kapālasphoṭa (“skull-splitter”). This fallen state was to last until he found liberation through the power of the Setu-kshetra.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 8, tells this.

Aśokadatta and the freeing of the vetāla

While he was a vetāla, Sudarśana met a devoted young man named Aśokadatta. Through a series of wonderful adventures, Aśokadatta played a key part in the freeing of the vetāla.

The account follows the journey that brought the cursed Sudarśana to the Setu-kshetra. There he bathed at the sacred tīrtha and was finally released from the curse. The vetāla form dissolved, and Sudarśana was restored to his divine vidyādhara nature. The tīrtha where this freedom came became known as Vetāla Varada Tīrtha, “the tīrtha that grants the vara (boon) to the vetāla”.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 9, tells this.

Merit of the tīrtha

Vetāla Varada Tīrtha has the special power of releasing beings from the results of curses (śāpas) and from ghostly or fallen states. Those bound by the words of a ṛshi’s curse, or caught in such in-between states, can find freedom at this tīrtha. Its very name affirms the grace that is given here.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 9, tells this.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapters 8, 9