Dharmāraṇya is one of the most sacred kshetras of the three worlds. It is a holy forest and city in Bhārata-varsha, on the shore of the southern ocean, and it is also known as Satya Mandira. It was sanctified when Dharma, the deva of righteousness who takes the form of a bull, performed tapas (austerity) there for thirty thousand years, and Bhagavān Śiva appeared and named the place after him.

Later Bhagavān Vishṇu, Gaṇeśa, Sūrya and Indra each established a permanent presence there, with liṅgas, sacred tanks and tīrthas. Eighteen thousand brāhmaṇas and thirty-six thousand vāṇika (merchant) families were settled there for good. In Tretā Yuga the rākshasa Lolajihva destroyed the city, and it was rebuilt as Satya Mandira. The Skanda Purāṇa says it is more sacred than Vārāṇasī, and all the tīrthas of the three worlds are present within its boundaries.

Origin of the name

In ancient times Dharma came to a sacred forest on the shore of the southern ocean. He performed tapas for thirty thousand years under an aśoka tree. Bhagavān Śiva appeared before him in blazing splendour. Dharma offered Him a stotra (hymn of praise) of forty names.

Bhagavān Śiva was greatly pleased. He named the place Dharmāraṇya, “the forest of Dharma”, after the great being who had made it holy with his tapas. Bhagavān Śiva told Dharma to create the Dharma Vāpī, a sacred tank that reaches from Darbhaśayana to Devīpattana. He also established the Dharmeśvara Liṅga there for ever. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 4)

Supreme sanctity

Vyāsa declares that Dharmāraṇya is more sacred than Vārāṇasī itself. All the tīrthas of the three worlds are always present in it. Japa (chanting), homa (fire offering), dāna (giving), svādhyāya (study) and every act of dharma done at Dharmāraṇya bring ananta-phala, infinite fruit.

The kshetra is free from all fear. Rākshasas, bhūtas and other harmful beings cannot work their harm here, because the great devas who live in it are always present. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 2)

The eighteen thousand brāhmaṇas

All the great devas gathered at Dharmāraṇya. Bhagavān Vishṇu arrived there, and Yama praised Him with a stotra. Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased and gave the vara (boon) of settling 18,000 brāhmaṇas at Dharmāraṇya for ever. They were arranged in 24 gotras, each with its pravaras and its own marks.

A Yaksha named Jṛmbhara troubled these brāhmaṇas. To protect them, the assembled devas installed 25 yoginīs as kula-devatās (family devatās), one for each gotra, as their permanent guardians. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 9)

The vāṇika families

Bhagavān Brahmā called the divine cow Kāmadhenu. From her were born 36,000 vāṇika families, who settled in Dharmāraṇya beside the brāhmaṇas. The 60,000 daughters of the gandharva king Viśvāvasu were married to them. This completed the people of the sacred city. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 10)

Destruction and rebuilding as Satya Mandira

In Tretā Yuga the rākshasa Lolajihva came down on Dharmāraṇya. He destroyed the whole city and drove out all its people. Bhagavān Vishṇu came with the Sudarśana cakra and killed Lolajihva.

After the rākshasa died, the brāhmaṇas and vāṇikas came back and rebuilt the city. The new city was named Satya Mandira, the abode of truth and righteousness. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 10–11)

Layout of Satya Mandira

The rebuilt Satya Mandira had a prākāra (enclosing wall) and royal roads decorated with toraṇas (arched gateways). The four directions held the main holy places:

East: Dharmeśvara, the liṅga of Bhagavān Śiva, established by Dharma.
South: Gaṇādhipati (Gaṇeśa), installed by the devas.
West: Bhānu (Sūrya), installed by the family of his mother Aditi.
North: Svayambhū, the self-manifested form of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

In the middle were the homes of the brāhmaṇas, within the enclosing walls, on a beautifully made platform. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 11–12)

Devas who live here

By tapas and by giving varas, these devas made their home at Dharmāraṇya, also called Satya Mandira, for ever:

Dharmeśvara Śiva: established by the tapas of Dharma (Chapter 4).
Gaṇeśa, Gaṇādhipati: installed by the assembled devas (Chapter 12).
Sūrya, Bakulārka: installed in the west, linked with the tapas of Saṃjñā and the Bakulārka tīrtha (Chapter 13).
Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the Mukteśvara region: established through the tapas of Hayagrīva (Chapter 15).
Indreśvara: established by the tapas of Indra (Chapter 19).
Jayantīśvara: established by Jayanta, the son of Indra (Chapter 19).
Ānanda Śakti, Śāntā Devī and Śrīmātā (Mātaṅgī): guardian Śaktis installed in the city by the kājeśas (Chapters 16–18).

The Dharma Vāpī

The Dharma Vāpī is the sacred tank that Dharma made on the word of Bhagavān Śiva. It reaches from Darbhaśayana to Devīpattana and is the ritual heart of the kshetra. Piṇḍadāna (offering of rice balls) and śrāddha (rites for the ancestors) done at the Dharma Vāpī bring great puṇya (merit) to the one who performs them and to his ancestors.

The Sudarśana cakra of Bhagavān Vishṇu also lives unseen in the Dharma Vāpī, as it does in the Dharma Pushkariṇī of the Setu-kshetra. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 4)

The Dharma Pushkariṇī of the Setu-kshetra

The Setu Māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa tells of a separate Dharma Pushkariṇī at Gandhamādana mountain in the Setu-kshetra. There Dharma himself made the tīrtha on the shore of the Setu-kshetra. The Sudarśana cakra later made its permanent home there after the rākshasa Durgamu was freed. The Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa tells of Dharma’s tapas in a different sacred forest.

The phala in Kali Yuga

Dharmāraṇya matters most in Kali Yuga. In Kali Yuga dharma has declined and most places no longer give the phala (fruit) promised for them, but Dharmāraṇya keeps its full holiness. One day’s stay here, or one rite done on its banks, gives the fruit of a thousand such acts elsewhere. (Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 7)

Sources

Skanda Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 1–20
Skanda Purāṇa, Setu Māhātmya (for the Dharma Pushkariṇī at Gandhamādana)