Rāma Tīrtha is the sacred bathing tīrtha on the river Sarayū at Ayodhyā. Bhagavān Rāma himself made it holy, and he declared it the foremost of all tīrthas. It is the place of the avabhṛtha snāna (the closing bath) of Bhagavān Rāma’s Aśvamedha Yāga, held on Rāma Navamī (Caitra Śukla Navamī). It is also the place where Bhagavān Rāma bathed every day while the yāga went on. On its left lies Sītā Tīrtha.

Bhagavān Rāma said that one bath here in the month of Caitra gives the combined puṇya (merit) of an Aśvamedha Yāga, a Gomedha, a Somayāga, a bath at Kurukshetra at a solar eclipse, the Māgha bath at Prayāga, the Kārttika pañca-Gaṅgā bath at Kāśī, and the Vaiśākha bath at Dvārakā.

Consecration

Rāma Tīrtha is on the bank of the Sarayū at Ayodhyā. Throughout the Aśvamedha Yāga, Bhagavān Rāma rose early each morning, went to Rāma Tīrtha and bathed. He then went back to finish his rites and the pūjā of Bhagavān Śaṅkara before the day’s work of the yāga began. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6)

The avabhṛtha snāna

On Rāma Navamī, Caitra Śukla Navamī, the birthday of Bhagavān Rāma, Vasishṭha directed the avabhṛtha snāna, the closing purifying bath of the yāga. A grand procession set out from the yajña-maṇḍapa (the hall of the yajña) to Rāma Tīrtha. The crowd was so great that the people could not walk. Bhagavān Rāma had all of them taken up into the Pushpaka vimāna, so that they could travel to the tīrtha in comfort. By Sītā’s own wish, the women were placed in the women’s section of the Pushpaka.

Śatrughna had brought holy waters from many tīrthas across Bhārata. At Rāma Tīrtha, Bhagavān Rāma and Sītā came down from their chariot and entered the waters of the Sarayū. The ṛtviks (the priests of the yajña) performed the abhisheka of Sītā and Rāma with mantras. All who were present bathed: people of all varṇas and āśramas, even those with mahāpātakas (the gravest pāpas), and they were freed from pāpa (sin). The devas, the pitṛs and human beings showered flowers. Drums sounded from the sky. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)

Rāma’s proclamation of Rāma Tīrtha

At the close of the yāga, Bhagavān Rāma declared the high rank of Rāma Tīrtha and compared its fruit with that of other holy acts:

“This Rāma Tīrtha has been made holy by my own tejas (radiance), and is now the foremost of all tīrthas on earth. It destroys all pāpa. Of this there is no doubt. The puṇya of a Caitra bath at Rāma Tīrtha equals: the puṇya of an Aśvamedha Yāga, plus the puṇya of a Gomedha Yāga, plus the puṇya of a Somayāga together with a Caitra bath, plus the puṇya of bathing at Kurukshetra during a solar eclipse, plus the puṇya of the Māgha bath at Prayāga, plus the puṇya of the Kārttika pañca-Gaṅgā bath at Kāśī, plus the puṇya of the Vaiśākha bath at the Cakra-tīrtha of Dvārakā.”

He then commanded: “By my ājñā (command), every human being, young or old, sick or well, woman or man, without exception, must bathe at Rāma Tīrtha in the month of Caitra every year. I command all the devas to live in the outer waters, the Sarayū, during Caitra, so that the tīrtha is especially powerful.”

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)

Rāmeśvara liṅgas along the route of the yātrā

The account of Rāmadāsa, given through the speech of Kumbhodara, also tells that during his great tīrtha-yātrā (the Yātrā Khaṇḍa), Bhagavān Rāma set up Rāmeśvara liṅgas at many tīrthas across the earth. Kumbhodara declares that these liṅgas, and the Rāma Tīrthas set up along the route, will be “celebrated as long as the earth lasts.” Bhagavān Śiva himself asked Bhagavān Rāma to name the Rāmeśvara liṅga as the foremost of all liṅgas, and Bhagavān Rāma gave him this vara (boon).

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapters 4 and 9)

Sītā Tīrtha and the Akshaya Māsa

At the request of Pārvatī, Sītā proclaimed the Akshaya Māsa, from Caitra Śukla Tṛtīyā to Vaiśākha Śukla Tṛtīyā. For the welfare of women she set up the rite of the Sītā-Gaurī snāna at Rāma Tīrtha. She also said:

“My tīrtha shall always be to the left of Rāma Tīrtha. Sītā Tīrtha shall always be present there.”

Women who do the Sītā-Gaurī snāna at Rāma Tīrtha, or at Sītā Tīrtha, during the Akshaya Māsa gain saubhāgya (a happy married life) and putra-pautra-vṛddhi (growth of sons and grandsons).

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)

Rāma’s daily bath at Rāma Tīrtha

During the Aśvamedha Yāga, every morning Bhagavān Rāma went to Rāma Tīrtha for his bath. The text gives his morning routine. After waking with Sītā, he bowed to Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Brahmā, the devas, his mothers, Kāmadhenu, the Cintāmaṇi on his chest, the Kaustubha at his throat, and the Pushpaka. Then he went to Rāma Tīrtha for his snāna.

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6)

Rāma Tīrtha in the Skanda Purāṇa

The Ayodhyā Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa also speaks of the high rank of Rāma Tīrtha at Ayodhyā. It does so in the account of the Mahāprasthāna of Bhagavān Rāma from Svargadvāra on the Sarayū, at Gopratāra. There Bhagavān Rāma entered the waters, and all the citizens of Sāketa plunged into Gopratāra. The Ayodhyā Māhātmya says that all the tīrthas of the three worlds gather every morning at Svargadvāra, and it names Rāma Tīrtha as the highest among all the tīrthas of Ayodhyā. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapters 1–6)

Sources

Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Sargas 6, 8, 9 (also Chapter 4)
Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapters 1–6

Rāma Tīrtha (Ayodhyā)