Shravan : interesting info

Shravan Kumar the dutiful son of blind parents in Ramayana symbolizes parental devotion. But the young boy was accidentally killed by King Dashrata. Sarvan Village in Unnao District of Uttar Pradesh still retains the spot were the tragic incident took place and has memorials dedicated to Shravan Kumar. The memorial is mentioned in British Gazettes and the age of it is yet to be ascertained.

In Ramayana, King Dashrata during one of his hunting expeditions heard a noise near a lake and shot an arrow thinking that it was some animal drinking water. Immediately, the King heard a cry but it was not of an animal but of a human being.

A worried king reached the spot and found a bleeding young man struck by his arrow.

A dying Shravan Kumar told Dashratha that he had come to the lake to collect water for his blind parents. And as his last wish, he would like to quench the thirst of his parents whom he had carried around on his shoulders. So he requested the King to take water to them and soon Shravan Kumar passed away.

Burdened with remorse, King Dashratha carried water to the blind parents. When the parents heard about the tragic end of their son, they were unable to bear it and died of shock. Before dying the father of Shravan Kumar cursed Dashratha that he too will meet a similar fate. Later King, Dashratha died when Rama had to go into exile.

People of Sarvan Village in Unnao District of Uttar Pradesh believe that the tragic incident took place on the banks of a parched lake in their village.

Subhash Mishra Writes about the village in India Today

According to locals, the place where Shravan died was named Sarvan. The spot where Dashratha shot his arrow came to be known as Sarwara and the place where Shravan's parents died is called Samadha.

According to Munnu Lal Pandey, a former pradhan of Sarvan, the 19th century British Gazetteer states: 'It is said that there lies a stone statue of Shravan Kumar and as he died of unquenched thirst, if water is poured into the navel of the stone figure, the hole never gets filled up.'

The memorial is visited by thousands of people on Monday and special prayers are held at the memorial. But due to neglect slowly the memorial is withering away and there are no proper roads to the memorial and during rainy season the place is almost inaccessible.

Sarvan Village is located in Purwa Tehsil in Unnao District of Uttar Pradesh.