Ramgiri

Ramgiri, also known as Ramgarh, is a hill rising above the forests of Surguja. Its caves bear the names of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, recalling the tradition that they stayed here during their exile. The rock shelters contain inscriptions in early Brahmi and traces of painting, placing human stories in this landscape long before the later rulers of Surguja.

In the Jogimara cave an ancient inscription names Sutanuka and Devadinna, an artist associated with her. Nearby Sita Bengra has a shaped interior and an inscription mentioning poets, and has been interpreted as a place for performance. The hill has also been connected with Ramagiri, the mountain from which the poet Kalidasa’s exiled messenger addresses a cloud. Its caves bring together literary memory, local sacred tradition and unusually early traces of writing and art.