Ramtek

Tehsil Ramtek, District Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Ramtek is a city and a municipal council in Nagpur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Ramtek has got Historic temple of lord Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. Legend has it that the aashram of great Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed a great number of holy men. Lord Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons. 'Tek' means vow in local language, hence the word Ramtek comes from 'Vow of Ram'. Thus it is believed locally that whoever takes a vow at Ramtek is blessed by the gods for its fulfillment. The 'padukas' of Lord Ram are believed to have been worshipped here for centuries. The present temple is believed to have been built by the King of Nagpur Raghuji Bhonsale,after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara.

This place is also famous for its relation with Great poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa has written Meghdootum in hills of Ramtek. Late Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narsimha Rao contested his election from Ramtek Constituency.

Ramtek is also known for ancient Jain temple with various ancient statues of Jain Tirthankara. It became more popular when one of the top Digambar Jain Acharyas, Acharya Vidyasagar visited and stayed in Ramtek in 1993, 94 and 2008 for the four months of chaturmas during the rainy season. With his inspiration, a big Jain temple has been constructed. Jain disciples report many miracles attributed to the ancient Jain statue and so the place is more popularly called as Atishayakshetra Ramtek ji by them.

Ramtek also has an engineering college KITS which comes under Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur.