Manendragarh Chirmiri Bharatpur: There is a unique monk, who stays in Manendragarh Chirmiri Bharatpur. Sadhu Sitaram reached Bharatpur from the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh in 2013.
The monk became friends with a bear. According to Sadhu Sitaram, he named the bear "Ram". Slowly and gradually the family of bears kept on increasing. Today there are seven bears in this family. The bears come to Sadhu Sitaram every day. The Sadhu also feeds the bears.
The Sadhu has named the bears as per Hindu customs. He has named them as Lalli, Munnu, Chunnu, Gullu, Sonu, Monu, and Sattanand. Sadhu Sitaram says that the bears do not harm the devotees who come to his hut.
Gend Lal, a worker said that the bearers come to the Monk's hut, eat food, drink water and then leave. All the bears live in a cave. The name of this cave is Raja Mada. The length of this cave is 200 meters.
Villagers say that there are four rooms in this cave. This cave was once the resting place of the king of Bharatpur. The king used to use this cave during war or sometimes as a safe place. Now these bears also live in this cave.
The king had built this cave for his stay. At that time the king used to spend the night here. There are weapons inside the cave too, says a villager Ganesh Tiwari.
Sadhu Sitaram's friendship with bears in Bharatpur surprises people. It has also become a symbol of religious faith. The sadhu says that he has no one in the world. He has no one in his family. He spent his life in the jungle, due to which he became friends with the bears and now they are his family.
Another villager Santosh Kumar Yadav said that people from Shahdol, Sidhi and nearby areas come to see the bears.
