After reaching Panchavati, Rama asked Lakshmana to choose a place for their hermitage. But Lakshmana said "I am your servant and I have not that freedom. The decision shall always be yours."Happy with his brother's faith in him, Rama chose a site close to a lake where soft petaled lotuses filled the air with fragrance. Rama said "This must be the place Agastya had in mind for us where the graceful Godavari flows and the colors of the rainbow seem to be trapped in the mineral- rich mountains. Multitudes are the trees that adorn this part of the earth and legion its animals. Trees like the Asoka, Mango, Ketaka, and Champa Kharjura as also Sala and innumerable others form a glorious green canopy, home to countless flocks of birds. Majestic stand the mountains and the elephant hordes that roam them seem to be etched against their splendor! Bird song fills the air; the deer cavort and gambol in these forest glades as peacocks dance ecstatically, rendering this holy place so ravishingly beautiful. Let us dwell here with Jatayu." Soon a cottage took shape, built ever so lovingly by one adoring brother for another. Rama loved the cottage and he loved Lakshmana for his affection, embracing whom he said, and "Dutiful dharmic, and ever aware of my needs, you are like a father to me.Dasaratha is not dead but lives through you."