01Janaka’s city
The Valmiki Ramayana tells how Raja Janaka of Videha found Sita in the furrow while ploughing the sacrificial ground, and how Shri Rama broke the bow of Shiva in his court to win her. Mithila holds Janakpur to be that city. The tradition of the temple says that in 1657 an ascetic, Sannyasi Shurkishordas, found an image of Sita here and began worship, and the site grew around it. The town is full of sacred ponds, among them Dhanush Sagar and Ganga Sagar, and the Vivah Mandap marks the place of the wedding.
02The Nau Lakha Mandir
The present temple was built by Queen Vrisha Bhanu of Tikamgarh in Bundelkhand and completed around 1911. People call it the Nau Lakha Mandir because it is said to have cost nine lakh rupees. It is three storeys of white marble and stone with domes and jharokhas in the Rajput manner, sixty rooms around a courtyard, and it looks more like a palace than a temple. On Vivah Panchami, in the bright half of Margashirsha, the wedding of Rama and Sita is re-enacted, and a procession from Ayodhya often arrives for it. In May 2018 a direct Janakpur–Ayodhya bus service was opened here.
The life of this place
- 1657By temple tradition, Sannyasi Shurkishordas finds an image of Sita and begins worship.
- c. 1911The present marble temple, built by Queen Vrisha Bhanu, is completed.
- 11 May 2018The Janakpur–Ayodhya bus service is opened at the temple.
Janakpur has an airport with flights from Kathmandu, and a rail line from Jaynagar in Bihar. Vivah Panchami (November–December) and Ram Navami are the great days.
