हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Punaura Dham (Janaki Janmasthali), Sitamarhi

The place in Mithila held to be where Mata Sita came out of the earth when Raja Janaka ploughed the field. Here Sita is worshipped on her own, as Janaki, beside the pond called Sita Kund.

Built: Tirtha of the Treta Yuga; present temple of the modern period, being enlarged from 2025Where: Bihar (Sitamarhi district)Deity: Mata Sita (Janaki)26.59° N, 85.47° E
  1. August 2025
Photo: Nepalopedia4u · CC0

01Born of the furrow

In the Bala Kanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana, Janaka tells Vishvamitra how, as he ploughed the ground to prepare for a yajna, a girl rose from the furrow, and he named her Sita and raised her as his daughter, ayonija, not born of a womb. Mithila tradition places that field at Punaura, a few kilometres from Sitamarhi town. The temple stands by Sita Kund, and the Janaki murti is shown as a young girl. Janaki Navami in Vaishakh is the great day.

02The Ramayana circuit

Sitamarhi town has its own Janaki Sthan temple, and Janakpur, Janaka’s capital across the Nepal border, has the Janaki Mandir; pilgrims often take all three. Punaura Dham is on the Ramayana circuit, and in August 2025 the foundation stone of a large new temple complex was laid here by the Union Home Minister and the Bihar government.

The life of this place

  1. August 2025The foundation stone of the new Punaura Dham temple complex is laid.
Visiting

About 5 km south-west of Sitamarhi town; Janakpur in Nepal is about 60 km further north.

Nearby

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