THEN
- The city of Janakpur or Mithila, was named after its King Janaka of the
Mithila kingdom. When King Janaka was ploughing a field to perform a yajna at
Sitamarhi, he came upon a baby girl in the field, whom he adopted and named
Sita.
Sita grew up and when she became of a marriageable age, her swayamvar took place in the palace at Janakpur. King Janaka, who was in possession of the bow of Lord Shiva, decided that whoever could wield the bow and string it would be wed to Sita. Rama was successful not only in stringing the bow, but also ended up breaking it when he used it, and thus took place the marriage of Rama and Sita.
NOW –
Janakpur is a city in Nepal, approximately 390 km from Kathmandu. It is a
famous tourist spot in Nepal. The grand Ram Janaki Temple in the center of the
city was the Rajmahal of King Janaka and contains the vivah mantap, where Rama
& Sita were married. It is one of the holy sites on the route of Parikrama
(holy circle) which is carried out by Hindus. Dhanush-dham is believed to be
the place where the broken remains of Lord Shiva's bow fell after Rama broke
it, and a fossilized fragment of the broken bow is believed to be preserved
here. Sitamarhi is in Bihar, about 58 kms to the south of Janakpur.
