| Though now
located in Muzaffarpur district, it is a part of the Mithila of yore. The cult of Sri
Ramachandra and Sita, which has such a deep hold in Mithila, has taken aconcrete shape in
numerous temples throughout the area A large fair celebrating the Rama- navami, i.e., the
day of Rama's birth, is held at Sitamarhi, which lasts for a fortnight and is attended by
about a lakh of people. Sitamarhi has a tank known as Janaki Kund from where Sita is
said to have arisen. There is a modern temple of Janaki at Sitamarhi. Apparently a very
old site, it was covered up with jungle in course of time. It is said that about five
hundred years ago a Hindu ascetic Birbal Das came to know about the site because of his
devotion and intuition. He came down from Ayodhya and cleared the jungle.
He found the images of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and built a
temple over them. Janakpur, which is at a distance of 18 miles from Jainagar and 24 miles
from Sitamarhi, has a number of big temples with images of Rama, Sita, Janaka etc. |
