Sitamarhi, in North Bihar near the Nepal border, is revered as the birthplace of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama and a central figure in the Ramayana. The town's Janaki Temple, and the associated site of Punaura Dham a short distance away, form the focus of pilgrimage for Hindus who come to honour Sita's birth and, at Punaura, the spot where she is believed to have been found in a furrow while King Janaka was ploughing a field.
Sitamarhi remains a relatively modest pilgrimage town rather than a major tourist centre, its temples serving primarily a steady stream of devotional visitors rather than sightseers, giving it a quieter, more genuinely devotional atmosphere than some larger Ramayana-linked pilgrimage sites.
The town's association with Sita is recorded in local tradition stretching back centuries, tied closely to the broader Mithila region's deep connection to the Ramayana, since King Janaka, Sita's father, ruled the ancient kingdom of Mithila centred nearby.
October to March.
About 135km from Patna, roughly 3.5 hours by road; Sitamarhi has its own railway station.
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