Janaki Mandir Janakpur – How to Get there

The biggest temple in Nepal is Janaki Mandir. This  Janaki Mandir is also known as Janakpur Dham, Ram Janaki temple, or Sita Mandir. Located in the Janakpur district, Ram Janaki Mandir has been the center of attraction for all. This is the place where goddess Sita was born so, this temple is a more religiously important monument and heritage. Ram Janaki temple is also famous as the place where lord ram married goddess, Sita. People who believe in science should visit this temple. The queen builds Ram Janaki temple with the unique old Hindu Koiri architecture with brilliant white faces.

This Janaki Mandir  temple has three stories made with stones and marbles. There are 60 rooms inside the temple, and the decoration of these rooms was done with Nepal flags, engravings painting, and lattice windows.  The temple will be crowded with people on auspicious occasions and festival-like Vivaha Panchami, Dashain Ram Navami, and Diwali. During these festivals, the temple will be full of light. People from countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India come to worship the goddess. The great queen of Tikamgarh, Vrisha Bhanu, built the Janaki temple in 1910 A.D.  Earlier people used to call ram Janaki temple Nau Lakha Mandir.

Janaki Mandir structure

Janaki Mandir is the biggest temple in Nepal with 4,860 square feet. Area. The most interesting fact about the Janaki temple is that this temple teaches us religious tolerance, as there is Masjid inside the temple premises. People say that, while constructing this temple the labourers built a masjid for them. There is the purity of the greatest marriage of all time Ram and Sita. There are many sites and well-known history of Ram Janaki Mandir. The traditional arts and sculptures of this temple reflect the Mithila Chitrakala. This temple has reflected Nepali art and culture.

The unique art and culture represent uniqueness and positive energy. All the stories, which happened in the temple, the marriage of Ram Sita, and the stories of Raja Janak have been shown in the form of status. These statuses reflect the proper art of Nepal. If you visit ram Janaki Mandir any day then you must visit the museum inside the temple. The stuff that raja Janak and Sita used in her childhood is also there including the childhood clothes of goodness Sita.  There are the places where Ram and Sita got married near this temple.

There is the holy day called Sita Vivaha in Hindu culture, which is the day when Sita got married to ram, this day is very auspicious and is celebrated massively. During festivals, people decorate the temple with lights, flowers and make it even more beautiful. This temple is a very important part of the Nepalese in terms of art and religion. Entire Janakpur is very important and or visiting. There are more than 52 lakes in Janakpur and each of them has its historical importance and story.

Dhanush Sagar, Ganga Sagar, Parashurama kunda are some famous lakes that you must visit. During the festival of Chhath, these lakes are the important elements of their puja. Janakpur has the real and traditional art and culture in Nepal.

Why Janaki Mandir is called Nau Lakha Mandir?

Another name of Janaki Mandir is “Nau lakh” Temple meaning ‘Nine lakhs”. The cost of construction of this temple was approximately Nine Lakh rupee. Earlier Janaki Mandir was the only temple, whose construction was of such a high cost. Therefore, people began to call this temple Nau Lakha Mandir. This temple has a mixture of Hindu architecture with the blend of Mughal architecture of Nepal.

How to Get to Janakpur?

Janakpur is located in the Dhanusha district of the Janakpur zone. Janakpur is about 390 kilometers away from Kathmandu, which takes about 10 hours of drive. The ride from Kathmandu to Janakpur is amazing with mesmerizing views of the landscapes.  If you are not comfortable taking the ride then you can reach Janakpur from Kathmandu by flight of 20-30 minutes.

History of Janaki Mandir

According to the holy Ramayana, King Janak named Mithila kingdom his name. Once in his kingdom, a man found a baby girl in the field ad reported it to the king. King Janak adopted the girl named her Sita and raised her. He loved her so many people started calling her Janaki as she was much closed to the heart of king Janak.  When Sita turned 16, king Janak decided to marry her so he announced a Swyambar.

King Janak also said that whoever will be able to string the bow of Shiva (which was impossible to string) would marry her. Several kings tried but could not string the bow but the prince of Ayodhya lord Ram was successful. He strings the bow he married to Sita. Therefore, to remember the holy relation of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita Janakpur Dham is on the place where Sita was born.

 People of Janakpur

Janakpur is filled with a wide range of people of different ethnic groups and cultural groups. Kayastha, Yadavs, Tharu, Teli, Brahmins, Chhetris, Musahar, and Rajput are the major people living in the Janakpur area. People say that Janakpur is the center of Mithila culture. Almost all people follow Mithila culture that is why Maithili art is famous in entire Nepal.  People of Janakpur value and respect their culture very much.

Important places that you can visit on this tour

• Vivaha Mandap

This is the place where Ram and Sita got married. The most married couple visit the Vivaha temple to pay homage to goddess Sita and make their marriage pure as Ram and Sita. Vivaha Panchami is the day of their marriage, so every year people from the entire country visit Vivaha Mandap on this day. Vivaha Panchami falls on the fifth day of Shukla Paksha in the Hindu calendar, which is the waxing phase of the moon in December. This temple shows the epitome of the purity and elegance of the marriage of Ram and Sita. The structure of this temple is beautiful with the study pillars, stunning domes, and marble all around.

There is the status of the people who were present in the marriage in the center of the Manda.  On the side, there is the statue of the parents of Ram and Sita. On the other side, there is the status of the pedestal. In the middle stage, there is the statue of ram and Sita getting married. People have covered these statues with beautiful clothes. Watching these idols in Vivaha Mandap will give you the sense of an ancient royal wedding.  Devotees come here to worship the couple and offer their prayers.

• Gangasagar

Ganga Sagar is a famous and holy pond, which is situated near ram Mandir. People of Janakpur consider this lake very scary.  This lake is very important in Janakpur along with Dhanush Sagar. Gangasagar pond looks magical at night time. People visit Gangasagar during the chat festival. You can enjoy this lake with the brilliant boat ride. Near this pond, their 70-year-old library where locals come to read the newspaper and enjoy the silence of the lake.

• Swargdwar

Swarga Dwar is a beautiful place on the west bank of Gangasagar. In the Nepali language, “Swarga” means heaven, and “Dwar” means gate. Therefore, the people of Janakpur valley consider this place as the way to a haven for the dead people. For this Swargdwar used to be a cemetery but now has changed to a park with beautiful flowers.

• Dhanush Dham

Dhanush Dham is another incredible place in Janakpur. This is the place where lord ram picked and broke the “Shiva Dhanush”. The pieces of that bow are in the magical form in the ground. The locals say that the stain of the broken Dhanush has been increasing with time. There is the old dree inside the temple. Local people of Janakpur believe that the tree is years old. Dhanush Dham is 18 km away from Janakpur. It takes an hour to reach here from the main Janaki Mandir.

• Ram Mandir

Lord ram has been famous for his kindness and respectful behavior towards everyone. Therefore, along with Janaki Mandir, there is ram Mandir in Janakpur.  Ram Mandir is 10 minutes walk away from Janaki Mandir. Ram Mandir is on the opposite side of Ganga Sagar.  On this temple, there is an idol of lord ram along with his brother. People from all around Nepal visit Ram Mandir on Ram Navami so it is mostly crowded on this day.  Ram Navami is the day when lord ram was born so devotee Singh Bhajans and celebrate Ram Navami.  On Vivaha Panchami, pries perform marriage rituals from ram Mandir to Janaki Mandir.

• During Dashain and Tihar locals of Janakpur decorate these temples are lavish.

Earlier people used to sacrifice thousands of goats on the day of Maha Ashtami in the name of god. However, now people have stopped doing this tradition for a few years. According to the local people, devotees worship during the daytime whereas in the nighttime the temple reveals its beauty.

• Nari Bikash Kendra

The women’s development center is another important place ere you should visit. This s a non-profit organization center that supports women. This organization has played a major role in developing women’s voices in Janakpur.  Women development centers develop the skills of women and make them capable of earning their own life. This has also encouraged Mithila culture and arts. This organization provides Mithila paintings, paper art, sewing, ceramics, and screen printing skills to the women.

Here are some of the important information for Janaki Mandir visit

• Accommodation during Janakpur Tour

According to your trekking itinerary, you will stay the first night of your tour in Kathmandu. Then the second morning you will drive to Janakpur.  You will have a 2-night stay here so you can stay at the resort as well as any hotel you wish according to your comfort and budget.

• Meal during Shree Ram Janaki Mandir  Tour

Food is the best part of visiting new places, along with or national Daal, Bhat, tarkari, and Dido. The most famous food of Janakpur is street food like Bhaaja, Latti, Lassi, and Gear. This food is very good and at an affordable price. In addition to these refreshments drinks like tea, coffee, hot lemon, and soft drinks are easily available in Janakpur streets.

• Safety Measure

You know your health more than anyone else does so if you are not much comfortable with transportation on the way then you will have to keep medicines for a problem like headaches and vomiting.  If you get some major health issues then, say it to your guide.

• Freedom of panorama

The travel from Kathmandu to Janakpur Mandir is a road trip so you can get marvelous pictures from the vehicles. Along with this, you can solo roam around Kathmandu for the best view.  Chandragiri, Swyambhunath, and Pasuatinath are the major places for getting marvelous views on this trek.

 

• Level of luxury (services) During Shree Ram Janaki Mandir Tour

Luxury will be a choice, only if you can pay. You can get luxurious hotels from luxurious vehicles service on this trek.  You can get comfortable seats in vehicles, better accommodation, great food, and other facilities in this trek.

• Humble attitude and gesture

You will have to be humble and show food gestures to people rather. You should talk and interact with the locals kindly. Being rude will not help you on this travel to Janaki Mandir.  Talking to locals will make your trek more fruitful and help you to know about different places.

• Conclusion

Generally, the Janaki mandir temple tour is of 2 nights 3 days but if you want then you can extend your vest to Janakpur.  On this tour along with ram Janaki temple, you will get to know about Maithili and Tharu culture. Your trek starts from Kathmandu and moves to Janakpur to visit Janaki temple and end the trek again in Kathmandu. We the team of Above the Himalayas will try to make your tour more comfortable and enjoyable. Ram Janaki is a fun and short tour, which will refresh you.