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| Sita | |
|---|---|
 Lithograph of Sita in exile | |
| Other names | Siya, Janaki, Maithili, Vaidehi, Ayonija, Bhumija, Seetha |
| Devanagari | सीता |
| Sanskrit transliteration | Sītā |
| Venerated in | Ramanandi Sampradaya, Niranjani Sampradaya |
| Affiliation | Avatar of Lakshmi, Devi |
| Abode | |
| Mantra |
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| Symbol | Pink Lotus |
| Day | Friday |
| Texts | |
| Gender | Female |
| Festivals |
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| Genealogy | |
| Avatar birth | Mithila, Videha (either present-day Sitamarhi district, Bihar, India[5][6][7][8] or present-day Janakpur, Madhesh Province, Nepal[9][10][11]) |
| Avatar end | Baripur, Kosala (present-day Sita Samahit Sthal, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Parents | Bhumi (mother) Janaka (adoptive father) Sunayana (adoptive mother) |
| Siblings | Urmila (sister) Mandavi (cousin) Shrutakirti (cousin) |
| Consort | Rama |
| Children | Lava (son) Kusha (son) |
| Dynasty | Vidēha (by birth) Raghuvamsha-Suryavamsha (by marriage) |
| Part of a series on |
| Hinduism |
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| Vaishnavism |
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Sita (Sanskrit: सीता; IAST: Sītā), also known as Siya, Janaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi.[12] She is the chief goddess of the Ramanandi Sampradaya and is the goddess of beauty and devotion. Sita's birthday is celebrated every year on the occasion of Sita Navami.[13]
Described as the daughter of Bhūmi (the earth), Sita is brought up as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha.[14][15] Sita, in her youth, chooses Rama, the prince of Ayodhya as her husband in a swayamvara. After the swayamvara, she accompanies her husband to his kingdom, but later chooses to accompany her husband, along with her brother-in-law Lakshmana, in his exile. While in exile, the trio settles in the Dandaka forest from where she is abducted by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka. She is imprisoned in the garden of Ashoka Vatika, in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor. After the war, in some versions of the epic, Rama asks Sita to undergo Agni Pariksha (an ordeal of fire), by which she proves her chastity, before she is accepted by Rama, which for the first time makes his brother Lakshmana angry at him.
In some versions of the epic, Maya Sita, an illusion created by Agni, takes Sita's place and is abducted by Ravana and suffers his captivity, while the real Sita hides in the fire. Some scriptures also mention her previous birth being Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest.[16] After proving her purity, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen. One day, a man questions Sita's fidelity and in order to prove her innocence and maintain his own and the kingdom's dignity, Rama sends Sita into the forest near the sage Valmiki's ashram. Years later, Sita returns to the womb of her mother, the Earth, for release from a cruel world and as a testimony of her purity, after she reunites her two sons Kusha and Lava with their father Rama.[17][18]
- ^ David R. Kinsley (19 July 1988). Hindu Goddesses Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. University of California Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780520908833.
Tulsidas refers Sita as World's Mother And Ram as Father
- ^ Krishnan Aravamudan (22 September 2014). Pure Gems of Ramayanam. PartridgeIndia. p. 213. ISBN 9781482837209.
Sage Narada Refers to Sita As Mystic Goddess of Beauty
- ^ Sally Kempton (13 July 2015). Awakening Shakti. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 9788184956191.
Sita Goddess of Devotion
- ^ Tattwananda, Swami (1984). Vaisnava Sects, Saiva Sects, Mother Worship (1st revised ed.). Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Ltd.
- ^ "Rs 48.5 crore for Sita's birthplace". The Telegraph. India.
- ^ "Hot spring hot spot – Fair begins on Magh full moon's day". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ "Sitamarhi". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "History of Sitamarhi". Official site of Sitamarhi district. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Janakpur". sacredsites.com.
- ^ "Nepal, India PMs likely to jointly inaugurate cross-border railway link". WION India. 24 March 2022.
- ^ "India-Nepal rail link: Janakpur to be major tourist attraction". The Print. 2 April 2022.
- ^ Moor, Edward (1810). The Hindu Pantheon. J. Johnson. p. 316.
- ^ Publishing, Bloomsbury (13 September 2011). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-59884-206-7.
- ^ Sutherland, Sally J. "Sita and Draupadi, Aggressive Behavior and Female Role-Models in the Sanskrit Epics" (PDF). University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ Swami Parmeshwaranand (1 January 2001). Encyclopaedic Dictionaries of Puranas. Sarup & Sons. pp. 1210–1220. ISBN 978-81-7625-226-3. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "The haughty Ravana". The Hindu. 10 April 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 78.
- ^ Yadav, Ramprasad (2016). "Historical and Cultural Analysis of Ramayana: An Overview". International Journal of Historical Studies. 8 (4): 189–204.