Sita & Rama
Vivah Panchami
The wedding day of Sita and Rama — Mithila gives its daughter, the world gains its ideal.
Tithi: Margashirsha Shukla Panchami
In the simplest words
Ram and Sita's wedding anniversary — Janakpur and Ayodhya celebrate the day the bow broke and two ideals joined hands.
The story & purpose
In Janaka's court the bow of Shiva waited, unliftable — until Rama raised, strung, and broke it, and Sita chose him with the jaimala. On Margashirsha Shukla Panchami the wedding was made: four brothers, four daughters of Mithila, and a friendship of two kingdoms sealed in one mandap.
Janakpur in Nepal — Sita's own city — celebrates for days with baraat processions from Ayodhya arriving as honoured guests, Maithili wedding songs, and the Ram-Janaki temple as the mandap. Many Mithila families, loving Sita as their daughter, avoid actual weddings this tithi — remembering how much her marriage asked of her.
What is done
Sita-Rama vivah utsav
The wedding re-enacted or sung at home and temple — images garlanded as bride and groom.
Ramcharitmanas path
The Balkand wedding passages — 'Siya-Ram' sung as one word, as Tulsi wrote it.
Dampati seva
An elder couple honoured with vastra and bhojan — the ideal worshipped in the living.
Best timings
Utsav in the evening, the traditional wedding lagna hours.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Janakpur's Vivah Panchami draws lakhs from both nations — a festival with no border.
Mithila painting — the wedding kohbar — is said to have been born decorating this very marriage.
Tulsidas began the Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya — its wedding verses return home today.
Mantras of this festival
श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम
Shri Rama Jaya Rama — the thirteen-syllable jaap
Begin jaap →रामाय रामभद्राय रामचन्द्राय वेधसे । रघुनाथाय नाथाय सीतायाः पतये नमः ॥
Ramaya Ramabhadraya
Begin jaap →जय श्री राम
Jai Shri Ram — the simple Rama jaap
Begin jaap →ॐ दाशरथये विद्महे सीतावल्लभाय धीमहि । तन्नो रामः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Rama Gayatri
Begin jaap →