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.
The rest of the story
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, with images garlanded as bride and groom.
Ramcharitmanas path
The Balkand wedding passages, with '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 →