Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for Janaki temple at Punaura Dham in Bihar’s Sitamarhi; CM Nitish Kumar will attend; do you know significance of this place and what Valmiki Ramayana says?
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for Janaki temple at Punaura Dham in Bihar’s Sitamarhi on Friday. He will be accompanied by chief minister Nitish Kumar and his ministerial colleagues at the event.
Construction is going to start soon on 67 acres of land for the temple of Mother Sita to be developed on the lines of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Punaura Dham is believed to be the mythological birthplace of Goddess Sita.
Several saints from across the country have already reached the venue. Amidst the chanting of mantras, the foundation stone will be laid for the grand temple, to be constructed over an area of more than 67 acres. The temple complex is likely to be completed within 11 months.
The state cabinet had on July 29 sanctioned a revised estimate of Rs 165.57 crore for the 50-acre land acquisition for tourism-related development and infrastructure at Punaura Dham. Beautification of Maa Janaki Kund will also be carried out.
The birthplace of Mata Sita Punaura is famous globally. Considered to be a holy place of Hindu Sanatanis, this temple is planned to be built within just 11 months.
What is significance of Punara Dham?
Punaura Dham,, revered as the birth place of Mata Sita,is in Punaura village 5 km southwest of Sitamarhi city of Sitamarhi district in north Bihar near India–Nepal border. Since this temple has immense religious and spiritual significance for Hindus, a large number of pilgrims from all over the world visit here every day.
Punaura is in the Mithila region, also called the Tirhut or Tirabhukti, with history dating back to the Vedic period (1500-500 BCE) when it was one of the 16 Mahajanapadas of India, covers surrounding areas of Bihar and Nepal.
What Valmiki Ramayana says?
According to Valmiki' Ramayana, once there was a severe famine in Mithila and the priest there advised the King of Videha, Janaka, to plow the field. When King Janak was ploughing, an earthen pot came out of the ground, in which Mother Sita was in an infant state.
The Punaura Dham is believed to be the spot where that earthen pot came out, hence revered as the birthplace of Sita. Since she came out of a furrow when King Janaka was ploughing the land, he adopted her as his daughter and named her Sita, which means “furrow” in Sanskrit and he also gave her the name Janaki, meaning daughter of Janaka.
Behind the Sita Mata temple in Punaura Dham, there is a lake by the name of Janaki Kund. There is a belief about this lake that bathing in this lake gives birth to children.
Prakash Kumar Pandey