On Sita Navmi, understanding why without Sita, there is no Ramayana

Among many tales, that stone temples have silently guarded for centuries, one stands out—of a princess who was born not of royal blood but from the earth itself. As we mark May 5, devotees across India prepare for Sita Navami, honouring the birth of one of Hinduism's most beloved goddesses. “My grandmother taught me about Sita before I could read,” said Lakshmi Devi, 78, at a small shrine in Mithila—Sita's birthplace. “She isn't just in our stories—she lives in our soil, our values, our understanding of womanhood.” Tracing Sita's footsteps from northern India to Sri Lanka's highlands reveals a cultural map that has survived empires, colonial divisions, and modern border disputes.

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Local guides in both countries proudly point to rocks where Sita supposedly rested, streams where she bathed, forests where she found shelter. In parts of Southeast Asia, her resilience resonates even among non-Hindu populations, her character adapted into local folklore with remarkable consistency.

Sita—The earth's daughter

The story goes back to the breadbasket region of ancient kingdom of Mithila, where King Janaka discovered an infant girl on a farm field. The earth had yielded not a crop but a child—Sita, whose Sanskrit name translates to “furrow”. This miraculous birth from the soil immediately established her connection to fertility, agriculture, and the divine feminine principle. Dr. Romila Thapar, renowned historian and author of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300, interprets this profound symbolism: “Sita emerges as a personification of the earth itself—bountiful, nurturing, yet possessing immense endurance. Her birth from the ground is emblematic of primal creation myths that connect human existence to the soil from which life springs.” This foundational mythology positions Sita not merely as a consort to Lord Rama, but as a divine entity with independent significance.

In Sri Lanka's central highlands near Nuwara Eliya lies Sita (Seetha) Eliya, believed to be the location of Ashoka Vatika, the garden where Ravana kept Sita captive. 

In many folk practices, particularly in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, Sita is venerated as a goddess of fertility and agriculture in her own right. Dr. Lavanya Vemsani, in Sita: Nature in its Feminine Form, portrays Sita as prakriti—nature itself—emerging from and returning to the earth, reflecting life's cyclical rhythm. Devdutt Pattanaik, in From Earth, To Earth, echoes this, describing Sita as the perfect field, embodying fertility, nurture, and sacrifice. For agrarian communities of ancient India, Sita was the ideal of Mother Earth—nurturing, selfless, and reclaiming.

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Today, in Janakpur, Nepal—once part of greater Mithila—stands the Janaki Mandir, also known as Nau Lakha Mandir for its nine-lakh construction cost. Built in 1911 by Queen Vrisha Bhanu of Tikamgarh in a Mughal-Rajput style, it marks the site of Sita’s marriage (swayamvar). The Ram-Janaki Vivah Mandap within the temple complex shapes the Ramayana narrative. Cultural geographer and author of “Hindu Tradition of Pilgrimage”—Dr. Rana P.B. Singh calls such places “faith landscapes,” where devotion, memory, and myth converge. Local priest Ram Tapeshwar Das, who has overseen ceremonies at Janaki Mandir for decades, offers a more intimate perspective: “When pilgrims arrive from across India and beyond, I see in their eyes the same wonder regardless of nationality or language.”

Northeast from Janakpur, in Bihar's Sitamarhi district, another sacred site marks both the beginning and ultimate conclusion of Sita's earthly journey. Here, according to regional tradition, is where she first emerged from the earth—a belief commemorated by the ancient Punaura Dham temple. More poignantly, local lore holds that it was also near here that Sita, after facing accusations against her purity despite her ordeal in Lanka, asked Mother Earth to reclaim her. The exact spot, marked by the Janaki Kund (pool), becomes especially significant during Sita Navami. In the anthology In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology, scholar Arshia Sattar observes that Sita's final act of returning to the earth is initiated by her, signifying a moment of profound agency. Sattar notes that Sita “disappears into the earth without even a glance at the man whom she has loved,” leaving Rama to his public duties, thereby highlighting her autonomy and decision to reunite with her primordial source.

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The entrance to the Seetha Amman Temple

Sitamarhi blossoms with spiritual energy during Sita Navami, as thousands of devotees come together for prayers, cultural performances, and the time-honoured ritual of bathing in the sacred pond. The air fills with devotional songs highlighting Sita's virtues—not just her legendary fidelity to Rama, but her courage, forbearance, and inner strength. “What many outside observers miss is that devotees do not simply venerate Sita for her suffering or obedience,” explains Dr. Anamika Singh, a folk singer from Mithila who performs traditional songs during the festival. “Our songs celebrate her wisdom, her unwavering moral clarity, and her spiritual power. She is Shakti embodied—divine feminine energy that sustains the world.”

Sita’s sacred journey continues to Ayodhya, where she lived as queen alongside Rama. Long before political debates, Ayodhya was revered as the city of the divine couple. At the Ram Janmabhoomi complex, Sita’s presence is inseparable from Rama’s, yet she holds distinct spiritual importance. “Sita is never subordinate but feminine counterpart, like Shiva and Shakti, Vishnu and Lakshmi—the divine feminine without whom Rama is incomplete. Their energies are all pervasive within and without, holding the entire fabric of existence,” interprets scholar Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley). At Kanak Bhavan, believed to be gifted to Sita by Kaikeyi, she is worshipped as shakti and maternal wisdom. During Sita Navami, devotees bathe her mural in ritual abhishekam, offer sweets, and sing songs in her praise. She is simultaneously queen, goddess, and moral exemplar.

Crossing the Palk Strait: Sita's journey to Lanka

The most dramatic geographical leap in Sita's sacred cartography spans the waters between India and Sri Lanka. According to the Ramayana, after her abduction by Ravana, Sita spent months in captivity on the island nation, steadfastly rejecting the demon king's advances while awaiting rescue. This segment of her journey transforms the physical landscape of modern Sri Lanka into sites of profound religious significance for both Indians and Sri Lankans, creating a shared heritage that transcends national boundaries. Dr. Justin Henry's scholarly work, particularly his book 'Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below,' examines what we might call a 'narrative bridge' between the two nations.

Both Indian and Sri Lanka traditions depict Sita as a figure of unimpeachable virtue and inner strength. 

In Sri Lanka's central highlands near Nuwara Eliya lies perhaps the most significant of these sites: Sita (Seetha) Eliya, believed to be the location of Ashoka Vatika, the garden where Ravana kept Sita captive. Here stands the Seetha Amman Temple, where both Sri Lankan Tamils and visiting Indian pilgrims worship. “What's remarkable about sites like Seetha Amman Temple is how they've become spaces of cross-cultural pilgrimage,” notes Chaminda Munasinghe, Assistant Director of Public Relations (International Media) at Sri Lanka Tourism. “While the interpretation of the Ramayana varies between Indian and Sri Lankan traditions, Sita emerges as a figure of universal respect and admiration in both,” he says.

The natural environment around the temple adds layers to this devotional landscape: a stream where Sita is said to have bathed; unusual rock formations believed to bear the imprint of divine feet; and flora that legends claim sprouted from Sita's tears. The temple is primarily maintained by the Indian Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Local caretaker Kumaran, observes, “Every day we welcome visitors from India who are moved to tears seeing these places from their sacred stories. And for Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, these sites represent our own cultural heritage. Through Sita Mata, our nations are forever connected.”

Two nations, one narrative

Indian and Sri Lankan interpretations of the Ramayana reveal fascinating cultural variations. In mainstream Indian versions, Ravana is unambiguously villainous, while Sri Lankan traditions sometimes present a more nuanced view of him as a flawed but scholarly king. However, both traditions converge in their portrayal of Sita as a figure of unimpeachable virtue and inner strength. This shared reverence creates cultural bridges even when other elements of the narrative diverge. Regardless of how Ravana or even Rama might be portrayed in different cultural versions, Sita's character remains consistently admired for her resilience, spiritual power, and moral integrity.

In their research paper, 'Exploring Human Values in the Epic Ramayana,' Piyush Patel and Dharmik Chauhan note, “Lord Rama's reverence for Sita is evident throughout the epic, especially when he goes to great lengths to rescue her from Ravana's clutches, demonstrating his unwavering devotion and respect for her,” while adding, “Truth (Satya) is a foundational virtue in the Ramayana, exemplified by Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman. Their commitment to truth leads to moral and ethical victories.” This cultural convergence manifests in parallel celebrations. While Indian communities mark Sita Navami, Sri Lankan Tamil communities celebrate Sita during their own festival calendar, particularly during Thai Pongal (harvest festival) when her connection to earth and agriculture is emphasized.

The Hanuman idol in Seetha Amman Temple.

For many devotees, Sita represents timeless values while simultaneously addressing very contemporary concerns about women's strength and autonomy. Despite superficial readings that sometimes reduce her to a symbol of passive suffering, Sita embodies profound agency throughout the Ramayana. She makes choices based on her own moral compass—choosing to follow Rama to the forest, refusing Ravana despite threats, and ultimately returning to the earth on her own terms. This nuanced understanding has allowed Sita to remain relevant even as gender roles evolve in modern South Asian societies. Anamara Baig, founder of empowHER India, incorporates Sita's narrative in her work, in a way where they discuss Sita not as a model of submission but of tremendous inner strength. Here was a woman who endured extraordinary challenges without compromising her essential self. That's a powerful paradigm for women facing contemporary pressures.

“Without Sita, there is no Ramayana,” asserts Dr. Diana Eck, professor at Harvard University and author of “India: A Sacred Geography.” It is her abduction that propels the narrative, her steadfastness that provides its moral center, and her questioning of patriarchal authority that gives it enduring relevance. Similarly, environmental movements across both India and Sri Lanka have embraced Sita's earth-born identity as a powerful metaphor for ecological consciousness. Sita's birth from and return to the earth creates a perfect mythological framework for thinking about environmental sustainability. Her story reminds us that we come from the earth and ultimately return to it—a cycle of interconnection that industrial society often forgets.