Kathmandu, December 1
The Bibaha Panchami festival is being celebrated throughout the country today by worshipping and paying homage to Shree Ramchandra and Sita.
This religious and cultural festival is observed on the fifth day of Shukla paksha (the waxing phase of the moon) in Margashirsha month according to the Hindu lunar calendar. It commemorates the wedding of Hindu god Ram and goddess Sita that took place in the Tretayug.
Bibaha Panchami is celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour especially in the historic city of Janakpur today, with thousands of devotees offering prayers at the famous Janaki temple since early morning. As per the Hindu mythology, King Janak of Mithila, Sita’s father, proposed a test of strength for the suitors of his daughter: to string the great bow of Lord Shiva. Warriors, kin and chieftains came from afar, but no man could even lift the bow. Ram, a prince from ancient Ayodhya, lifted the bow with ease and when he tried to string it, the bow shattered into pieces.
Ram and Sita were married in Janakpur, the capital of ancient Mithila kingdom, and their marriage is celebrated to this day. Each year, idols of Ram and Sita are brought out in procession and their Hindu wedding ceremony is reenacted during a weeklong religious fair.
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