Mahendranagar (Dhanusha), 7 December: A wedding hall has been constructed in the premises of Janaki Temple for the Shree Sitaram Bibah Panchami Maha Mahotsav (festival). Thousands of devotees participated in the marriage ceremony in the premises of Janaki Temple.
According to Mahanta Ram Roshan Das Vaishnav, the successor of Janaki Temple, more than two million devotees participated in the Bibahapanchami Mahamahotsav this time. Thousands of devotees from Nepal, India and third countries have arrived in Janakpurdham to witness the Bibahapanchami festival, which gives a glimpse of the Treta Yuga.
This time, people who come from Ayodhya every 5 years have also come. People from Ayodhya including Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai, Ayodhya Chief Girishpati Tripathi, Bishwa Hindu Parishad Union Minister Rajendra Singh Pankaj have come to the festival. A wedding ceremony is held every year in the premises of the Janaki Temple in Janakpurdham. Just as the mandap(the altar) is decorated for a daughter’s wedding, the mandap(the alter) is also decorated for Ram Janaki’s wedding.
The Janaki Temple located in Janakpurdham is considered as the Mithila Palace, while the Ram Temple is considered as the Ayodhya Palace. The Janaki Temple and the Ram Temple are decorated like brides for the wedding. The Mahant of the Janaki Temple, Ramtapeshwar Das Vaishnav, said that he felt as if he was organizing the wedding of his daughter. According to Mahanta Das, in the wedding, Mother Sita’s father plays the role of King Janak. Meanwhile, Mahanta Baba Ram Giri of Ram Temple also leaves no stone unturned to play the role of King Dasharatha. He said, “It is natural to be overjoyed after getting a daughter-in-law like Sita.”
In the Treta Yuga, the Nagar Darshan ritual is performed on the first day of Bibah Panchami, a week-long celebration commemorating the marriage of Lord Ram, the son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, and Janaki, the daughter of the chief king Janak of Mithila. In this, Ram Lakshman, who is made into a symbol of Ram Lakshman, is taken to Janakpurdham for Nagar Darshan.
The second attraction of the Bibah Panchami festival is the flower garden play. The flower garden play marks the first meeting of Ram and Janaki. According to Dr. Rajendra Bimal, a knowledgeable person, Lord Ram’s first meeting in the Treta Yuga took place in the flower garden located in the courtyard of the Girija Mai Temple in Girija, India.
This ritual is performed in the flower garden of the wedding hall next to the Janaki temple. On the third day, the Dhanush Yagya is completed. Seeing Mother Sita lifting Shivaji’s pinak bow with her left hand and covering it with her lips, King Janak organized the Dhanush Yagya with a promise to marry his daughter to a brave man who could perform the ritual on this bow, said another knowledgeable Sanskrit scholar and Pandit Mukesh Pratihastha.
It is believed that the Dhanush Yagya was organized in the Treta Yuga on 12 bighas of Rangabhumi Maidan(battle ground). The Dhanusha Yagya ritual is performed in memory of that. On the fourth day of the festival, the Tilakotsava ritual is performed in the premises of the Ram Temple among thousands of devotees, experts say. Champat Ray, General Secretary of the Ram Janmabhumi Trust, who has come from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, leading the procession, said that the Bibah Panchami festival is working to further deepen the ancient relations between Nepal and India to a new level.
Similarly, Ayodhya Chief Girishpati Tripathi mentioned that the Bibah Panchami festival has worked to deepen and revitalize the cultural, religious, and emotional unity of Nepal and India. Meanwhile, Madhesh Province Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh spoke about the need to keep the religious, mythological and cultural characteristics of the Bibah Panchami festival intact and the deep faith that exists in the festival. He said that even if there are eleven or twenty-one lamps on the day of Bibah Panchami, lighting them in every household in Janakpurdham has made the devotion and ritual tradition of Ram Janaki’s marriage more magnificent.
Bhola Yadav, 58, from Bakada Ghar in Uttar Pradesh, who came to see the fair, said, “I had only heard the name Janakpurdham, but today I have seen it in person. I say that it is better than hearing about it and it is heartwarming.” Stating that devotees from Ayodhya are participating in various programs in Janakpurdham, Chief Minister Singh has urged the people of Janakpurdham to help arrange accommodation for devotees who have come to Janakpurdham from various parts of the country and abroad, even if it is in their own homes.
During Tilakotsava, a procession from Janaki Temple to Ram Temple is made. There is an embrace between the Mahanta of Janaki Temple and the Mahanta of Ram Temple. The women participating in Tilakotsava sing Ram Janaki’s wedding songs and there is also an atmosphere of humor. Just as the Samadhi is abused in various ways in Mithila, similarly, both sides in the temple also abuse and mockery are done.
According to Ram Mandir Mahanta Ram Giri, the successor Mahanta and priests of Janaki Mandir participate in the Samadhi Milan program, while the Mahanta himself, representatives of the Guthi Sansthan(association) and local youth clubs participate from Ram Mandir. On the fifth day of the festival, the Matkor ritual is performed. In the Matkor ritual, for the Matkor of Mata Janaki, women of Mithila dig and bring soil from the Gangasagar Pond, a holy lake in Janakpurdham, in the evening, singing songs according to Mithila tradition. An altar for the wedding is prepared from the same soil.
जनकपुर २२ मङ्सिरः सप्ताहव्यापी रामजानकी विवाहपञ्चमी महोत्सवमाको अन्तिम दिन शनिबार जानकी मन्दिरमा रामकलेवा विधि हेर्न भक्त्तजनको घुइँचो। तस्बिरः चन्द्रदेव साह÷रासस
On the sixth day, the swayambar ritual was completed at the historic Rangabhumi ground, and on Friday night, the marriage ceremony was held according to Vedic traditions. The Dola Rangbhumi ground of Ram Temple and Janaki Temple covers an area of 12 bighas for the swayamvar. After the swayamvar, the procession of the two temples reaches the Janaki Temple, where the marriage ceremony will take place. The ceremony, which takes place on Friday night, is where women sing wedding songs.
On the seventh day of Bibah Panchami, the saints who have come from Ayodhya, India, as Janti( the member of wedding) are given food and bid farewell. This is called Ram Kalewa. There is also a tradition of cursing those from the groom’s side during Ram Kalewa. The temple priests and the women of Mithila use the medium of songs to curse them. This creates a wonderful atmosphere.
