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Nepal JyotishTraditional Science
Place Names

Dhanusha

The story of the place Dhanusha, where Sita was found as King Janak ploughed a field and where Shiva's bow was broken.

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Dhanusha

King Janak of Mithila was extremely worried because he had no children. He gathered learned sages and asked them the means of obtaining offspring. The scholars advised: "Maharaj, perform a great sacrifice according to the rites for the sake of children, and at an auspicious moment take a golden plough yourself and plough the field."

At the auspicious hour appointed by the astrologers, King Janak began to plough the field. As he ploughed on, a golden casket suddenly emerged from the ground. Inside that casket was a most beautiful new-born girl endowed with thirty-two auspicious marks.

Because she had appeared from the furrow line of the plough, the girl was named "Sita." Since King Janak raised her as his daughter, she also became famous by the name "Janaki."

When Sita came of age to marry, King Janak announced a swayamvar with the condition that the bow Pinaka of Shiva must be strung. In Mithila countless heroic princes from home and abroad gathered, but not one could show the strength even to move that vast bow.

At that swayamvar were also present Prince Shri Ram of Ayodhya and Lakshman, together with the great sage Vishwamitra. Having received the command of Guru Vishwamitra, Shri Ram easily lifted that bow, and as he began to string it, it broke in the middle with a terrifying sound that echoed.

Thus the grand swayamvar of Sita and Shri Ram took place. The place where the broken fragments of Shiva's bow fell to the ground is today called "Dhanusha."

Note: These are traditional Nepali folk tales (kimbadanti), passed down orally through generations. They may or may not reflect actual historical events, but they are told and believed as part of Nepal's cultural heritage.

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