Figure in the Hindu festival stories
Sita
Daughter of the earth, wife of Rama
Also known as Janaki, Vaidehi, Maithili.
In short
Sita, also called Janaki, is the wife of Rama and the heroine of the Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic attributed to the sage Valmiki. Born as the daughter of King Janaka of Videha and revered as an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi, she embodies devotion, purity and quiet strength. Her abduction by Ravana sets the epic's central conflict in motion.
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Sita’s story and role
In the Valmiki Ramayana, Sita is discovered by King Janaka as an infant lying in a furrow of the field he is ploughing for a sacrifice. Her name (sita means furrow) and her identity as an earth-born daughter, Bhumija, come from this. Janaka raises her as his own in Mithila, which is why she is also called Janaki and Maithili. She wins Rama as her husband at her swayamvara, when he alone is able to lift and string the mighty bow of Shiva.
When Rama is exiled to the forest for fourteen years, Sita refuses palace comfort and insists on sharing his hardship, joining him along with his brother Lakshmana. In the forest the demon king Ravana, inflamed by the humiliation of his sister Shurpanakha, lures Rama away with a golden deer and carries Sita off to Lanka. She spends her captivity in the Ashoka grove, steadfastly rejecting Ravana and holding only Rama in her heart, so that her fidelity becomes the moral centre of the epic.
After Rama and his allies defeat Ravana, Sita is reunited with him and, in Valmiki's telling, proves her purity through the agni pariksha, the ordeal by fire. The three then return to Ayodhya, where the citizens light rows of lamps to welcome them home. This homecoming is what Diwali commemorates as the triumph of light over darkness. In later chapters Sita, exiled once more while pregnant, raises her sons Lava and Kusha in Valmiki's hermitage and finally asks Mother Earth to receive her back, returning to the ground from which she came.
What Sita represents
Sita symbolises steadfast devotion, purity and the dignified endurance of suffering. As an earth-born incarnation of Lakshmi she also embodies fertility and prosperity, and for many she is a model of quiet inner strength rather than mere submission.
Festivals with Sita
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About Sita
Why is Sita part of the Diwali story?
Diwali celebrates the return of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and the defeat of Ravana. The rows of lamps lit to welcome the three of them home are, in the Ramayana tradition, the origin of the festival.
Who were Sita's parents?
Sita is the foster daughter of King Janaka of Videha, who finds her as a baby in a furrow while ploughing. Because of this she is called earth-born (Bhumija), and tradition regards her as a daughter of the earth and an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi.
What is the Agni Pariksha?
The agni pariksha is the ordeal by fire that, in Valmiki's Ramayana, Sita undergoes after her rescue to affirm her purity during captivity. The fire god Agni returns her unharmed, testifying to her faithfulness.
Where was Sita held captive by Ravana?
Ravana kept Sita in the Ashoka Vatika, a grove of ashoka trees within his kingdom of Lanka. There she resisted his advances and awaited rescue, guarded by demonesses but never yielding.
Is Sita worshipped as a goddess?
Yes. Sita is revered as an incarnation of Lakshmi and is worshipped alongside Rama as the divine pair Sita-Rama. Her birthplace, associated with Janakpur in present-day Nepal, is honoured especially at Diwali.
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