Sita | |
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Other names | Siya, Janaki, Maithili, Vaidehi, Ayonija, Bhumija, Seetha |
Devanagari | सीता |
Sanskrit transliteration | Sītā |
Venerated in | Ramanandi Sampradaya Niranjani Sampradaya Shaktism |
Affiliation | Avatar of Lakshmi, Devi |
Abode | |
Mantra |
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Symbol | Pink Lotus |
Day | Friday |
Texts | |
Gender | Female |
Festivals |
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Genealogy | |
Avatar birth | Mithila, Videha (either present-day Sitamarhi district, Bihar, India[5][6][7][8] or present-day Janakpur, Madhesh Province, Nepal[9][10][11]) |
Avatar end | Baripur, Kosala (present-day Sita Samahit Sthal, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
Parents | Bhumi (mother) Janaka (adoptive father) Sunayana (adoptive mother) |
Siblings | Urmila (sister) Mandavi (cousin) Shrutakirti (cousin) |
Consort | Rama |
Children | Lava (son) Kusha (son) |
Dynasty | Vidēha (by birth) Raghuvamsha-Suryavamsha (by marriage) |
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Hinduism |
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Sita (Sanskrit: सीता; IAST: Sītā), also known as Siya, Janaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi.[12] She is the chief goddess of the Ramanandi Sampradaya and is the goddess of beauty and devotion. Sita's birthday is celebrated every year on the occasion of Sita Navami.[13]
Described as the daughter of Bhūmi (the earth), Sita is brought up as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha.[14][15] Sita, in her youth, chooses Rama, the prince of Ayodhya as her husband in a swayamvara. After the swayamvara, she accompanies her husband to his kingdom but later chooses to accompany him along with her brother-in-law Lakshmana, in his exile. While in exile, the trio settles in the Dandaka forest from where she is abducted by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka. She is imprisoned in the garden of Ashoka Vatika, in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor. After the war, in some versions of the epic, Rama asks Sita to undergo Agni Pariksha (an ordeal of fire), by which she proves her chastity, before she is accepted by Rama, which for the first time makes his brother Lakshmana angry at him.
In some versions of the epic, Maya Sita, an illusion created by Agni, takes Sita's place and is abducted by Ravana and suffers his captivity, while the real Sita hides in the fire. Some scriptures also mention her previous birth as Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest.[16] After proving her purity, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen. One day, a man questions Sita's fidelity and in order to prove her innocence and maintain his own and the kingdom's dignity, Rama sends Sita into the forest near the sage Valmiki's ashram. Years later, Sita returns to the womb of her mother, the Earth, for release from a cruel world and as a testimony to her purity, after she reunites her two sons Kusha and Lava with their father Rama.[17][18]
Tulsidas refers Sita as World's Mother And Ram as Father
Sage Narada Refers to Sita As Mystic Goddess of Beauty
Sita Goddess of Devotion