Mahottari [Nepal], January 21 (ANI): Hundreds of devotees from different age groups on Sunday marched through the East-West Highway, with some dressed as Hanuman and others as Ram and Sita, while taking part in the Sobha Yatra ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya.
The Jaleshwar Municipality, which lies at aflat distance of about 18 kilometres, took out a religious procession on Sunday to celebrate the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Devotees taking part in the religious procession touring through the stretch of the main city square chanted “Jai Shree Ram” and danced to the music of a DJ.
“It was organised by the youth club, in which about 7,000 people took part. In the mass tableau, Lord Ram and Sita, as well as Hanuman, were presented. Women, children, elderlies, everyone took part in it enthusiastically,” Santosh Kumar Sah, one of the participants of the Sobha Yatra, told ANI.
Waving the saffron-coloured flag high and chanting the slogans of Ram, the devotees marched through the roads and walkways, gathering a large mass of bystanders. The enthusiasm in the adjoining district has remained unmatched, as the in-law of Mithila is going to have a home of his own.
“The celebratory event in which I participated is very happy. Lord Ram is our in-law, as he got married to Goddess Sita, which makes us her family members. We have tremendous respect for Lord Ram and the celebration that is taking place in Ayodhya and the celebration is already underway there. The main event of Pran Pratishtha is scheduled for January 22; we, the residents of Janakpur and Jaleshwar, as well as the whole of Nepal, are celebrating it,” Binu Jha, one of the residents of Mahottari, told ANI.
The Janaki Temple in Janakpurdham is surrounded by various forms of Shiva on four sides. Lord Shiva is believed to have protected Sita from all sides until someone mighty to protect her doesn’t arrive.
The Janakpurdham, birthplace of Janaki or Sita, daughter of King Janak, got married to Lord Ram after breaking the divine bow of Shiva at a tournament organised by King Janak.
Dhanushadham, near Janakpurdham, possesses a fossilised fragment of that broken bow. Lord Ram had broken Shiva’s divine into three pieces, a condition for winning the hand of Sita in marriage.
Every Sunday in the month of Magh (January/February), a Makar Mela (fair) takes place, a tradition that has not been broken since Vedic times. Devotees from Nepal and India flock here in tens of thousands to pay homage to this place. (ANI)
