Janakpur
Area
Code: 041
The pleasant town of Janakpur is the birthplace of Sita, daughter
of King Janaka and wife of Lord Rama. It is said to be the site of
Lord Rama and Sita’s wedding. Lord Rama won Sita by picking
up Lord Siva's bow and breaking it here. Janakpur is charged with
a devotional mood and is an interesting holy city to visit. It is
a worth while place to visit.
It was the capital of the ancient state of Mithila,
which used to be part of India. The Maithili language is spoken here.
It has its own script and is spoken by around two million people.
Janakpur is located 128 km southeast of Kathmandu, 11 hours by bus,
next to the Indian border. For the most part motorized traffic is
banned from the city center and there is almost no tourist hustle.
So it is a peaceful place. The town has narrows winding streets and
dozens of sacred kunds, and is an interesting place to wander around.
You can stop in Janakpur on the way from Kakarbhitta
to Kathmandu, as it is just 30 km south of the Mahendra Highway, which
is the road you take to get from Kathmandu to Kakarbhitta.
Orientation
Janakpur is a maze of mostly narrow streets, so it is difficult to
know what direction you are going in.
You can get your bearings from the telecommunications
tower and the large concrete water tank. Janaki Mandir is just south
of the water tank. The bus station is southwest of the temple by the
telecommunications tower. Sajha buses drop off passengers at Ramamand
Chowk, a little west of the center of town. The train station is a
fifteen-minute walk northeast of the water tank. Station Road that
runs northeast from the center of town has most of the hotels and
restaurants on or near it. The airport is 2km south of town.
anakpur is 25km south of the Mahendra Highway.
Information
There tourist office (20755) on Station Rd east of Bhanu Chowk, close
to the railway station. Open Sunday to Thursday 10 am to 4 pm, Friday
until 3 pm. It closes an hour earlier from November to January. It
has a brochure about Janakpur and can give information about festivals.
The Nepal Rastra Bank in the southern part of town changes
money. Nepal Bangladesh Bank, at Bhanu Chowk, changes cash, but not
travelers’ cheques.
Some of the telephone places on Station road have email
facilities.
Janakpur Women’s
Development Center
The Janakpur Women’s Development Center (21080) mainly deals
with traditional Maithili paintings on paper. Also clothing, painting,
screen printing, ceramics, sewing and tapestries are made here. There
is a shop that sells the products that are made here. Painting prices
begin at Rs 200. The center was established to help the local women.
It is located in the southern suburbs, 3km south of
town, around 15-minutes from Janakpur by bike-rickshaw. You go south
towards the airport and about 1km after Murali Chowk you make a left
at the big painted arch and sign. After 250km you bear right through
the village of Kuwa. This places is about 500m on the right, surrounded
by a wall. To get here you can ask for Nari Bikas Kendra.
Open daily except Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. They also operate
a handicraft shop in Kathmandu near the Hotel Greenwich Village.
Janaki
Mandir (Temple)
This interesting temple is dedicated to Sita, the wife of Lord Rama,
who is also known as Janaki. It is massive marble temple in the center
of town built in 1911 by an Indian queen. It is believed to be where
King Janaka found Sita lying in a ploughed field. The Deities in the
temple are Sita, Rama and Rama’s brother’s Laksman, Bharata,
and Satrughna.
The inner sanctum is open from 5 to 8 am and 5 to 8
pm. This temple is open to everyone. You can climb the stairs to the
roof of the outer building and get a good view of the courtyard. Non-Hindu
can enter the temple.
Ram
Sita (Janaki) Bibhaha (Viveh) Mandapa
This is a new Nepali pagoda-style temple that honors the wedding of
Sita and Rama. Lord Rama and Sita wear full make-up and wedding attire.
It is supposed to be built at the place where Sita and Rama were married.
There are deities of Sita, Rama and his brothers. It is next door
to the Janaki Mandir. You have to deposit your camera near the entry.
Rama Mandir
It is a Nepalese pagoda-style temple built in 1882. It is southeast
of the Janaki Mandir, in the oldest section of the city. Dhanush Sagar
is right next to it. This temple is the center point for the Rama
Navami festival.
Dhanush Sagar & Ganga Sagar Tanks
This is above the spot where one of the three pieces of Lord Siva’s
bow fell into the underworld, when Lord Rama broke it. Including these
tanks there are 24 sacred tanks in the city. Dhanush Sagar is next
to the Rama Mandir, just southeast of the Janaki Mandir
Sankat Mochan Temple
This temple is dedicated to Hanuman and is also called the Big Monkey
Temple. Hanuman is worshipped in the form of a very large rhesus monkey.
The monkey is kept in a cage and constantly fed by the pilgrims. Sankat
Mochan means one who erases all troubles. This temple is 100m south
of Ramanand Chowk. It looks at an ordinary house, so is easy to miss.
Janakpur Railway
Two narrow-gauge lines end at Janakpur, one going east to Jaynagar,
just over the Indian border, and the other northwest to Bijalpura.
Both train lines are about 30km long. Taking a train is a nice way
to see the countryside. The trains going to Bijalpura are pulled by
steam engines and the one to Jaynagar by diesel engines. The trains
don’t go anywhere worth going, but the ride on them is interesting.
The train to Bijalpura departs only once a day in the
afternoon and then return the next morning.
The train to Baidehi departs at 3 pm and to get the
return train back, you have to get off at Loharpati.
It takes four hours to reach Jayanagar (28km) and there are three
trains there daily, so it is possible to take a train there and back
for a day trip.
Foreigners can not cross here, so they have to get down
at one of the villages (the last one is Khajuri) before the border.
Trains depart from both Janakpur and Jaynagar at 6 and 11 am and 3
pm. Ticket prices are Rs 15 in 2nd class and Rs 40 in first-class.
You should come early to get a seat. You may have to ride on the roof
on the return trip.
Dhanusha
Dhanusha, the place where Rama is said to have strung Siva’s
bow is about 15 km north of Janakpur.
Festivals
The Bibhaha (Viveh) Panchami festival re-enacts the wedding of Rama
and Sita. Over 100,000 pilgrims come for this festival. There is a
procession with elephants, horses, and decorated chariots with beating
drums. It is on the fifth day of the waxing moon in November or early
December.
Rama Navami, the birthday of Lord Rama, in March-April, is an important
festival that draws over 100,000 people. Dipawali in Oct/Nov is a
festive time to visit.
There is an annual one-day Parikrama (circumambulation)
of the city on the full moon day of February/March. Many people offer
prostrated obeisances along the entire 8km route. It is at the same
time as the Holi festival.
Where to Stay
If you plan to come here during a major festival you should book a
room months in advance. The hotels here are not a high standard.
Hotel Welcome (20224, 20646; fax 20922), on Station Rd, is a decent
place. The rooms are not so good, but there is not much competition
in town. They have rooms with common bath for Rs $2 and with bath
for Rs 250/325 and rooms with A/C for Rs 700/1200. Ask to see several
rooms, as some are really bad. It has a good restaurant. It is a friendly
place. 24-hour check-out.
Hotel Rama (20059), at the north edge of town in a quiet location,
has featureless rooms with common bath for Rs 150/200 and much nicer
rooms with bath and hot water for Rs 400, Rs 500 with an air-cooler,
and Rs 900 with A/C. It has a good restaurant.
Hotel Shukh Sagar (20488), located next to the Janaki Mandir, has
big rooms with common bath for 150/200 and Rs 150/250 with bath. It
has a vegetarian restaurant.
Aanand Hotel (20562, 22145; fax 20196), Station Rd, has rooms for
Rs 150/200 and rooms with bath and hot water for Rs 250/300.
Kwality Restaurant, Station Rd, is a decent place.
Nawarang (sign only in Nepali), around the corner from the Hotel welcome,
has Nepali food.
Sanjog Restaurant, down a lane across from Danush Sagar, at the west
end of Station Rd, is one of the better places in town.
Travel
Air RNAC (20185), Bhanu Chowk, and Necon Air (20688,
21900), Bhanu Chowk, have flights to Kathmandu for $65. Necon is better.
The RNAC office (10 am to 4 pm) is right next to the tourist office.
The airport is 2km south of town.
Bus Even thought Janakpur is close
to the border, foreign tourists are not allowed to cross the border
at this point.
From Kathmandu (12 hr, 10 daily) there are both day and overnight
private and government Sajha buses to Janakpur that cost about $3
(Rs 150, 12 hr). It is possible to purchase tickets for night buses
at counters on Station Rd, near the Aanand Hotel, but you will usually
get a better seat if you purchase at the bus station.
There are two daily day Sajha buses to Kathmandu. You purchase the
tickets for the Sajha buses at Ramanand Chowk, not at the bus station,
and the buses depart from there.
From Kathmandu most of the buses to Janakpur leave in the early morning
or late afternoon from the New Bus Station, about 15 minutes north
of the Thamel area.
There are buses to Pokhara (12 hr, 1 daily at night)
and Birganj (5 hr, 6 daily).
Private buses depart from Janakpur to Kakarbhitta (8 hr, 9 daily),
on the extreme eastern Nepal border, on the way to Darjeeling, every
half-hour from 4.30 to 10 am and cost Rs 125 ($2.50).
The bus station is a short rickshaw ride from the city center.
