Janaki Mandir (Ram Janaki Mandir)

Janaki Mandir, also known as Ram Janaki Mandir or by its popular name Nau Lakha Mandir (“nine-lakh temple”), stands in Janakpur in Nepal’s Terai region, a city Hindu tradition identifies as the birthplace of Sita and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mithila. The present structure was commissioned in 1910 CE by Queen Vrisha Bhanu of the princely state of Tikamgarh (Orchha), reportedly at a cost of around nine lakh rupees in gold coin — the origin of its popular name. It was built on the spot where, according to local tradition, a golden image of Sita was recovered in 1657, a discovery credited to the ascetic Shurkishordas; the site is also associated in tradition with Sita’s svayamvara, the contest by which she was wed to Rama.

Constructed almost entirely of white stone and marble across three stories and roughly sixty rooms, in a style often described as Hindu-Kushwaha (blending Mughal and Rajput architectural elements), Janaki Mandir is one of the largest and most architecturally distinctive temples associated with Rama-Sita worship anywhere in the subcontinent. It sustained damage in the major earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015. It remains an active pilgrimage destination, has been on Nepal’s UNESCO World Heritage tentative list since 2008, and draws especially large crowds for the Vivaha Panchami festival, which reenacts the wedding of Rama and Sita.