Sita Navami 2027
14 May 2027

Sita Navami remembers the birth of Sita, found as a baby by King Janaka while he ploughed a field during a yagna, and raised by him in Mithila as his own daughter. The Valmiki Ramayana tells of her being found in the furrow, which is why she is also called Janaki and Bhoomija, daughter of the earth. The day is kept on Vaishakh Shukla Navami, and most homes worship her together with Rama, since the two are rarely worshipped apart.

Married women often keep a vrat on this day for a happy and lasting married life, taking Sita’s devotion to Rama as their example, and many homes read the Sundara Kanda or a part of the Ramcharitmanas through the day. In many traditions Sita is worshipped as Lakshmi’s own form, and in Mithila and the Janakpur region the day is also kept as a thanksgiving for daughters, since Sita herself was Janaka’s cherished child.

• Image or idol of Sita with Rama
• Yellow cloth for Sita
• Roli, akshat and kalava
• Flowers and a garland
• Sweets for bhog
• Diya and ghee
• Ramcharitmanas or a Sundara Kanda book
• A small gift for a daughter

Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda

King Janaka of Mithila, performing a yagna to end a long drought, took up the plough himself to till the ground for it, as the rite asked. As the plough turned the earth, it struck something, and from the furrow (sita, in Sanskrit) a baby girl was lifted out, lying unharmed in the soil.

Janaka, who had no child of his own, took the infant up with joy and love, and named her Sita for the furrow she was found in. He raised her as his own daughter in his palace at Mithila, and she grew known for her gentleness and her devotion.

When Sita came of age, Janaka held a swayamvar and set Shiva’s great bow as the test: whoever could lift and string it would wed her. Many kings and princes failed even to move it, until Rama, at the sage Vishwamitra’s word, lifted the bow and broke it in the act of stringing it, and Sita chose him with the garland in her hands.

What to do

• Read even a small part of the Ramayana or Ramcharitmanas, since the day’s puja is as much in the reading as in the offering.
• Treat the daughters of the house with extra warmth today, as the day remembers Sita as Janaka’s own cherished child.
• Keep the vrat at whatever strictness suits your health, and follow a doctor’s word if you are pregnant, elderly or unwell.

What to avoid

• Avoid quarrels and harsh words in the home today, since the day is kept for the gentleness Sita herself is remembered for.
• Avoid non-vegetarian food and alcohol in the home if you are keeping the vrat, as most families do.

Sitamarhi in Bihar and Janakpur across the border in Nepal, both held as Sita’s birthplace, keep this day with the largest celebrations, including fairs and processions. Elsewhere in North India the day is a simple home vrat and puja, often called Janaki Navami or Jankit Navami.

Since this is Shukla paksha, Amanta and Purnimanta calendars both call the month Vaishakh, so there is no month-name difference. The day can still move by a day between places, since the tithi is read at each place’s own midday.