Janakpur

Janakpurdham, popularly known as Janakpur is Named after the late King of Videha in Mithila region - Janaka.The rulers of the Videha kingdom were accorded the title Janaka, meaning 'father' in Sanskrit, and this character is the best-known bearer of the same.

 

Accounts from ascetics, pandits, and bards indicate that Janakpur was founded in the early 18th century. The earliest description of Janakpur as a pilgrimage site dates to 1805. Earlier archaeological evidence of the presence of an ancient city has not been found and there is a lack of evidence to assign the modern-day city of Janakpur with the ancient capital of the Videha kingdom.^[2]

Until the 1950s, Janakpur was a cluster of rural hamlets inhabited by farmers, artisans, priests, and clerks who worked for the monasteries that controlled the land. After the Independence Act in India, Janakpur expanded into a commercial center and became the capital of the Dhanusa District in the 1960s.^[6]

Gautama Buddha and Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th and final Tirthankara of the Jain religion are said to have lived in Janakpur. The region was an important center for the history of Mithila during the first millennium.^[7] Following the Sugauli Treaty in 1816 between the Nepali rulers and the British East India Company, the northern part of ancient Mithila state, including Janakpur, became part of Nepal, while the southern part went into India.

As of June 2011^[update], the Janakpur municipality had 19,195 households and a population of 98,446 people with a density of 4,000 people per square kilometer.^[8] In 2015, it was declared a sub-metropolitan city that incorporates 11 surrounding villages. The current population is 173,924 people, making it the sixth largest city in Nepal.^[9]

Maithili is widely spoken in the area as the first language and is also used as the lingua franca. Nepali, Hindi, Marwari, and English are well understood. Languages like Bhojpuri and Awadhi are understood but less frequently used.

More than 90 percent of the total population is Hindu, with the rest being Muslims and Buddhists.

Janakpur is one of the fastest developing cities of Nepal and is the largest sub-metropolitan city in the country.^[10] The city has good health care facilities, a number of parks, private schools, colleges, and internet service providers. There are medical, engineering, and management colleges that are affiliated to Tribhuvan University. The economy is mostly based on tourism, agriculture, and local industries.

The paintings on pottery, walls, and courtyards made by Maithili women are known as Mithila art.

Janakpur attracts migrants from the surrounding area, moving to the city for medical care, education, and jobs. The largest employers were the Janakpur Cigarette Factory Limited and Janakpur Railway until they closed in 2013 due to political corruption and heavy loans. By the end of 2018 service was resumed.^[11] Zonal Hospital, Zonal Police, and the Banking Sector help the locals live a relatively easy lifestyle.

Several banks operate in Janakpur, providing a range of financial services. These include Nepal Bank Limited, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Nabil Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Prabhu Bank, Everest Bank, Machhapuchhre Bank, Sanima Bank, Global IME Bank, Siddhartha Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, and Mega Bank Nepal Limited. Additionally, the Nepal Rastra Bank has a provincial office in Janakpur to regulate banking activities in the region.

Janakpur is located in the Terai, where the climate is humid subtropical: the months of March and April are hot, dry, and windy. The wet season lasts from May to September, followed by mild dry autumn from October to November. It is a cold winter from December to February.^[6]

The major rivers surrounding Janakpur are Dudhmati, Jalad, Rato, Balan, and Kamala.

Frequent bus services operate between Janakpur and Nepalese cities. Within the city, cycle rickshaws, electric rickshaws, tempos (three-wheeled vehicle), and buses are available. A few Bus services operate for Indian cities of Sitamarhi, Patna, Delhi and Ayodhya as part of the Ramayan Circuit to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India.^[13][14]

 

 

Jaynagar–Bardibas railway line under Nepal Railways is the only operational railway in Nepal. It connects Janakpur to Siraha at the Nepal-India border and goes further to the Indian city of Jaynagar, Bihar. There is a customs checkpoint in Siraha for goods.^[11]

 

Janakpur has a domestic airport (IATA: JKR, ICAO: VNJP) with most flights connecting to Kathmandu, There are plans of expanding it as a regional airport.^[15]

The Janaki Mandir temple is in the centre of Janakpur, northwest of the market. It is one of the biggest temples in Nepal and was built in 1898 (1955 in the Nepali calendar) by Queen Brisabhanu Kunwari of Tikamgarh. It is also called Nau Lakha Mandir after the cost of construction, said to be nine lakh gold coins.^[19] The temple is architecturally unique in Nepal: its inner sanctum contains a flower-covered statue of Sita that was found in the Sarayu near Ayodhya. Statues of Rama and his brothers Lakshman, Bharat, and Satrughna stand by Sita.

Adjacent to the Janaki Mandir is the Rama Sita Vivaha Mandir, a building that marks the event in which Rama and Sita were married.

The oldest temple in Janakpur is Sri Ram Temple, built by the Gorkhali General Amar Singh Thapa.^[19](citation does not exist, false claim) Pilgrims also visit the over 200 sacred ponds in the city for ritual baths. The two most important ponds – Dhanush Sagar and Ganga Sagar, are located close to the city center.

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  Deities of Sri Sita Devi (far right) and Sri Rama (centre) (with Sri Lakshmana (far left) and Sri Hanuman (below seated))
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  Pond in front of Mani mandap, Rani Bazar. The place where the marriage of Ram and Sita actually happened.
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  Ram Janaki Biwaha Mandap
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  Hanuman Mandir, Kadam Chowk
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  Janaki Mandir
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  Ram Mandir, Janakpur, Mithila

• Vivah Mandap temple is situated next to the Janaki Mandir
• Ram Tower is also next to Janaki Mandir. It was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, located to the south of Ram Temple.
• Kapileshwar Temple

Major religious celebrations include the Hindu festivals Vivaha Panchami, Dipawali, and Vijayadashami,^[19] followed by Chhath Puja, which is celebrated six days after Diwali and Makar Sankranti.

On the night of the full moon in February and March, before the festival of Holi, a one-day Parikrama (circumambulation) of the city is celebrated. Many people offer prostrated obeisances along the entire 8 km (5.0 mi) route. Two other festivals honour Rama and Sita: Rama Navami, the birthday of Lord Rama,^[20] and the Vivah Panchami that re-enacts the wedding of Rama and Sita at the Vivah Mandap temple on the fifth day of the waxing moon in November or early December.

Janakpur has educational facilities where several of the country's elites went to school, including the first president of the Federal Republic of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav and former DPM, Bimalendra Nidhi. There are many private and government schools and colleges located in Janakpur. One of the oldest government colleges of Nepal, Ramsworup Ramsagar Bahumukhi Campus, which is a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University is homed in Janakpur. Janakpur also has Rajarshi Janak University for higher studies.^[21]

Janakpur also has a medical college, Janaki Medical College which is also affiliated with Tribhuvan University.^[22] Similarly for engineering studies, the city has Central Engineering College affiliated to Purbanchal University.^[23] Janakpur also have one autonomous institute named Madesh Institute of Health Sciences (MIHS).^[24][25]

Janakpur is the educational hub for high school. There are hundreds of high school like Shree Saraswati Ma Vï, Sankat Mochan School, MIT School, New English School and many more.

And many colleges like Model Multiple College, MIT, Dhanusha Science Campus, Rajshree Janak Campus are also there for higher studies in different streams.

Gangasagar Public Library was established in 1955 and is situated between two historical ponds of Janakpur—Dhanuschatra Pond and Ganga Sagar. The library was reopened to the public in 2012. In recent times, a team of active and committed local youth workers has contributed to the revival of this library by organizing public book collections for the library. It is open daily for three hours, mainly for newspaper-reading but has few daily visitors.^[26]

Ramswaroop Ramsagar Multiple Campus library is also accessible to the general public.

The local media of Janakpur primarily consists of several community radio stations, some TV channels, and a few print newspapers, such as Janakpur Today. Local Janakpur media primarily consists of radio shows, such as Mithila Jagaran.

•   Ayodhya, India
  • Ayodhya and Janakpur became sister cities in November 2014.^[27] Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama and Janakpur is the birthplace of his consort, Sita.^[28]

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  Night view of Janaki Temple
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  Inside view of Janaki Temple
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  Way to Vivah Mandap
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  Vivah Manadap
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  Former Deputy Prime minister and NC Vice president Bimalendra Nidhi at Janaki Mandir
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  Indian PM Modi in Janakpur wearing famous Maithili cap, Paag
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  Sunset over railway track near Janakpur
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  Vedi, mani mandap, Janakpur
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  Abandoned Old Train at Janakpur station
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  Mithila art
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  Puctue depuctin King Janak ploughing to discover Sita Mata
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  Janakpur in 2000's
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  First president of Republic Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav visiting Janakpur
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  Janakpur-Ayodhya bus
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  Old picture of Janaki High School
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  Murali Chowk in 2000's
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  Construction of New Airport buildings

• List of cities in Nepal
• Bardibas
• Bimalendra Nidhi
• Janakpur–Jaynagar Railway
• Ramswarup Ramsagar Multiple Campus
• 2022 Janakpur municipal election