JANAKPUR , 165km east of
Birganj, is indisputably the Tarai's
most fascinating city. Also known as
Janakpurdham (
dham
denoting a sacred place), it's a
holy site of the first order, and
its central temple, the ornate
Janaki Mandir, is an obligatory stop
on the Hindu pilgrimage circuit.
Although Indian in every respect
except politically, the city is, by
Indian standards, small and
manageable: motorized traffic is all
but banned from the centre, tourist
hustle is largely absent, the
poverty isn't oppressive, and the
surrounding countryside is
delightful. To top it all,
Janakpur's railway, the only one
still operating in Nepal, makes an
entertaining excursion in itself.
There's so much going on, both in
and around Janakpur, that it's worth
setting aside a few days to absorb
it all - though bear in mind that
there are no tourist-style lodgings,
restaurants or other facilities.
Hindu mythology identifies
Janakpur as the capital of the
ancient kingdom of Mithila ,
which controlled a large part of
northern India between the tenth and
third centuries BC. The city
features prominently in the Ramayan,
for it was in Janakpur that Ram
- the god Vishnu in mortal form -
wed Sita , daughter of the
Mithila King Janak. Recounting the
divine couple's later separation and
heroic reunion, the Ramayan
holds Ram and Sita up as models of
the virtuous husband and chaste
wife; in Janakpur, where the two
command almost cult status, the
chant of "Sita Ram, Sita
Ram" is repeated like a Hindu
Hail Mary, and sadhus commonly wear
the tuning-fork-shaped tika
of Vishnu. Mithila came under the
control of the Mauryan empire around
the third century BC, then
languished for two millennia until
Guru Ramananda, the
seventeenth-century founder of the
sect of Sita that dominates Janakpur,
revived the city as a major
religious center.
Despite the absence of ancient
monuments to confirm its mythic past
- no building is much more than a
century old - Janakpur remains a
strangely attractive city. Religious
fervour seems to lend an aura to
everything; the skyline leaves a
lasting impression of palm trees and
the onion domes and pyramid roofs of
local shrines. Most of these
distinctively shaped buildings are
associated with kuti -
self-contained pilgrimage centres
and hostels for sadhus - some five
hundred of which are scattered
throughout the Janakpur area.
Janakpur's other distinguishing
feature is its dozens of sacred
ponds ( sagar or sar),
which here take the place of river
ghats for ritual bathing and dhobi
-ing. Clearly man-made, the roughly
rectangular tanks might, as locals
claim, go back to Ram's day,
although it's more likely that
they've been dredged over the
centuries by wealthy merit-seekers.
Janakpur is a long haul from
Kathmandu - eleven hours by bus
- and only a couple of services ply
the route during the daytime. The
rest are night buses. The new
Dhulikhel-Sindhuli Highway
(completion in 2001 or 2002) is
expected to bring the travel time
down to eight or nine hours, making
Janakpur a lot more accessible. In
the meantime, your only other
options are to break the journey in
Hetauda or Birganj (the latter is
better for getting a seat on to
Janakpur) or fly. Necon Air and
Royal Nepal both fly from
Kathmandu to Janakpur ($55), Necon's
service being the more reliable.
