SITA

THE SILENT BACKBONE OF RAMAYANA.

Sita is the wife of Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, in Hindu mythology. Born in Sitamarhi (punaura) in Bihar (India), Sita was taken to janakpur (in the present day nepal) soon after her birth by her father, maharaja Janak. Sita considered to be one of the sreshtanaris and was respected as the epitome of all womanly virtues for hindu women. Sita also considered an avatar of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and the partner of Sri Vishnu during the tretayuga.

Sita was an ideal woman that possessed all the good qualities that traditional Indian women were expected to possess. She was the ideal daughter to her parents, ideal wife to her husband, Rama, and the ideal mother to her twins, Luv and Kush.

Devi Sita underwent a lot of trials and sufferings in her life and it was her courage, chastity and adherence to dharma (righteousness) that finally made her emerge victorious. Through her life story, Sita showed how a strong woman should be and never let go of her principles in life. Probably, the whole mission of Sita's birth in human form was to destroy the arrogant Ravana.

Sita was found as an abandoned child, discovered in a furrow while ploughing in a field. Due to this legend, she is often referred to as the daughter of Bhoomidevi or mother earth. As she was adopted by king Janaka, she is also called Janaki. He was therefore popularly referred to as "Videha". Sita later came to be known as "Vaidehi"

Also called Mata Sita, she was regarded as the epitome of womanhood. Although her life was filled with trouble and turmoil she stoically maintained her calm and dignity throughout. Her story has been narrated in entirety in the book, Sitayanam. The values that she adhered to and represented at every point in the course her arduous life have now translated into becoming the values of womanly virtue, held sacred by all generations of Indians, past, present and future.

Interestingly, the name, "Sita", was in existence much before Valmiki's Ramayana. She was considered a female deity of agricultural fertility, but was overshadowed by more popular goddesses associated with fertility.