Sita Navami 2023: The Saga Of Sita, The Symbol Of True Womanhood

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Sita Navami otherwise known as Janaki Navami or Sita Jayanti, is observed on the Navami Tithi of Shukla Paksha in Vaishakha. This year, Sita Navami will arrive on Saturday 29 April 2023.

This day is the birth anniversary of Goddess Sita who was the incarnation of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Goddess Sita was born on a Tuesday on Navami tithi under Pushya star. Lord Rama was also born on Navami Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month under Punarvasu constellation.

Birth Details Of Goddess Sita
Mata Sita was born on Tuesday, while Lord Rama was born on Thursday, on the Navami Tithi. Punarvasu star arrives before Pushya star in the celestial order of nakshatras. Hence there is no dosha incurred with respect to compatibility, from the Astrological angle. Pushya and Punarvasu are made for each other. So Rama ( punarvasu) and Sita ( Pushya) were matched as per the divine scheme. Goddess Lakshmi follows Lord Vishnu in every incarnation in every yuga and during Treta yuga, she was born as Sita, the consort of Rama. Incidentally, Goddess Sita shares her birthday (Tuesday) with Goddess Durga and Hanuman.

Characteristics Of Sita Of Treta Era
Women during puranic times were not essentially submissive as they had a voice to express their views and the courage to stand staunchly for the values they held as sacred.. Sita was a prime example of a single mother who brought up her children as great warriors with capacity to take on even Lord Ram in an encounter. Whatever the age and era, Sita proved herself and stood for her values.

Each Goddess has, at the same time, mild and aggressive facets. Sita was no different. She spoke her mind, like a true warrior princess but otherwise, a calm and composed lady at other times.. When Hanuman offered to take her on his back and return her safely to Ram, she refused because she found it below her dignity to be rescued in such a way. She wanted only Ram to arrive at Lanka to win Ravana in a true heroic way to win her back from the clutches of Ravana.

Although this decision made her Lanka stay even more painful, she was willing to go through that ordeal. She remained from her birth to her final disappearance, a true-blue princess of Mithila, and a blue blooded Kshatriya every step of her life. She remained a princess who was born and bred to the bones as a royal icon.

Although she was a princess herself, she chose to live as a consort of Rama. She was the emblem of true womanhood and offered countless examples for women to follow. She never let her morale peter out despite the continuous onslaught of troubles in her life. Sita's main characteristic was her calm disposition which she never lost to the vagaries of fate. This is something all of us try to achieve all our lives but it is an ideal and not a common reality for most of us.

Legend Of Sita
According to Ramayana, during those times, there was a royal ritual in which the land had to be ploughed by the king of the land in order to make it more fertile. Similarly, when King Janaka ploughed his land in order to make the soil fertile, he found Sita in a furrow inside a golden casket. As soon as she was found, King Janaka was overjoyed and named her after the plough that had helped him find her. In Sanskrit a plough is called Sita. Sita was the child of mother earth. The surprising face of Ramayana is that she was born out of mother earth and returned back to mother earth in the last stages of Ramayana.

Rituals:
Married women pray to Sita to enable them to follow her with respect to her sati dharma, the kind of unparalleled commitment she displayed towards Rama. They observe certain rituals every Sita Navami in order to achieve these ideals.

1. A puja mandap is set up with flower decorations inside which the idols of Rama Sita Lakshmana and Dasharatha and queen Sunayana are placed. As Sita was born as the daughter of earth, Goddess Earth is also worshipped.
2. Til seeds, rice, barley and fruits are offered as prasad. A special bhog is offered and distributed amongst devotees after completion of Aarti. There is a dish that is named after Sita, called Sitabhog that is fit to be tasted only by Kings and celestials. The taste of Sitabhog which is essentially a Bengali dish, overtakes any rich delicious dish in flavour and it was a European favourite for several centuries. It was made famous by Lord Curzon who first tasted it in a palace of a Maharaj in India.
3. Strict fast is observed by women who do nirjal upavas on this day. It is believed that Sita Navami celebrations and rituals induce women to be modest. Motherly, sacrificing and maritally committed just like mother Sita. Married women pray for their husbands' long life on this day.
4. Temples all over India, celebrated this festival by holding prayers and rituals like abhishekam and aarti.
5. Ramayana recitation, bhajans and keertans are an integral part of the celebrations.
6. Lord Ram with Sita is taken out on procession while Devotees sing in chorus the soul stirring Jai Siya Ram and songs that follow the chants.