Introduction
Sita is the wife of Rama and the heroine of the Ramayana. She is honoured across India and beyond as a model of courage, faithfulness and inner strength. In Valmiki's telling she is not only someone who suffers patiently. She makes her own choices: she chooses to follow Rama into exile, she refuses to give in to Ravana, and she speaks up for herself when she is doubted.
This article primarily follows the Valmiki Ramayana. Where a well-known detail comes from later retellings, the article says so.
Words to Know
Janaka: the king of Mithila, Sita's father.
Videha: the kingdom of Janaka. "Vaidehi" means "princess of Videha".
Ashoka Vatika: the grove in Lanka where Sita was kept by Ravana.
Rakshasi: a female Rakshasa, one of the powerful beings who serve Ravana.
Agni pariksha: the "trial by fire" in which Sita proves her purity.
Uttara Kanda: the last book of the Ramayana, considered by many scholars to be a later addition.
Names
Sita means "furrow", the line a plough cuts in the earth. She is also called Janaki (daughter of Janaka), Vaidehi (princess of Videha), Maithili (woman of Mithila) and Bhumija (born of the earth).
Birth and Childhood
Valmiki tells that King Janaka found Sita while ploughing a field to prepare for a sacrifice. She appeared in the furrow, and he took her as his daughter. Because she was not born in the usual way, she is sometimes called ayonija, "not born from a womb". Janaka and his queen, Sunayana, raised her as their daughter, so family trees list them as her parents.
She grew up in Mithila with her sister Urmila, Janaka's own daughter, and her cousins Mandavi and Shrutakirti, the daughters of Janaka's brother Kushadhwaja.
The Contest and the Marriage
Janaka kept in his palace the enormous bow of Shiva. He had declared that whoever could string it would marry Sita. Many kings tried and failed. When the sage Vishvamitra brought the young princes Rama and Lakshmana to Mithila, Rama lifted and strung the bow, and it broke with a sound like thunder.
Janaka sent word to Dasharatha in Ayodhya, and the four brothers were married together. Sita married Rama, Urmila married Lakshmana, Mandavi married Bharata and Shrutakirti married Shatrughna. Sita went to live in Ayodhya, and Valmiki describes her years there with Rama as deeply happy.
Choosing the Forest
When Rama was ordered into exile, he asked Sita to stay behind and look after his mother. Sita refused. She argued that a wife's place is beside her husband and that a forest with Rama would be better than a palace without him. She said she would walk ahead of him over the thorns to make his path easier. Rama gave way, and she left Ayodhya with him and Lakshmana.
In the Forest
At Chitrakuta, Sita met Anasuya, the wife of the sage Atri, who gave her a garland and clothes that would never fade. Later, in the Dandaka forest, she gently warned Rama not to carry violence into the forest and attack Rakshasas who had done him no harm. Rama answered that he had promised to protect the sages who were being attacked. Her concern shows how she was not simply following Rama but thinking about right and wrong herself.
The Golden Deer and the Abduction
At Panchavati, a golden deer appeared near the hut, and Sita asked Rama to catch it for her. Lakshmana suspected a trick, but Rama went. When the wounded deer cried out in Rama's voice, Sita believed Rama was in danger and begged Lakshmana to go after him. When he hesitated, she accused him with harsh words. Deeply hurt, Lakshmana left, asking the forest gods to protect her.
Ravana then arrived disguised as a holy man. Sita welcomed him with hospitality. When he revealed who he was and asked her to be his queen, she rejected him fiercely. He seized her and carried her off in his flying chariot. On the way she saw five Vanaras on a mountain and dropped some of her jewellery and a cloth so they might tell Rama.
Captivity in Lanka
Ravana kept Sita in the Ashoka Vatika, guarded by Rakshasis. He gave her a deadline of a year to agree to marry him. Valmiki shows her speaking to him with a blade of grass placed between them, to show that she would not even look at him directly. She refused him again and again.
Some of the Rakshasis threatened her, but Trijata, an elderly Rakshasi, told them of a dream in which Ravana was destroyed and Rama triumphed. Trijata and others comforted her. At times Sita was so worn down that she thought of ending her life, but she held on to hope.
Hanuman's Visit
When only about two months of Ravana's deadline were left, Hanuman found her. At first she was afraid he was Ravana in disguise. He won her trust by telling her Rama's story and giving her Rama's ring. She gave him her crest jewel to take to Rama, and reminded Rama through Hanuman of a private memory: a crow once attacked her at Chitrakuta, and Rama punished it with a blade of grass charged with a divine weapon.
Hanuman offered to carry her back on his shoulders. Sita declined. She said Rama himself should come and win her back, so that his honour and hers would be clear to all.
Rescue and the Trial by Fire
After Ravana was killed, Vibhishana brought Sita to Rama. Rama spoke harshly to her, saying he had fought the war to uphold his honour and that he could not accept her without proof of her purity. Sita answered with dignity and asked Lakshmana to prepare a fire. She entered it, and Agni, the god of fire, brought her out unharmed and declared her pure. The gods spoke on her behalf, and Rama accepted her.
Earlier, when Hanuman offered to punish the Rakshasis who had guarded and threatened her, Sita stopped him. She said they had only followed orders and should be forgiven. This shows her compassion even toward those who had made her suffer.
Return to Ayodhya
Sita returned to Ayodhya with Rama and Lakshmana and was crowned queen beside him.
The Last Book
The Uttara Kanda, which many scholars consider a later addition, tells that Sita was expecting a child when rumours about her time in Lanka spread through Ayodhya. Rama, placing his duty as king above his own feelings, had Lakshmana take Sita to the forest and leave her near the hermitage of the sage Valmiki.
She lived at the hermitage, where she gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kusha. Valmiki taught them the Ramayana, and they sang it before Rama at his sacrifice. Rama then asked Sita to prove her innocence before the assembly. Instead, she called on the earth, her mother, to receive her if she had always been faithful. The earth opened, and Sita was taken back. Rama was overcome with sorrow.
Character
Sita is shown as gentle but strong. She is devoted to Rama, yet she argues with him, corrects him and stands firm when she is tested. She is honest, protective of her dignity and forgiving. Readers have long discussed how fairly she was treated by Rama, especially in the trial by fire and in the final exile, and the epic does not hide these questions.
Legacy
Sita is worshipped along with Rama in temples, and Sita Navami, in the spring, celebrates her birth. Janakpur in Nepal and Sitamarhi in Bihar are both traditionally linked to her birthplace. Poets, playwrights, dancers and modern writers have retold her story, and many have used it to think about a woman's strength, choice and rights.