Janakpur is a pilgrimage city on the Nepali plains, and two days covers it. Spend the first on the Janaki Mandir, the Vivah Mandap beside it and the Ram Mandir on Dhanush Sagar, ending with the evening aarti at Ganga Sagar. Give the second to Mithila art: the women's centre in Kuwa and the painted wall of the provincial headquarters. Come for Vivah Panchami in December if you can, and add a morning at Dhanushadham.
Janakpur is the capital of Madhesh Province, on the plains a short drive from the Indian border, and Hindus revere it as the birthplace of Sita. Its core is a white marble temple and dozens of sacred ponds. Come for the aarti, the wedding festival in December and the Mithila painting of the villages around it.
The white temple to Sita, completed in 1910 by Queen Vrisha Bhanu of Tikamgarh, is the reason the city exists as a pilgrim stop. It is built of stone and marble rather than Nepal's usual brick and timber. It cost nine lakh rupees, so locals call it the Naulakha Mandir.
Beside the Janaki Mandir, a pavilion with pagoda roofs marks the spot where tradition holds Ram and Sita were married. Glass walls let you see the wedding scene of statues inside. Locals call it the Marwa.
Every evening devotees gather on the steps of Ganga Sagar for the aarti, with lamps, bells and chanting over the water. It is the best hour in the city. In Chhath the banks fill with families making offerings to the setting sun.
The city's oldest major temple, a Nepali pagoda rebuilt in 1782 by the Gorkhali general Amar Singh Thapa. It faces Dhanush Sagar, the largest ceremonial pond, where devotees bathe each morning. The Rajdevi shrine sits in the same compound.
Ram and Sita's wedding is re-enacted for about a week each November or December, the biggest event of Janakpur's year. It opens with a procession of their idols around the city, and the wedding day itself draws the largest crowds.
A women-run centre founded in 1989 on the edge of the city, where about 40 artists paint, print, embroider and make ceramics and papier-mâché in the Mithila style. You can watch them work and buy from the source.
The former Janakpur Cigarette Factory now houses the Madhesh government, and around 50 artists were commissioned in 2024 to cover its outer wall in Mithila painting. The plan was 160 panels over about a kilometre.
The chef Santosh Shah, a MasterChef winner, opened Mithila Thali here in 2023 to serve the local table: fish in mustard, kadhi badi and chokha. It has since grown into a chain.
The line opened in 1937 to haul timber to Jaynagar in India, and was rebuilt to broad gauge before reopening in 2022. Trains run south to the border and north towards Bijalpura, through rice fields and villages.
Local tradition says a piece of Shiva's bow, broken by Ram to win Sita, fell here, about 15 to 20 km north of the city. A petrified fragment lies under a shelter beside a pond and a temple, and a fair fills the site on Sundays in Magh.
A temple on the west bank of Bihar Kund with idols of Ram and his three brothers.
The largest ceremonial pond, said to hold the buried half of Shiva's bow. Bathers come at dawn.
A pond and temple south of the centre, due for restoration in an ADB-backed programme.
A 15-day walk of about 120 km through Nepal and Bihar, carrying the palanquins of Ram and Sita.
The closing loop of more than 15 km around Janakpur itself. Holi follows the next day.
The procession of Ram and Sita's idols around the city that opens the wedding festival.
Painting, prints, ceramics and embroidery made by about 40 women. Buy direct.
Stalls of offerings by the temple gates, then bangles, cloth and street food.
A Shiva shrine whose sanctum lies 16 steps down and stays under water. About 15 km south.
The hill fort where Gorkha forces beat a British column in 1767. About 3 hours by road.
About a week re-enacting Ram and Sita's wedding. The city's biggest crowds.
Fifteen days of walking pilgrims through Nepal and Bihar, ending in Janakpur.
Played the day after the Antargriha parikrama closes. Wear clothes you can lose.
Ram's birthday, with songs and processions at the Ram and Janaki temples.
Sita's birthday. A week of aarti and tableaux at the Janaki Mandir.
Fifteen days of worship by newly married Maithil women in the month of Saun.
Offerings to the sun at dusk and dawn on Ganga Sagar and the other ponds.
A sisters' festival for their brothers, with clay figures made at home.
Buddha Air and Yeti Airlines fly from Kathmandu several times a day, about 25 minutes in the air. The airport sits on the edge of the city.
About 210 km via Sindhuli and Bardibas, roughly six hours by jeep. Buses on the longer route via Mugling take about nine.
The cross-border line runs south to Jaynagar in India and north towards Bijalpura. Carry ID and check times at the station.
The temples and ponds are close enough to walk. E-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws cover the rest; agree the fare first.
Freshwater fish in a pungent mustard gravy, the signature of Mithila.
Beaten rice with the region's thick dahi and jaggery.
Yoghurt curry with lentil dumplings, served at festive meals.
Mashed potato and aubergine with mustard oil and green chilli.
Roasted wheat balls stuffed with spiced gram flour, with chokha.
Sesame and jaggery hammered flat with wooden mallets.
Milk pudding made with fox nuts, a Janakpur delicacy.
Rice and jaggery fritters made for rituals and weddings.
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