Vivah Panchami

About Vivah Panchami

Significance

Vivah Panchami celebrates the wedding of Shri Rama and Sita at Mithila. The Valmiki Ramayana (Bala Kanda, sargas 66–73) tells how King Janaka had promised Sita to the one who could string the great bow of Shiva; Rama, visiting with the sage Vishvamitra, lifted it and broke it in the attempt. Dasharatha was summoned from Ayodhya, and the four brothers were married together: Rama to Sita, Lakshmana to Urmila, Bharata to Mandavi and Shatrughna to Shrutakirti.

Valmiki names the nakshatra of the wedding, Uttara Phalguni, rather than a tithi; the observance on the fifth day of the bright half of Margashirsha comes from later tradition, especially in Awadh and Mithila. The Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas (Bal Kand), whose account of the bow ceremony and the wedding is sung across North India, gave the day much of its present devotional colour.

How and where it is observed

The greatest celebrations are at Janakpur in Nepal, the traditional capital of Janaka, where the Janaki Mandir stages the wedding over several days, and at Ayodhya, where temples send out wedding processions (barat) of Rama. The day is kept with devotion throughout Mithila in Bihar and Nepal and by Rama devotees across India. In parts of Mithila, families are said to avoid fixing their own weddings on this date, out of regard for the hardships Sita later faced.

Rituals

Temples dress the images of Rama and Sita as bride and groom and perform the wedding rites: the tilak, the procession, the exchange of garlands and the circling of the fire. Devotees sing wedding songs and recite the Sita-svayamvara and wedding chapters of the Ramcharitmanas, often in an akhand path (continuous recitation), and in Janakpur and Ayodhya the wedding is re-enacted as a tableau with music and feasting.

How the date is fixed

Vivah Panchami is Margashirsha (Agahan) Shukla Panchami, the same month name in the Amanta and Purnimanta calendars. It is kept on the day on which Panchami prevails at sunrise (udaya tithi). If Panchami is present at two sunrises the first day is taken, and if it begins after one sunrise and ends before the next, the day that contains it.

Sources

• Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, sargas 66–73 (the bow of Shiva and the marriage of the four brothers)
• Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand (the bow ceremony and the wedding of Rama and Sita)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Rama

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.