Sita

The Daughter of the Furrow

According to Valmiki's Ramayana, King Janaka of Mithila found the infant Sita while ploughing a field in preparation for a sacrifice, and raised her as his own daughter. Her name, meaning "furrow," preserves this origin. She won her hand in marriage through a swayamvara in which Rama, prince of Ayodhya, alone succeeded in stringing and breaking the great bow of Shiva that Janaka had set as the contest's test.

Exile and Abduction

When Rama was exiled from Ayodhya for fourteen years by a court intrigue, Sita insisted on accompanying him into the forest rather than remain behind, along with his brother Lakshmana. During their exile, the demon king Ravana, ruler of Lanka, became infatuated with Sita after his sister Shurpanakha was humiliated by Rama and Lakshmana. Ravana lured Rama and Lakshmana away using the golden deer Maricha, then abducted Sita and carried her to Lanka, where he held her captive in the Ashoka grove, repeatedly pressing her to become his queen.

Steadfastness and Rescue

Throughout her captivity, Sita refused Ravana absolutely, remaining devoted to Rama. Hanuman, Rama's monkey general, located her in Lanka and delivered Rama's ring as a token before the war that followed. After Rama defeated and killed Ravana, he was reunited with Sita, who underwent a trial by fire (agni pariksha) to publicly demonstrate her chastity before the assembled army, emerging unburned.

The Later Uttara Kanda

The Uttara Kanda, widely regarded by scholars as a later addition to the epic rather than part of its earliest core, relates that Rama, hearing continued public doubt about Sita's fidelity after their return to Ayodhya, exiled her while pregnant. She took refuge in the sage Valmiki's ashram, where she raised her twin sons Lava and Kusha alone. When Rama later sought her return, Sita instead called upon her mother, the earth goddess Bhumi, who opened the ground and received her back. In later devotional and Puranic tradition, Sita is identified as an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi, born to accompany Vishnu's avatar Rama, though this theological identification is a development beyond Valmiki's earliest text.