Who Is Janaka?
The king of Mithila who found Sita
Janaka is the king of Mithila (the kingdom of Videha) in the Ramayana and the father of Sita. While ploughing a field for a sacred rite, he found the baby Sita in the furrow and raised her as his own daughter.
His royal family kept a great bow entrusted to them by the god Shiva, and Janaka decided that only someone who could draw it would marry his daughter. Many kings came, but none could even lift it. Then Rama arrived, brought by Vishvamitra, drew the bow, and broke it in two.
Overjoyed, Janaka invited King Dasharatha to his capital and gave Sita to Rama and his other daughter, Urmila, to Lakshmana. The daughters of his brother Kushadhvaja married Bharata and Shatrughna, and the four couples were wed together in one ceremony.
