Janakpur

Janakpur's sacred geography identifies the Mithila plain with Janaka's kingdom and with Sita, whose marriage to Rama anchors the town's pilgrimage tradition. Its early modern growth depended on religious specialists and landed support. Traditions associate Chaturbhuj Giri with the establishment of the Ram temple and Surkishor with the Janaki shrine, linking ascetic activity to the renewed prominence of the sacred site.

The Ram temple's endowments crossed changes of dynasty. A later royal confirmation records grants attributed to Makwanpur's Sen rulers in 1657 and 1751, followed by Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769 and Pratap Singh Shah in 1774. These grants supplied a material foundation for worship and the succession of temple heads. Amar Singh Thapa commissioned the pagoda-style Ram Mandir in 1782 beside Dhanush Sagar. Long before the later monumental Janaki temple, this shrine and its endowed lands gave Janakpur a lasting institutional centre for Rama devotion.