The Bihar government is planning to construct a ‘grand temple’ for Goddess Sita in the state’s Sitamarhi district, and has decided, in principle, to acquire 50 acres of land around an existing temple there, The Indian Express has reported.
The decision to build the temple was taken at a Bihar Cabinet meeting on Friday, the report said. Sitamarhi is considered to be Sita’s birthplace.
“Sitamarhi is to Sita what Ayodhya is to Ram. It is a holy land for Hindus. People from all over the world will now come to worship at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and they would like to visit Sita’s birthplace as well. Our contention is that a grand temple for Sita, befitting her stature, should be built in Sitamarhi,” ex-MLC Kameshwar Chaupal from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a member of the ruling alliance, was quoted as saying.
Sita was married to Lord Ram, son of Ayodhya’s King Dashratha. The consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple was held on January 22 amid much fanfare in this temple town of Uttar Pradesh.
‘Over and above acres earlier acquired’
As per the report, the 50 acres would be acquired ‘over and above’ the 16.63 acres that the Bihar government previously acquired for the redevelopment of the area around the existing temple. Additionally, the construction of the proposed temple would have to be via a public trust, as was the case with the Ram Temple.
“The government cannot build a temple. But there have been demands from several quarters that a grand temple should be built here. The government is acquiring the land to make that possible,” Dr S Siddharth, Principal Secretary to chief minister Nitish Kumar, said.
He added that facilities such as hotel and public conveniences would be set up to cater to a ‘large number of pilgrims.’
Sitamarhi comes under the ‘Ramayana Circuit,’ a set of 15 important places mentioned in the Ramayana, that has been identified by the BJP-led Union government for development to boost religious tourism.
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