Heard of 'Sita Navami'? Sita gets own temple in Bihar; a public holiday too

By the way, there is no authoritative opinion on whether Sita was actually born in Bihar

Sita Navami

If you didn’t know this, now you do. April 24 is Janaki (Sita) Navami — and guess the first state to declare it a public holiday ? Bihar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is first off the block to announce a Sita Navami along the lines of Ram Navami. That’s not all. Sita will now have a new refurbished temple all to her own. It will be located in Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi district of Bihar, supposedly the birthplace of Janaki. The reconstruction of the Sita temple has been inaugurated by Kumar. 20 acres of government land has been allotted for the temple. By the way, there is no authoritative opinion on whether Sita was actually born here. Mahesh Sharma, who is the Union culture minister, had said in Parliament that the birthplace of Sita is a matter of faith and there is no evidence to prove that she was born in Bihar’s Sitamarhi. 

At crossroads

Those who thought the Congress will not take up the issue of the impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) read the tea-leaves all wrong. When the matter first came up (after four Supreme Court Judges held a press conference) the Congress held an internal meeting on how to respond. Here, it was clear that the party was internally divided on how to proceed further. Several, including of course, Kapil Sibal argued that the Congress must move an impeachment motion — there was enough evidence to warrant one. Congress president Rahul Gandhi was hesitant but was “inclined towards impeachment” said a source who was present at the meeting. However, Gandhi deferred to the larger view. Obviously, he exercised his own mind later.