Transform Janakpur into a tourist destination

The historic city of Janakpur, the capital of the ancient Mithila kingdom and the birthplace of Goddess Sita, the consort of Lord Ram, has been suffering utter neglect for ages, with the government of Nepal not bothering to put it on its tourism map. 

Though the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, the Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board have not bothered to bring to light the glory of this ancient city and draw in tourists, better days seem to be ahead for the city and adjacent areas as they constitute a central part of the Ramayan Circuit, one of the most ambitious projects of the Narendra Modi-led Indian government that aims to connect all sacred places associated with the life and times of Ram and Sita. 

To further propagate the glory of Nepal, the government should step up efforts for inclusion of the Janaki Temple in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites’ list.

During his third visit to Nepal as the PM of India in May 2018, Narendra Modi had visited Janakpur as well, signifying the importance of the ancient city. 

Welcoming Modi, our Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had expressed hope that the Ramayan Circuit will further improve the ties between the people of Nepal and India. Modi, on his part, had aptly said that he was in Janakpurdham not as the PM of India but as a prime pilgrim. These words from the two PMs still resonate in the city and beyond. 

On the occasion, the two sides had launched a Janakpur-Ayodhya direct bus service and India had  announced an assistance package of Rs 1bn for the development of Janakpurdham.

At that time, PM Oli had said he and Modiji had “agreed to address outstanding issues between the two countries in a timebound manner” while PM Modi had expressed satisfaction over the opportunity to visit important pilgrimage sites and promised to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, whenever an opportunity arises.

Peace, harmony and spirituality are some of the common features of our two countries. It is no wonder that people from all over the world come as pilgrims and tourists to Nepal and India in search of peace, bliss and spirituality. Increasing inflow of people to Lumbini, Janakpurdham, Pashupatinath, Varanasi, Kedarnath, Bodhgaya and numerous other destinations in the mountains and in the plains is a living proof of this desire.

Back to Janakpur. The Department of Archaeology came up with a good news recently. It stated that it had found remnants of ancient civilizations dating back to the third or the second century BC on the banks of the Jamuni river in Dhanusha district. In a press release, the department pointed out that eight different civilizations may have existed in and around the site in different time periods, noting that cultural layers in the area date back to the Kusand period of the first to second century AD to the Maurya period ( 2-3 century BC). The department has reportedly unearthed ancient brick walls, foundations of human settlements, manmade pits, piles of mud utensils and post holes used for erecting wooden pillars. 

These remains have unique imprints of the Maurya civilization, comparatively advanced relics of the Kusand period like iron slag, terracotta beads, terracotta bangles and bricks as well as unique utensil pieces called Northern Black Polished Ware, which date back to 600-300 BC. During the excavation that involved digging a (4 * 3) trench, the department also collected samples of charcoal, bone and mud for further research in the area.

Unearthing of these remains once again shows how important Janakpurdham and surrounding areas are and how important it is for the government to preserve the priceless heritages of Nepal. Janakpur can also play a key role in boosting relations between Nepal and India, apart from bringing tourists and pilgrims from the world over to Nepal.

The time has come for our government authorities to wake up from deep slumber and work toward the preservation of priceless heritages of Janakpurdham and surrounding areas. I call upon the government to take a step in that direction by declaring 2025 as the ‘Visit Janakpur’ year.