Amid Adipurush row, Nepal towns ban Hindi movies: Janakpur and the legend of Janaki

Janakpur and Janaki

Located about 225 km off Kathmandu, Janakpur is at present the capital of Nepal’s Madhesh province. Across the border from India, Janakpur is about 23 km away, and the last town on the Indian side is Jainagar, in Bihar’s Madhubani district.

The new city is said to be Janakpurdham – the ancient capital of the Videha dynasty that ruled the Mithila region. As per the Ramayana, Sita is the daughter of King Janaka of the Videha dynasty. When she was older, he offered her in marriage to anyone who was able to lift the bow of Shiva. Many suitors tried but only Ram, the prince of Ayodhya, could lift the bow. Owing to its connection with the Ramayana, Janakpur has been an important pilgrimage site for Hindus.

The Janaki temple is the central point of Janakpur, which was built in 1898, with its inner sanctum housing a flower-covered statue of Sita, said to have been found in the Sarayu near Ayodhya. Statues of Lord Ram, and his brothers Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan stand next to Sita’s. Adjacent to the Janaki temple is the Ram-Sita Vivaha temple, which marks the event of Ram’s marriage to Sita.

India’s stand on Janakpur and the Ramayana Circuit

“Without Nepal, India’s faith is incomplete. Without Nepal, India’s history is incomplete. Without Nepal, India’s dhams (temples) are incomplete. Without Nepal, our Ram is incomplete,” PM Modi had said a couple of years ago, while inaugurating a bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya (where Lord Ram was born), emphasising the mythological connection between the two countries. Modi, after performing prayers at the Janaki temple, also announced a Rs 100 crore package to develop Janakpur.

In fact, besides the Buddhism link, India has often extolled its Ramayana connection with Nepal to build bridges with the neighbouring, Hindu-majority country. Modi had also remarked that “the ties between the two countries dated back to the Treta Yug during King Janak’s rule… And the bondage built by Sita… is still strong.”

When the Ministry of Tourism envisaged the Ramayana Circuit during PM Modi’s first term, it was declared as a “trans-national circuit” with Janakpur being an inseparable part of the epic journey. Just last June, the Indian Railways created history with its 18-day Ramayana Circuit train journey not only across the length and breadth of India but also in Nepal, to include Janakpur.

That is perhaps why the said dialogue in a Hindi film coming out of India evoked such sharp reaction in Nepal. The producers of ‘Adipurush’ have now written to Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah expressing concerns over banning the film, and also apologised, saying: “It was never intentional or deliberate to cause disharm for anyone.”

Other recent controversy with Nepal

Last month, a mural depicting ‘Akhand Bharat’ in the new Parliament building triggered some concern in Nepal, with a few politicians demanding that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal raise the issue with New Delhi. Nepal’s former PM Baburam Bhattarai even said that the mural could cause unnecessary diplomatic disputes.

What raised Nepal’s ire is the long-standing idea of the Sangh Parivar about an Indian nation that existed from the time of the Ramayana, covering the landmass stretching from today’s Afghanistan to Myanmar and Tibet to Sri Lanka, also including the present-day Nepal.

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In the wake of this objection, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs was quick to clarify: “The mural in question depicts the spread of the Ashokan empire and the idea of responsible and people-oriented governance that he (Ashoka) adopted and propagated.”