About 18 km north-east of Janakpur, Dhanushadham marks the spot where, in Ramayana tradition, a broken fragment of Shiva’s mighty bow (Dhanusha) is said to have fallen after the young Rama drew and snapped it to win Sita’s hand at her swayamvara. A fossil-like stone embedded at the site is revered as that very fragment, and the place gives its name to the surrounding district of Dhanusha.
The shrine is one of the principal stations of the Ram-Janaki sacred geography that radiates out from Janakpur across the Nepal-Mithila plains, complementing Sita’s birthplace and the Janaki temple. Pilgrims tie its legend directly to Vivaha Panchami, the festival of Rama and Sita’s wedding.
Its great gathering is the Makar Mela, held on the Sundays of the month of Magh, when tens of thousands of devotees from Nepal and India converge — a fair the site claims to have kept since ancient times.
