Festival · Rama and Sita
Vivah Panchami
The wedding of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita, on the bright fifth of Margashirsha. Janakpur, Sita’s city, and Ayodhya celebrate it with a wedding procession and the rites of a wedding.
- Vivah Panchami 2026
- Monday 14 December 2026
- New Delhi
For New Delhi, Monday 14 December 2026
Shukla Panchami tithi
- Begins
- 4:48 pm, 13 Dec
- Ends
- 7:16 pm
- Sunrise
- 7:05 am
- Sunset
- 5:26 pm
- Moonrise
- 10:53 am
- Moonset
- 9:58 pm
Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.
Full panchang for this day →How it is kept
Customs vary by region and family
- Read the wedding from the Ramcharitmanas
- Worship Lord Rama and Goddess Sita together
- Join or watch the wedding procession
What it remembers
Vivah Panchami is the wedding day of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita, kept on the bright fifth day of Margashirsha. Janakpur in Nepal, where Sita grew up as the daughter of King Janaka, holds a week of festival and weds the two again, and Ayodhya and the temples of Rama celebrate with them. At home families worship Sita and Rama together and hear the story of their wedding. Yet in some regions families avoid fixing their own weddings on this day, mindful of all that Sita went through afterwards.
Keeping Vivah Panchami
Vivah Panchami is a day of worship and celebration: a small wedding of Goddess Sita and Lord Rama at home, with songs and the story of the day. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs.
- Bathe early, clean the puja place, and set images or pictures of Goddess Sita and Lord Rama side by side.
- Light a lamp and incense, and offer flowers, tulsi leaves, akshata (unbroken rice) and water.
- Dress the images as a bride and groom, as the temples do, and garland them both, as at a wedding.
- Offer seasonal fruit and sweets such as ladoos or kheer.
- Read or listen to the story of the wedding: the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana or the wedding chapters of the Ramcharitmanas.
- Sing wedding songs and Lord Rama bhajans, and chant Om Sita Ramaya Namah.
- End with the aarti, and share the prasad with the family.
What you need
- Images or pictures of Goddess Sita and Lord Rama
- Two garlands, and flowers
- Tulsi leaves and akshata
- A lamp and incense
- Fruit and sweets for the offering
- The Ramayana or Ramcharitmanas to read from
Across India
Janakpur, Nepal
The great celebration of the year, running for about a week. The Janaki Mandir is decorated as a wedding pavilion, the city stages Tilakotsav and the Swayamvar, and on the main day the images of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita are married with full rites at the Barahbigha ground. Sadhus who come from India stand in for the groom’s wedding party from Ayodhya.
Ayodhya
Lord Rama’s city decorates its old temples with flowers and lights, a wedding procession passes from temple to temple, and Ramlila troupes act out the wedding. Many devotees from Mithila come dressed in their traditional clothes to perform, and a wedding party sets out from Ayodhya for Janakpur in the days before.
Mithila, Bihar and Nepal
Goddess Sita’s own country sings its wedding songs for her and holds the wedding in temples and homes. Here too many families will not fix a daughter’s wedding on the day itself, remembering the exile, the abduction and the separation that followed Sita’s marriage.
Dhanusha Dham, Nepal
About 18 km from Janakpur, a temple stands around a piece held to be part of Lord Shiva’s bow, the one Lord Rama broke. The town takes its name from it.
When it falls
Shukla Panchami of Margashirsha. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.
These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.
Vivah Panchami in the coming years
New Delhi, India time
- 2026Monday 14 December 2026
- 2027Friday 3 December 2027
- 2028Tuesday 21 November 2028
Questions
When is Vivah Panchami in 2026?
Monday 14 December 2026, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.
When does Vivah Panchami fall?
Shukla Panchami of Margashirsha. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.
How is Vivah Panchami kept?
Families read the wedding from the Ramcharitmanas, worship Lord Rama and Goddess Sita together and join or watch the wedding procession. Customs vary by region and family.
Who is honoured on Vivah Panchami?
Rama and Sita. The wedding of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita, on the bright fifth of Margashirsha. Janakpur, Sita’s city, and Ayodhya celebrate it with a wedding procession and the rites of a wedding.
Why are weddings avoided on Vivah Panchami?
Lord Rama and Goddess Sita married on this day, but their married life brought fourteen years of exile, Sita’s abduction by Ravana and a long separation. So in parts of North India, Mithila and Nepal, families do not fix their own children’s weddings on it. This is a custom, not a rule of scripture, and many other families count the day as auspicious. Ask your elders and your family priest.
Where did Lord Rama and Goddess Sita marry?
In Mithila, at the court of King Janaka, whose capital is held to be Janakpur, now in Nepal. The Vivah Mandap beside the Janaki Mandir there marks the place of the wedding, and it is the heart of the Vivah Panchami celebrations.
Whose bow did Lord Rama break?
Lord Shiva’s. Janaka kept it at his court and vowed that whoever could string it would marry Goddess Sita. Lord Rama broke it in drawing the string. A temple at Dhanusha Dham, near Janakpur, is said to keep a piece of it.
Did Lord Rama’s brothers marry at the same time?
Yes. When Dasharatha came to Mithila for Lord Rama’s wedding, Lakshmana married Goddess Sita’s sister Urmila, and Bharata and Shatrughna married Mandavi and Shrutakirti, the daughters of Janaka’s brother Kushadhvaja.