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| Janakpur - Dhanusha: Historic place |
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| Janakpur's railway |
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The
performance of railways has remained poor for a long time and the situation
has further deteriorated in recent years. The railway services have been
seriously affected but sufficient enough to cover the costs.
Janakpur:
Sorry state of Nepal's only railway (December 2002)
Janakpur-Jayanagar
Railway, facing continuous problems of resource, management and lack of
facilities; and which is in an advanced state of deterioration, celebrated
its 65th anniversary.
The
Janakpur-Jayanager Railway had been established in 1933 by the British
rulers in India for transportation of Sankhu timber from Bijulpur forest
of Mahottari. The tracks at Janakpur-Jamangar has been used for carrying
passengers without necessary further improvement works and still the same
trend exists. The railway accident, which occurred on August 28, 2002 that
claimed three lives points to the deteriorating physical infrastructure
and weak administrative system there.
Double
standard policy affects Janakpur railway (April 2002)
Janakpur
Railway, which was to be operated under the Company Act, has been ruined
by the government's double standard policies. The railway is now operating
under the Railway Act - 2020 after the Nepal Transport Corporation was
dismissed. The recent appointment of an Executive Officer in March by a
cabinet decision has given way to confusion as to who will be appointed
as the Chief Executive, a senior post presently occupied by the railway
manager. -According to the Railway Act - 2020, it states that a Manager
is the chief executive who regularly and lawfully operates the services
of the railways. However, the cabinet has also appointed Kiran Kishor Ghimire,
Member Secretary of the Railway committee of the Ministry of Labour and
Transportation Management as Executive Chief. -According to information
available from the Janakpur railways, without clearly clarifying the dissemination
of work, responsibility and rights, Executive Chief Ghimire has already
started to run accounts and also has started to sign in demand forms. "The
requirements of the railway company is to make available necessary material
and equipment to develop infrastructure, but is instead imposing more economic
and administrative burdens," said Sital Jha of UML Zone Committee. -Dirga
Narayan Regmi, railway Manager, who does not know about the rights, work
and responsibilities of the new Executive Chief, said that the appointment
of the Chief has not created any problems till date.
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| Year | Passenger Traffic | Goods Traffic |
| 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1994-95 1995-96 (First nine months) |
1,100,000 884,000 725,000 1,118,000 835,000 |
15,000.0 14,000.0 11,000.0 6,900.0 4,700.0 |
| 2014 | out of operation | |
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| Janakpur's temples |
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Janakpur
teems with famous and attractive temples, shrines and ponds (kunds and
sagars). These are vividly described in the Jain scripture, Mithila Tirthakalpa,
Mithila Mahatmya and Bhoo 'Parikrama' written by the Great Maithil Poet
Kokil Vidyapati in the 14th century:
| Ram Mandir (Temple) |
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'Ram
Mandir' is the oldest temple of Janakpur so far its construction is concerned.
It was built in famous Neplease (Pagoda) style by General Amar Singh Thapa
in AD 1782. Initially, it was established by Sannyasi Chaturbhuj Giri under
a buyan tree. Visitors can see the image of Shree Ram Pamchayatan and ancient
images of laxmi Narayan Vishnu simultaneously. The pit is a storehouse
of artistic images sculpted in black stone during the reign of the Guptas.
The temple of the family deity of Rajarsi Janak- 'Rajdevi'- is situated
in the campus of the main temple.
| Dulha - Dulhan Temple |
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This temple is also called Shree Ramananda Ashram and 'Shree Mithila Kanak Bhawan'. Lord Ram is believed to have stayed here in the 'Kohvar - Kunj' (room separated for the first night) as the bridegroom as per the Mithula tradition. This temple also houses the images of Ram - Sita in their traditional wedding robes. The architect has displayed through magnificent glasses the shades of Ram - Sita performing a wedding rite called Bhanwar. The temple has also preserved the images and charn - paduka (special wooden slippers) of Shree Sampradayacharya Shree Ramananda.
Other famous temples include Hanumangarhi, Shiva Temple (at Shiva Chowk), Kapileshwar Mahadev (at Kapileshwar) and Kusheshwar Mahadev (Kuwa).
| Janaki Temple |
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Janaki Temple, popularly known as Naulakha, is the most renowned pilgrimage of Janakpur. The legend had it that it was built on the holy site where Sannyasi Shurkishordas hadfound the images of Goddess Sita. In fact, Shurkishordas was the founder of modern Janakpur and the great saint and poetwho preached about the 'Sita - Upasana' philosophy. The present mahantha (chief or head) of the temple is the14th descendant of the shishya (disciple-tradition). This temple was built by Queen Brisabhanu Kunwar of Tikamgarh (Central India) in AD 1911. It is originally an illustration of'Hindu-Rajput' architecture with a blend of hte Moghularchitecture. This is the only attractive model of hte Moghul architecture in Nepal.
There is a grand Ram - Janki 'Vivah Mandap' is an excellent example of Neplease architecture. It has several panoramic and standard roof structures in the form of mandaps (pavilions)propped on the smooth and ornamented columns of marble, which are erected on the square platforms. This building is a major attraction for the tourists for its location amidst bewitching landscape (garden). Besides, there are many ancient (big and small) temples and hermitages in janakpur. A few of them are described below:
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| Janaki Temple is dedicated to the goddess Sita |
This
temple is centrally located in Janakpur. Legend has it that King Janak
performed the worship of 'Shiva - Dhanus' on this vey site. This temple
has preserved the broken idol of King Janak and other beautiful idols.
| Laxman Temple |
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This
temple is situated in the campus of Janaki Temple. It houses the images
of Ram - Sita and Laxman as well the images of the twin sons of Sita -
Lava and Kush.
| Sankat Mochan |
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This famous temple of Hanuman (monkey god) is situated northwest to the Rangbhumi stadium.
| Bibaha Panchami Festival |
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Glorious processions carrying the images of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita, accompanied with traditional musical bands is taken around the historic holy town of Janakpur on the auspicious occasion of Bibaha Panchami end of the year. The procession ceremony forms the most important part of the week long festival which is organised to commemorate the marriage ceremony of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita. This took place during the Treta Yuga or the 'silver age' when the almighty took human forms and led ideal lives on earth to set an example for humans.
As soon as the procession with the sedan of
Goddess Sita was taken out of the age-old Janaki temple, a chopper showered
flowers from the sky on the sedan as described in the holy scripture, Ram
Charitra Manas. This enthralled the participants of the procession as well
as the onlookers. Sages and Gods had showered flowers on the sedan of Goddess
Sita during her marriage ceremony in the Treta Yuga. The chopper was arranged
by Kishori Mahato, a local social worker.
Another procession carrying the image of Lord Ram started from Ram temple. Both the processions met at Barahabidha's open ground. Later , both the processions entered the Janaki temple after circumvating the major areas in the town. The marriage ceremony of the Lord and the Goddess has be performed in accordance with the Mithila tradition during the night.
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