Sita ki Rasoi: The Kitchen of Sita

The story

In north Indian homes a new bride marks her arrival by cooking her first dish for the family, a ritual called "pehli rasoi". Sita ki Rasoi, on the north-western side of the Janmabhoomi area in Ramkot, is revered as the place where Sita did so after coming to Ayodhya from Mithila, as told at the end of the Bala Kanda.

It is a symbolic kitchen and a small shrine rather than a working one. Inside are the customary kitchen things of an old household: a hearth, a rolling board and pin, and vessels. The shrine holds images of the four brothers with their brides: Ram and Sita, Lakshmana and Urmila, Bharata and Mandavi, Shatrughna and Shrutakirti. It is one of the few places where all four daughters-in-law of King Dasharatha are honoured together.

Sita as Annapurna

Here Sita is worshipped as Annapurna, the goddess who gives food. The logic of the place is simple and deep: the queen of Ayodhya is honoured not on a throne but at a hearth, because feeding others is treated as the highest form of care. Many temples and ashrams in Ayodhya run a "Sita Rasoi" or "Ram Rasoi", a free kitchen for pilgrims, in the same spirit. If you eat at one, eat what you take and offer what help you can.

What it teaches

The Ramayana notices domestic work and gives it dignity. Sita, who could argue philosophy with sages and face down Ravana, is also remembered for a meal. No kind of work that sustains a family is small. See The dignity and strength of Sita.

Visiting

• It lies within the high-security zone around Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir. Routes and access can change with the arrangements for the temple, so ask at the pilgrim help desk.
• See it together with Kanak Bhawan, Sita's palace, which is close by.
• Vivah Panchami, the wedding anniversary of Ram and Sita, is a fitting day to visit.