Doodhmati ( Maithili: दूधमती) is a river in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

that flows on the plains of the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. The origin of the Dudhmati river is at Arjawan village located in ward number 5 of the Kshireshwarnath Municipality in Nepal. It also flows through Janakpurdham. It is a sacred river and considered as Ganga in the city of Janakpur. It is a legendary heritage for

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

adherents associated with

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

Legends

According legends, Goddess Doodhmati is the personified form of the sacred river Doodhmati. She was one of the eight friends of the

Goddess Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

in Mithila. Similarly in other legend, it is believed that a divine cow called Kamdhenu came to feed milk to Goddess Sita. Then this river was formed after the divine cow Kamdhenu poured milk from her breasts.

Geography

The Doodhmati river originates at the villages of ''Arjawan'' and ''Sakhuwa'' in the ward number 5 of the Kshireshwarnath Municipality in the Mithila region of Nepal. It merges in the ''Bigghi'' river at Matihani in the

Mahottari district Mahottari District (, ), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 553,481 in 2001 ...

near the Indo-Nepal International border. Later it becomes the part of the Dhouns River in India. Its total length is 46 kilometres. It is one of the oldest flowing river in the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinent.

Religious significance

The Doodhmati is a sacred river in the Mithila region. In

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, it is considered as an important place for sacred bathing, performing rituals for gods and ancestors. In Janakpurdham, ''Doodhmati Aarti'' is held at Basavitti during the Navami of Vaishakh. Similarly, the

Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to orga ...

performs special Aarti twice a month at Dudhmati, on the full moon and new moon days. Its sacred water is also used for performing Jalabhisheka on different shivlings of the

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

temples in the region during the

Sawan Sāwaṇ or Sāuṇ (Shahmukhi: ; Gurmukhi: , ) is the fifth month in the Punjabi calendar and the Nanakshahi calendar. Many Indian calendars started in different eras such as Shaka Calendar (national calendar of India) traditional Vikrama a ...

Sombari festival. During the festival, devotees carry the sacred water from the river and perform Jalabhisheka on the shivlings of Jaleshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir, Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir and some other Shiva temples in the Mithila region. The sacred water of the river was also sent to

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

in India, during the Prana Pratishta ceremony of the

Ram Mandir The Ram Mandir (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Shri Ramlalla Mandir, is a partially constructed Hindu temple, Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, t ...

, for performing Jalabhisheka to the idol of

Lord Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

in the temple.

References

{{coord missing, Nepal Rivers of Nepal Mithila