Sitamarhi district

Sitamarhi district is one of the districts in the Indian state of Bihar. Dumra is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of the Tirhut division It is believed to be the place of manifestation of Goddess Sita in the ancient Mithila Kingdom while the legendary King Janaka in the epic Ramayana was ploughing a farm field in the present city of Sitamarhi. Presently in the city of Sitamarhi, there are two locations claimed to be the birthplace of the Goddess Sita. The two locations are Urvija Kund at Janaki Sthan and Janaki Kund at Punauradham.

This place is considered as birthplace of Sita, the main character of the epic Ramayana and a temple dedicated to Sita lies near Sitamarhi town. A Rock cut sanctuary of Mauryan period is found near Sitamarhi.

In 1875, a Sitamarhi subdistrict was created within the Muzaffarpur district. Sitmarhi was detached from Muzaffarpur and became a separate district as of 11 December 1972. It is situated in the northern part of Bihar. The district headquarters is located in Dumra, five kilometers south of Sitamarhi.^{[clarification needed]}

Sitamarhi district became a full-fledged district when it was split from Muzaffarpur district in 1972. 1994 saw the split of Sheohar district from Sitamarhi.

The district was a part of the Red Corridor.The Indian government recently declared it naxal-free.

Sitamarhi district has a history of communal riots dating back to the partition of India. In 1948, violence broke out in Belsand, following by riots in 1959 over issue of the Mahavir Flag; roughly 50 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Further violence occurred around the issue of Durga Mela - these riots began after a false rumour that Muslims had slaughtered a cow, which was eventually found alive. Another riot in 1959 on the issue of cow slaughter killed 11 people, again mostly Muslims, and destroyed 200 houses. Subsequent riots occurred in 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1989.

Sitamarhi district occupies an area of 2,294 square kilometres (886 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to Australia's Groote Eylandt.

It is bordered by Nepal to the north, Madhubani district to the east, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur districts to the south, and Sheohar and East Champaran districts to the west.