History

The district's own account begins in the Treta Yug. Raja Janak was ploughing to bring rain when an earthen pot turned up an infant girl, who grew to be Maa Sita, and the land became part of the kingdom of Videha. The site is Punaura, a little west of the present town; the tank there is called Maa Sita Kund.

The town's shrine is comparatively young. After centuries in which the land lay in jungle, an ascetic named Birbal Das came from Ayodhya about five hundred years ago, cleared the site, found the stone figures Raja Janak was said to have set up, and built the temple over them. The Janaki Mandir standing today is about a hundred years old, and the district records no relics of archaeological interest in the town itself.

Under British rule Sitamarhi was a subdivision of Muzaffarpur district. The January 1934 earthquake destroyed much of the town, and the headquarters were moved to Dumra, five kilometres to the south, where they remain.

On 11 December 1972 the sixteen police stations of the subdivision were separated from Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi became a district of Bihar in its own right.

Figures, offices and telephone numbers below are copied from Sitamarhi District Portal (sitamarhi.nic.in) on 4 November 2026. Officers change with transfers, so confirm anything you intend to act on directly with the office.