Sita

Sita is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Ramayana epic. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of Vishnu, and is thought to be a reincarnation of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She is also the most important goddess in Rama-centric Hindu traditions. Sita is well-known for her devotion, self-sacrifice, bravery, and purity. She is one of Nepal's seventeen national heroes (rastriya bibhuti).

Sita, described as the daughter of Bhūmi (the earth), is raised as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha. Sita chooses Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, as her husband in a swayamvara in her youth. She follows her husband to his kingdom after the swayamvara, but later chooses to accompany her husband, along with her brother-in-law Lakshmana, in his exile. While in exile, the trio settles in the Dandaka forest, where she is kidnapped by Ravana, Lanka's Rakshasa king. She is imprisoned in Ashoka Vatika's garden in Lanka until she is rescued by Rama, who kills her captor. In some versions of the epic, after the war, Rama asks Sita to go through Agni Pariksha (a fire ordeal) to prove her purity before she is accepted by Rama, which angers his brother Lakshmana for the first time.

In some versions of the epic, Maya Sita, an illusion created by Agni, takes Sita's place and is captured by Ravana, while the real Sita hides in the fire. According to some scriptures, her previous birth was Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest. After proving her purity, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya and are crowned king and queen. When a man questions Sita's purity, Rama sends her into the forest near the ashram of the sage Valmiki to prove her innocence and maintain his and the kingdom's dignity. Years later, after reuniting her two sons Kusha and Lava with their father Rama, Sita returns to her mother's womb, the Earth, for release from a cruel world and as a testament to her purity.