Sita (Sanskrit: सीता; IAST: Sītā), also spelt Seeta is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, Ramayana
She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu and is regarded as a form of Vishnu’s wife Lakshmi
She is also the chief goddess of Rama-centric Hindu traditions
Sita is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage, and purity
Described as the daughter of Bhūmi (the earth), Sita is brought up as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha
Sita, in her youth, chooses Rama, the prince of Ayodhya as her husband in a swayamvara
After the swayamvara, she accompanies her husband to his kingdom, 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 from where she is abducted by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka
She is imprisoned in the garden of Ashoka Vatika, in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor
After the war, in some versions of the epic, Rama asks Sita to undergo Agni Pariksha (an ordeal of fire), by which she proves her purity, before she is accepted by Rama, which for the first time makes his brother Lakshmana get angry at him
In some versions of the epic, Maya Sita, an illusion created by Agni, takes Sita’s place and is abducted by Ravana and suffers his captivity, while the real Sita hides in the fire
Some scriptures also mention her previous birth being Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest
After proving her purity, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen
One day, a man questions Sita’s purity and in order to prove her innocence and maintain his own and the kingdom’s dignity, Rama sends Sita into the forest near the sage Valmiki’s ashram
Years later, Sita returns to the womb of her mother, the Earth, for release from a cruel world and as a testimony of her purity, after she reunites her two sons Kusha and Lava with their father Rama