Sitamarhi is a town and the district headquarters of Sitamarhi district, Mithila, India. It is a part of the Tirhut Division(Tirhut). Sitamarhi has suffered natural disasters, including excess flooding. The town was almost completely destroyed by the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. It is also know as the birthplace of goddess Sita. Sama Chakeva is a prominent winter festival dedicated to celebrate brother sister relationship. A major cultural event is the marriage ceremonies which take much preparation and many cultural rituals. National Highway 77 connects the area to the Muzaffarpur district and Patna to the south. Sitamarhi has road connections to adjoining districts, of which the major examples are National Highway 77 and National Highway 104. State highways link it to Madhubani district in the east and Sheohar in the west. The town is on the Darbhanga-Raxaul-Narkatiaganj railway line and has the largest railway station of district. The Darbhanga-Sitamarhi-Raxaul track was converted to broad gauge in February 2014. Another broad gauge track connects Sitamarhi to Muzaffarpur. Direct train services are available from Sitamarhi railway junction to places such as New Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Mumbai. The nearest airport to Sitamarhi is the Jaiprakash Narayan International Airport which is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) distant. Sitamarhi is connected to cities in and around Bihar by state-owned transport services. Some private buses operate between Patna to Sitamarhi and Paktola Village to Patna.