The king (Janak, the father of Sita) worshipped and honoured Kaushik (Vishwamitra), got his blessings, and felt very happy and contented. Then he prepared an invitation-card showing the auspicious time when the stars would be favourable for the marriage ceremony to be formalized. (This is called a ‘Lagan’.) Then he assembled all the necessary items needed for the Tilak ceremony (which is equivalent to the official engagement of the bride with the groom), and sent it along with the formal invitation to Ayodhya (to Ram’s father, king Dasrath) through his messenger, his his royal priest named Shatanand.