According to a legend, Urmila slept continuously for fourteen years, so that her husband could protect Rama and Sita during the exile.

[8] Mandavi and Shrutakirti are her cousins, who were born to her father's younger brother, Kushadhvaja and his wife Chandrabhaga.

King Dasharatha arrived in Mithila for his son's wedding and noticed that Lakshmana had feelings for Urmila , but according to tradition, Bharata and Mandavi were to marry first.

When Rama obliged him with success, Parashurama acknowledged the former to be a form of Vishnu and departed to perform penance at the mountain Mahendra.

[18] Some time after the wedding, Kaikeyi compelled Dasharatha to make Bharata king, prompted by the coaxing of her maid Manthara, and forced Rama to leave Ayodhya and spend a period of exile.

Urmila was ready to accompany her husband, but he asked her to stay back in Ayodhya, so that she could take care of his aging parents and he could serve his brother and his wife.

[19] According to a legend, Urmila decided to sleep continuously for fourteen years, so that her husband could protect his brother and sister-in-law.

Urmila slept continuously for the fourteen years of exile, to complete the sleep of her and her husband's share.

[25] According to the Uttara Kanda, Lakshmana had ruled over Karupada, with Urmila as the queen, who advised him on important state matters.

According to Jain storytelling, Lakshmana had around sixteen thousand wives in which Prithvisundari was his principle consort (in the Hindu epic, he had only one wife Urmila).

According to the play, Vishwamitra invites Janaka to attend his sacrifice, but he sends his brother Kushadhvaja and daughters Sita and Urmila, as his delegates.

By the end of the act, Kushadhvaja and Vishwamitra decide to marry Sita and Urmila to Rama and Lakshamana.

[37] मानस-मन्दिर में सती, पति की प्रतिमा थाप, जलती-सी उस विरह में, बनी आरती आप। "Urmila has the image of her husband in her heart but she is distraught with the separation and is burning in it like the flame of an aarti."

Urmila's story and her sacrifice have inspired "painting, film, novels, poems, TV serials and plays".