Ram Navami - the birthday of Lord Rama

The Ram Navami Festival honours the birthday of Lord Rama (during the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar).The ninth day of the first month in the Hindu calendar is celebrated as the day of birth of the Hindu God, incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of the epic Ramayana, Lord Ram. Hindus normally perform Kalyanotsavam (marriage celebration) with small murtis of Rama and Sita in their houses, and at the end of the day the deity is taken to a procession on the streets.

The festival is celebrated all over the country with people fasting and worshipping the Lord for the whole day. Ramnavami is also celebrated as the Vasant Navratra and the celebration starts from the first lunar day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra and lasts up to Ramnavami. On Ashthami or the eighth day, Durga is worshipped. Both Ram and Durga symbolize the victory of good over the evil.

This day also marks the end of the nine-day utsavam called Chaitra Navaratri (Maharashtra) or Vasanthothsavam (Andhra Pradesh) (festival of Spring), which starts with Gudi Padwa (Maharashtra) or Ugadi (South India).

Celebrations

Ram Navami is celebrated with religious fervour. On this day, people observe a fast. Many devotees fast for nine days. In all the Ram mandirs, Aarti and Pooja are performed during the noon hours, the time of Lord Rama's birth. At the end of the rites and rituals, which includes abhishek of Lord Rama and Shiva and chanting of Bhajans, the priest performs the peace chant with sprinkling of consecrated water. Prasad of sweets and fruits is given to people attending the pooja.

Many devotees stay awake on the previous night, in anticipation of Lord Ram's birth. A havan is performed and they sing devotional songs in praise of Lord Ram and rock his image in cradles to celebrate his birth.

On Ram Navami day, all the Ram temples are beautifully decorated. the idols of Lord Ram, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman are adorned with new clothes, jewellery and flowers. Devotees visit various Ram mandirs and offer sweets, flowers and fruits. Selected chapters on Ramlila of Ramayan are read, the most popular version being Tulsidas's Ramacharitmanas.

A huge fair is held in Ayodhya on Ram Navami day, where thousands of devotees gather to celebrate this festival. Pondicherry is another place where many pilgrims visit the Ram temples. Processions accompanied by splendid floats of Rama, his wife Sita, his brother Lakshman and his monkey-general, Hanuman are carried out with great zest.

Birth Story

The greatest worry of Dasarath, The King of Avadha kingdom was that he had no children. At that time Maharshi Vasist suggests him to perform PuthraKamesti Yagna. As the result of yagna at Ayodhya (capital of Avadha), Yagneshwar appears and hands Dasarath a bowl of Payasam and asks him to give it to his wives. On the nineth day(Navami) of Chaithra Masa(First month in Hindu calender),at noon Kaushalya gives birth to Lord Sri Ram. Lord Ram is seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who takes birth on earth when Adharma over rules Dharma. He protects all his devoties by vanishing the roots of Adharma