Ram Navami

What is Ram Navami all about?

Ram Navami is celebrated to honour the birth of Lord Ram. Ram Navami is the festival of great importance for the people of Hindu religion. Celebrating the festival of Ram Navami on the 9th day of the Chaitra month indicates the removal of bad powers and entrance of divine power on the earth. Ram Navami is one of the oldest festivals celebrated in India. The reference of Ram Navami can also be found in the Kalika Puran. In Hindu religion, it is considered as one of the five major holy festivals and is said that observing this fast properly leads to the attainment of salvation.

Every year, in the months of March-April, one can observe a spell of actions in the temples and religious places around India, full of Hindus, with faith in their hearts and devotion in their minds. This is not something unusual for the Hindus. 'Shukla Paksha' or the waxing moon phase on the ninth day, occurs in this auspicious month of Chaitra.

The devoted Hindus believe that the prayers of The King, Dasharatha, were answered. This king had three wives named Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. But none of the three bore him a male child which the King needed to take care of his empire and as a successor to his throne. Even after several years of his marriage, the King was not able to father a child.

Then, the great Sage Vasistha advised him to perform Puthra Kamesti Yagna, the holy ritual carried out to obtain an offspring. With King Dasharatha's request, the great sage Maharshi Rushya Shrunga performed the ritual in the most detailed possible manner. The King was handed over a bowl of a preparation of milk and rice and asked to distribute the food amongst his wives. One of the versions says, The king gave one-half of the payasam to his 1st wife, Kausalya, and another half to his 2nd wife, Kaikeyi. Both wives gave half of their portions to Sumithra. This unequal distribution of the holy food leads to both Kausalya and Kaikeyi giving birth to one son each while twin sons are born to Sumithra.

The day of the birth was one of the ultimate celebrations in Ayodhya, where, not only the royal family, but every resident of the place heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the God for this miracle; little knowing that God himself was present among them in the form of Lord Ram, the newborn son of Kausalya. The great Hindu epic, Ramayana (written by the ancient sage and Sanskrit poet Valmiki), mentions Lord Ram as the seventh incarnation of the supreme God Lord Vishnu, who was born on earth to restore mankind to its previous glory, destroy the evil and protect the innocent.

In his adulthood, Rama's execution of Ravana, the terrible demon-king of Lanka, and his army, as well as many other astonishing deeds, proved his divine status before the people. When Rama became a king, the people of Ayodhya supposedly began to observe his birthday out of extreme faith in their godly ruler. It is highly difficult to point out the exact time when Ram Navami celebrations started.