Also known as: Sri Rama Navami, Ram Navami, Ramnavami, Sita Rama Kalyanam (Telugu states) · Observed: Across India, especially Ayodhya, Bhadrachalam and North India
Significance of Rama Navami
Rama Navami celebrates the birth of Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya whom the Vaishnava tradition reveres as the seventh avatara of Vishnu and as maryada purushottama, the ideal of righteous conduct. His life, told in Valmiki's Ramayana and retold in Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, Kamban's Ramavataram and countless regional versions, holds up a model of duty to parents, faithfulness in marriage, loyalty in friendship and justice in rule. Celebrating his birth is a way of renewing these ideals in family and community life.
The festival concludes the nine nights of Chaitra Navaratri, known in the North as Vasanta Navaratri, so the day carries both the devotional mood of Rama worship and the culmination of nine days of Devi worship and fasting.
The Story of Rama's Birth
According to the Ramayana, King Dasharatha of Ayodhya had no heir. On the advice of the sage Vasishtha he performed the Putrakameshti yajna, conducted by the sage Rishyashringa. From the sacred fire arose a divine being bearing a vessel of payasam, which the king shared among his three queens. Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi to Bharata and Sumitra to the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Valmiki describes Rama's birth on the ninth tithi of the bright half of Chaitra, under Punarvasu nakshatra, with five planets exalted and Karka lagna rising, at the middle of the day. This is why worship on Rama Navami peaks at noon.
How Rama Navami Is Celebrated
Devotees fast from sunrise, often taking only fruit and milk, and recite the Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas or the Rama Raksha Stotra. In temples a small image of the infant Rama is placed in a decorated cradle at midday and rocked to the sound of bells, conches and the chant of Jai Shri Ram. Ayodhya draws very large crowds who bathe in the Sarayu river and visit the Ram Janmabhoomi and Kanak Bhavan temples. Processions with chariots carrying Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman pass through many North Indian towns.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the day is marked by Sita Rama Kalyanam, the ritual wedding of Rama and Sita, celebrated with great grandeur at the Bhadrachalam temple on the banks of the Godavari, where the state traditionally presents silk garments and pearls. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Rama Navami is often the end of a nine-day Ramayana discourse, and public music festivals in honour of Rama are held in Bengaluru and Chennai.
Food and Offerings
The traditional offerings are simple and cooling, suited to the hot season. In the South, panakam (jaggery water flavoured with dry ginger and cardamom), neer mor (spiced buttermilk) and vadapappu or kosambari (soaked moong dal with cucumber and coconut) are offered and distributed. In the North, those who fast break it in the evening with sattvic dishes such as kuttu or singhara puri, sabudana khichdi and halwa.
How the Date Is Determined
Rama Navami is Chaitra Shukla Navami, the ninth tithi of the bright fortnight of Chaitra. Because Rama was born at midday, the panchanga rule looks at the madhyahna, the middle fifth of the daytime between sunrise and sunset. The festival is kept on the day when Navami prevails during madhyahna. If Navami covers the madhyahna on two days or on neither, almanacs apply further rules, and some Vaishnava traditions avoid a Navami that is mixed with Ashtami, which is why sampradayas occasionally list different days.
Rituals and customs
- Fasting from sunrise until the evening or the next morning
- Midday worship with the infant Rama placed in a cradle
- Recitation of the Ramayana or Ramcharitmanas
- Sita Rama Kalyanam in Telugu-speaking regions
- Offering panakam, neer mor and kosambari
- Processions of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman