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| Ram Navami |
- This festival is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Lord Ram, considered by most of the people as an incarnation of God
- Hindu devotees undertake fast and spend the day in singing devotional songs
- The idol of Ram is worshipped all over the country
- People celebrate it observing fasts and offering prayers in his honor
- The chief attraction of this festival is Ram Lila, a dramatic show depicting the life of ram
- Ram Lila is based on the Ramayan, an epic written by Valmiki and Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsi Das
- Ram is deeply and widely remembered by the people of Mithila
- In recent years, procession showing the martial skills are also taken in urban centers
- Jhankis are taken out on the current national and political themes
Ram, Laxman, Sita & Hanuman
- Ram is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu
- Years later Lord Rama was married to Sita on the Vivaha Panchami
- The sacred marriage of Devi Sita with Lord Rama was held on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami as per Valmiki Ramayana (This occasion is known as Seetha kalyanam)
- The Rama Navami festival falls in the Shukla Paksha on the Navami, the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar
- Thus it is also known as Chaitra Masa Suklapaksha Navami, and marks the end of the nine-day Chaitra-Navratri celebrations
- At some places the festival lasts the whole nine days of the Navratras, thus the period is called 'Sri Rama Navratra'
- It is marked by continuous recitals, Akhand Paath, mostly of the Ramacharitamanas, organized several days in advance to culminate on this day, with elaborate bhajan, kirtan and distribution of prasad after the puja and Aarti
- Images of infant form of Sri Rama are placed on cradles and rocked by devotees
- Since Rama is the 7th incarnation of Vishnu having born at noon, temples and family shrines are elaborately decorated and traditional prayers are chanted together by the family in the morning
- Also, at temples, special havans are organized, along with Vedic chanting of Vedic mantras and offerings of fruits and flowers
- Many followers mark this day by Vrata (fasting) through the day followed by feasting in the evening, or at the culmination of celebrations
History
- In the epic Ramayana, Dasharatha, the Emperor from Ayodhya, had three wives named Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi in the Treta Yuga, which follows the Satya Yuga and is succeeded by Dwapara Yuga
- Their greatest worry was that they had no children, and so they had no heir to the throne in theIkshvaku Kula or royal lineage of great, pious, wonderful Emperors
- Rishi Vasistha suggests him to perform Puthra Kamesti Yagna, through which he can have a desired child. He also tells him to invite Maharshi Rishyasringa to perform this yagna for him
- Emperor Dasharatha consents and heads to Maharshi Rishyasringa's ashram, to invite him
- Maharshi agrees and accompanies Emperor Dasharatha to Ayodhya (Capital of Avadha) and performs the yagna
- As the result of this yagna, Yagneshwara appears and provides Dasharatha a bowl of divine pudding (Kheer/Payasam) and requests him to give it to his wives
- Dasharatha gives one half of the payasam to his elder wife Kausalya, and another half to his younger wife Kaikeyi
- They both give half of their portions to Sumitra
- After few days all three Queens conceive
- On the ninth day (Navami) of Chaithra Masa (first month in Vedic calendar), at noon Kausalya gives birth to Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharata, and Sumitra to twin boys, Lakshmana and Shatrughna
- Rama is the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, who takes birth by His own will, on Bhuloka (Earth) when Adharma rules over Dharma
- He protects all his devotees by vanquishing the roots of Adharma
- Rama decided to incarnate to destroy an Asura or person with demonic and evil designs, called Ravana
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