Śrī Rāma Navamī

When it falls

The ninth lunar day (navamī) of the bright half of Caitra, in late March or April, at noon, the hour of the birth. It closes the spring Navarātri (Caitra Navarātri).

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

Rāma was born at Ayodhyā to King Daśaratha and Queen Kausalyā after the king's sacrifice for a son, the eldest of four brothers, the Sun at its height in Meṣa and the Moon in Punarvasu (meaning 'the return of light'). He is the seventh descent (avatāra) of Viṣṇu.

The Rāmāyaṇa is his life: the exile of fourteen years, Sītā's abduction by Rāvaṇa, the bridge of stones to Laṅkā, the war, the return. The tradition holds him up as the man who kept every word he gave (maryādā puruṣottama, the best of men within the bounds), and the ideal king; Rāma-rājya still means a just state.

Ayodhyā's temple, opened in January 2024, keeps the day with a beam of sunlight directed onto the forehead of the child image at noon.

How the day is kept

• A fast until noon, then the birth marked with a cradle, the bathing of the image, and a reading of the birth chapter of the Rāmāyaṇa or the Rāmcaritmānas.
• Bhadrāchalam and other temples of the Telugu country hold Sītārāma Kalyāṇam, the marriage of Rāma and Sītā performed as a full wedding with the deities as bride and groom.
• Śobhā Yātrā processions with images of Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa and Hanumān through the towns of the north.
• Pānakam (jaggery water with ginger and pepper) and vaḍapappu (soaked moong dal) are the south's offerings for the hot day.

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