Ram Navami marks the birth of Lord Rama & is celebrated with great enthusiasm all across the globe. Ram Navami is celebrated every year on the ninth day of the lunar month Chaitra & is an important festival in the Hindu religion which celebrates the birth of Lord Rama to honor him.
Ramayana is one of the ancient greatest & epic Hindu mythology. Lord Rama is considered as one of the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu & people all over the world worship him & have a very special place in their hearts. He is considered the supreme being in Ramayana. Lord Rama was born to Kausalya and Dasharatha in Ayodhya, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kosala.
King Dasharath had 3 wives named Kaushalya, Sumitra, and Kaikey who were unable to bear an heir for the kingdom of Ayodhya for a long period. Later on the great sage, Vashishth suggested performing Putra Kasmsethi Yagna & the queens performed the ceremony where King Dashrath distributed Payasam to all the queens. And on the ninth day of Hindu month Chaitra, queen Kaushalya gave birth to Lord Rama & other queens gave birth to Lord Laxmana & Bharat.
Every year lot of devotees visit temples across all over the world to worship Lord Rama & to take his blessings. Every temple chants mantras till noon, decorations of Lord Rama showing him as an infant are placed on cradles & are rocked by devotees as a part of the ceremony. Devotees observe fast throughout the day with a huge feast in the evening.
In northern India, people burn firecrackers & celebrate the end of Ravan’s reign considering the win of good over evil. In many parts of India, the festival lasts for 9 days. In Maharashtra, it is called Chaitra Navratri whereas in South India the festival is called Vasanthothsava. In many parts of India, these 9 days are celebrated where various storytellers attract the crowd by narrating the great epic Ramayana. Poojas, rituals & havans are performed at Haridwar by chanting the Vedic mantras by the devotees sitting beside the holy sacred river Ganga.
Cities like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Nepal, Tamil Nadu celebrates it with huge glory. Devotees dress up Lord Rama & streets and homes are lit, nine-day long fairs are organized, music and prayers are enchanted loudly, and statues of the deity are bejeweled and made from scratch.
1. Decorate your mandir with flowers & lit up a lamp in front of Lord Rama’s photo or idol.
2. You can dress up the little miniature idols in your temple as Lord Rama & offer Payasam to them.
3. You can celebrate this day by doing some charity or perform a Kanya puja ritual by inviting 9 girls at home & showering them with respect, love & offering them prasad.
4. You should tell the stories of Lord Rama about his bravery, truthfulness, sacrifices, wisdom & teach your kids to follow him.
5. We can observe fast on this day & recite Tulsi Ramayana.
1. Never give up
It may take days, weeks, or even years when you fix onto a goal, never stop trying. When Seeta was abducted by Ravan it took him an enormous amount of time to release Seta from the clutches of Ravana but never thought of giving up. So is the power of love & dedication.
2. Obey & respect your elders
Never argue or raise your voice with your elders even if you disagree with their choices, opinions. He never questioned his parent’s decisions even if it meant a horrendous and dangerous life in the woods. He agreed to take on monsters like Thataki at the mere asking of his father and went to a life of exile at the wish of his stepmother.
3. Keep calm
Don’t lose your control over things or situations when you are unable to control them. He has fought great wars, mythical monsters and has had traumatic experiences but never did he lost his cool or even filched a bit. Emotions have been the signature attribute of Lord Rama since the beginning of the mythos.
4. Treat everyone equally
Lord Rama always treated everyone with equal respect & love be it his family, friends, or even enemies. He has equally respected even if the person was younger, elder, rich, or poor. It can learn from an incident where Sabri (sage’s daughter) offers him berries he eats them without any hesitation. This teaches us not to discriminate against anyone based on caste, religion, age, or gender.
5. Respect your enemy
Though Ravana abducted Seeta after Lord Rama defeated Ravana he gave him a proper funeral & asked Laxamana to learn art & sculpture from him. No matter how our enemy treats us but we should always treat them with respect & win without hurting or insulting them.
Why is Ram Navami an important festival to celebrate?
It is one of the holy festivals in Hinduism. It reminds of Lord Rama who was a man of his principle and with Ramayana, it teaches people the greatest lessons for their life. It was earlier one of the few festivals which lower castes were also allowed to celebrate. It is also believed that observing a fast on this day leads to salvation. It reminds us of the ancient history & victory of good over evil. Lord Rama’s birth is considered to bestow humanity, kindness, love on this earth & to destroy evil & protect the innocent. In this 21st century where we all have only self-love let’s follow the footsteps of Lord Rama & try to be like him.
Greetings from VMF,
We hope for everyone’s well-being in this pandemic. Hope with the blessings of Lord Rama we may survive this crisis too! Hope we all apply Lord Rama’s principles of kind nature, honesty, helpfulness in our real life too. Wishing everyone a happy and safe Ram Navami.
Tags: ancient story, ancient story of Lord Rama’s Birth, Celebrations, Honor lord rama, Keep calm, Never give up, Obey & respect your elders, Ram Navami, Respect your Enemy, Treat everyone equally