Ram Navami: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Ram Navami celebrates the birth of Rama, prince of Ayodhya, whom Vaishnava tradition honours as an avatar of Vishnu and families everywhere honour as the model of a just and truthful life. It is kept on the ninth tithi (Navami) of the bright half of Chaitra, in spring, and it usually falls on the last day of Chaitra Navratri.

The heart of the day is midday, the hour of Rama's birth. Families and temples fast until noon, read the story of his birth, sing, rock a small cradle and wave the aarti. Telugu temples celebrate the wedding of Sita and Rama (Sita Rama Kalyanam) on this day, and South Indian homes share panakam, a cool drink of jaggery and dry ginger. Many temples abroad hold a full reading of the Ramayana or the Ramcharitmanas in the days before.

Why it is kept

Valmiki's Ramayana. King Dasharatha of Ayodhya had no son. He held a great sacrifice, and from the fire came a messenger from heaven with a golden vessel of heavenly food, rice cooked in milk (payasa, which Griffith calls nectar), and the king shared it among his three queens. In due time Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi to Bharata, and Sumitra to the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Valmiki dates the birth by the month, the day and the stars; in Griffith's translation, “’Twas Chaitra’s ninth returning day” (Book 1, Canto 19).

Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas. In the Bal Kand, Tulsidas places the birth on the ninth of the bright half of Chaitra, at midday, under Abhijit, on a day neither hot nor cold. F. S. Growse translated it: “On the ninth day of the sweet and holy month of Chait; in the bright lunar fortnight”. Then comes the hymn sung in temples at noon on Ram Navami, "Bhaye pragat kripala", in which the Lord appears before Kausalya and, at her prayer, becomes a baby. This midday birth is why the festival is decided by the middle of the day.

Why Rama is honoured. For many families Rama is maryada purushottam, the best of men who keeps to what is right: he gives up a throne to keep his father's word, honours his brothers, and treats allies of every kind as friends. Vaishnava teachers read his life as the descent of Vishnu to protect dharma; others honour him above all as the ideal king, son and brother. The Ramayana is also read in many languages and retellings, from Kamban's Tamil to Krittibas's Bengali, and each tradition keeps its own telling.

The texts behind the story

• Valmiki, Ramayana, Book 1 (Bala Kanda), Cantos 14–19: Dasharatha's sacrifice and the birth of the princes. R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (London: Trübner, 1870–74), vol. I (1870; reference record griffith-ramayan-vol1-1870), checked against the Project Gutenberg transcription. Griffith died 1906: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Book I, Canto XV 'The Nectar', pp. 88–91 (leaves n123–n126); Canto XIX 'The Birth of the Princes', pp. 105–106 (leaves n140–n141), the quoted line on p. 105 (leaf n140))
• Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, edited from old manuscripts by five members of the Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha, with the commentary of Shyam Sundar Das; second printing (Bal Kand, doha 222 and the chaupai after it, with the words for midday (मध्य दिवस), p. 177 (leaf n251); doha 223 and the chhand 'bhaye pragat kripala', p. 178 (leaf n252))
• Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand: the birth of Rama (dohas 222–224 in the Sabha's 1922 printing, 202–204 in Growse). F. S. Growse (tr.), The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás, Book 1 (Allahabad: North-Western Provinces Government Press, 1877). Growse died 1893: public domain. Quoted verbatim, with the space printed before semicolons removed. (Book I, Doha 202 and the chaupai after it, p. 109 (leaf n135); the hymn, Chhand 24–27 after Doha 203, pp. 109–110 (leaves n135–n136), in Growse's numbering)

When it is kept

Ram Navami is the Shukla Navami of Chaitra that is present during madhyahna, the middle of the five equal parts of the daytime at your location, because the texts place Rama's birth at midday. If Navami holds madhyahna on the first day only, that day is taken. If it holds madhyahna on both days, or on neither, the second day is taken, because a Navami joined with Ashtami is avoided, even when the first day holds all of madhyahna. This is the Smarta rule of the Dharmasindhu and the Nirnayasindhu.

Vaishnavas avoid the Navami joined with Ashtami even when only the first day holds madhyahna, if Navami lasts three muhurtas or more after the second sunrise (a muhurta is a fifteenth of the daytime); they then keep the second day (the Nirnayasindhu, after the Ramarchanachandrika; the Dharmasindhu). The app gives the date of the tradition chosen in your settings, and when the two dates differ, it also shows the other one. It also shows the midday window, the time for the birth puja.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Ram Navami 2027: Puja falls on Wednesday, April 14, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). In New Delhi it falls on Thursday, April 15, 2027.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta (Dharmasindhu, Nirnayasindhu): Chaitra Shukla Navami in madhyahna; the second day when both days or neither hold it
• Vaishnava (the same digests): also the second day when Navami lasts three muhurtas after its sunrise; the app shows this date too
• Telugu: Sita Rama Kalyanam on the same day
• Chaitra Navratri usually ends on this day (engine id navratri-chaitra)

Why the day can differ

Madhyahna is the middle of your own day, so when Navami begins or ends near midday, cities can keep different dates, and a city abroad can differ from India by a day. Vaishnava teachers avoid a Navami mixed with Ashtami; the app's Vaishnava date follows the digests' rule of three muhurtas, given above. Some Vaishnava calendars, such as those computed by the GCal program, take the day on which Navami is present at sunrise instead, so their date can differ from the app's; if your temple follows such a calendar, follow your temple.

Chaitra Navratri also changes length when a tithi repeats or drops out. Counting Ghatasthapana as the first day, Ram Navami is usually the eighth, ninth or tenth day. Ram Navami is decided at midday but the Navratri's last day by the tithi at sunrise, so in some years the Navratri ends the day after Ram Navami.

How to keep it at home

1. In the morning, bathe and clean the puja place. Set a picture or murti of Rama with Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, and, if your family uses one, a small cradle (palna) with an image of the baby Rama, decorated with flowers.
2. In the morning, read the story of Rama's birth from the Bal Kand of the Ramcharitmanas or the Bala Kanda of Valmiki, or listen to it together. Many families keep the fast until midday.
3. At the midday window shown in the app, ring a bell or blow a conch, sing the birth hymn "Bhaye pragat kripala", gently rock the cradle, and do the aarti with a ghee lamp. Offer fruit, sweets, tulsi leaves and panakam.
4. Prayers often said on this day: the Ram Raksha Stotra, Tulsidas's hymn "Shri Ramachandra kripalu bhaju mana", the 108 names of Rama, the Hanuman Chalisa, and the chant "Shri Ram, jai Ram, jai jai Ram".
5. Families ending Chaitra Navratri today may do Kanya Puja, honouring young girls with a meal and a small gift. In Telugu temples, join or watch the Sita Rama Kalyanam.
6. In the evening, many families go to the temple for bhajans or a procession, and share the prasad with neighbours.

Fasting

Customs range from a fast until midday, the hour of the birth, to a full-day fast on fruit and milk that is broken the next morning. Many families end their Chaitra Navratri fast today; others break it at the Navratri parana the app shows, usually the next day. Fasting food leaves out grains, onion and garlic. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first.

Food

Panakam (water with jaggery, dry ginger, cardamom and black pepper), neer mor (spiced buttermilk) and kosambari or vadapappu (soaked moong dal) are the South Indian offerings of the day. Marathi homes make sunthawada, a sweet powder of dry ginger, jaggery and coconut. North Indian homes break the fast with fruit, kheer, puri and halwa.

Prayers read at this time

• Hanuman Chalisa

For children

Long ago in the city of Ayodhya, King Dasharatha and his three queens wished for children. One spring day, at noon, a baby boy was born to Queen Kausalya. His name was Rama. Soon he had three brothers, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna, and the four grew up together, always kind to each other. On Ram Navami, families celebrate Rama's birthday at noon, just as the people of Ayodhya did.

Something to do together

Make a little cradle from a small box, line it with cloth and decorate it with flowers or paper leaves. At midday, rock it gently together and sing a simple song, then share a sweet drink such as panakam.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules ram-navami and navratri-chaitra (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each rule lists.
• N. Dershowitz and E. M. Reingold, "Indian Calendrical Calculations" (festival rules, citing F. Kielhorn, 1897), the source of the madhyahna rule for Rama Navami.
• R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (1870–74), Book 1, Canto 19. Public domain.
• F. S. Growse (tr.), The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás, Book 1 (Allahabad, 1877). Public domain.
• Wikipedia, "Rama Navami" (the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra).