Culture - No Comments » - Posted on April, 22 at 8:22 pm
On the ninth day of the Chaitra month, Vishnu incarnated as Rama to save the earth from the clutches of Ravana. This auspicious moment is celebrated as Ramanavami, the birthday of Rama.
The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show as thousands of pilgrims gather at the Kanaka Bhavan Temple in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama. Colourful processions of idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanumana are the attraction of the festival. Plays based on the Ramayana are enacted by the local theatre groups. As a ritual, a coconut is placed in a cradle at dawn and at midday when Rama was born, a priest announces his birth.
Devotees of Rama observe a fast and offer an elaborate Puja in the afternoon to the idol in the home shrine. Several people are invited to sing Bhajans before commencing the Puja. The food offerings to the Lord are shared by the family members and the invitees and consumed as Prasad.