Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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A tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
- Thursday, 15 April 2027
- Monday, 3 April 2028
- Monday, 23 April 2029
Where Ram Navami falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 15 Apr
- 2028: 3 Apr, 11 days earlier
- 2029: 23 Apr, 19 days later
The dates, year by year
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The birth of Rama at noon on Chaitra Shukla Navami, and the last of the nine nights of Chaitra Navratri. Ayodhya fills for the day, the Ramcharitmanas is read to the end, jhankis and shobha yatras go through the towns, and the cradle with the infant Rama is rocked at the midday hour.
- Deity
- Rama, Sita, Hanuman
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Rama was born in Ayodhya to Kaushalya after King Dasharatha's putrakameshti yajna, when the payasam that rose from the fire was shared among the three queens, and the Ramayana places the birth under Punarvasu nakshatra in Karka lagna. The north keeps it as the birthday of Maryada Purushottam, the man who held to right conduct as son, brother, husband and king, and that is why families make a point of reading the birth from Tulsidas's Bal Kand aloud to the children as noon comes. In Ayodhya the pilgrims bathe in the Saryu before dawn and queue at Kanak Bhawan and the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, and in the towns of the Hindi belt the shobha yatra carries a boy dressed as Rama with Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman beside him. Because the Chaitra Navratri closes here, many households finish the kanya pujan, the havan and the nine-day fast on this one day.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Ram Navami: how it is kept
Keep ready
- the Ram Darbar picture or images
- a small palna (cradle) for Ram Lalla
- yellow cloth and yellow flowers
- tulsi leaves
- roli, chandan and akshat
- panchamrit (milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar)
- panjiri and kheer for the bhog
- a shankh and a bell
- a ghee lamp and camphor
- a copy of the Ramcharitmanas
The steps
0 of 10 done
What is cooked
The north's bhog is panjiri, panchamrit, kheer and fruit, and where the Navratri closes on the same day the kanya pujan plate of sooji halwa, puri and kala chana is the family meal too; strict fasters stay on phalahar, fruit, makhana and sabudana, until the next morning. Maharashtra offers sunthavda, dry ginger pounded with coconut and sugar, and the Telugu, Kannada and Tamil homes give panakam, neer mor and soaked moong dal.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 15 April 2027 at Chennai
Madhyahna, midday, is the hour of the birth; the calendar takes the day on which Navami runs at midday rather than the day it holds the sunrise.
The main rite. The birth is kept at madhyahna, the middle of the day, while the Navami runs; the cradle is rocked and the arti done at that hour. The fast runs from sunrise to the noon puja, or to the next sunrise for those who keep it strictly.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 05:57 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Madhyahna | 12:09 | midday, the midpoint of sunrise and sunset |
Sunrise 05:57, sunset 18:22, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Shukla Navami from previous day 15:24 until 13:21 | then Shukla Dasami until next day 11:22 |
| Nakshatra | Pushya until 09:34 | then Ashlesha until next day 08:18 |
| Rahu kaal | 13:42 to 15:15 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 05:57 to 07:30 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 09:03 to 10:36 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:44 to 12:34 (0 h 50 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 13:23 | moonset next day 02:19 |
For Thursday, 15 April 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
A fast through the morning, broken after the noon puja; many keep it without grain for the whole day and eat only fruit, with panchamrit and charnamrit as prasad.
What is avoided
Onion, garlic, meat, eggs and alcohol stay out of the kitchen, and those fasting take no grain until after the noon puja. It is not a day for quarrels or harsh words, and many avoid cutting hair or nails.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Ayodhya, Bhadrachalam and Rameswaram each keep it as their own; the south calls it Sri Rama Navami or Ramanavami, and the Sita Kalyanam is the Deccan's form of the same day. Nepal keeps the great mela at the Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, held to be Sita's own town, and Maharashtra rocks the cradle at the midday hour.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu
- Tamil homes keep Sri Ramanavami with a Rama puja, panakam, neer mor and a Ramayana reading, and some keep the nine days before it as Rama's own navaratri.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country keeps Sri Rama Navami as the day of the Sita Rama Kalyanam, the wedding of Rama and Sita, at Bhadrachalam and in every street pandal, with panakam and vadapappu given out.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps Rama Navami with panaka and kosambari and the Ramotsava concerts of Bengaluru and Mysuru that run for weeks around the day.
- North India (the dates above)
- Ayodhya is the heart of it, with the Saryu bath, Kanak Bhawan and the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, and the Hindi belt keeps it with shobha yatras, the Manas path and the close of the Chaitra Navratri. The Ram Raja temple at Orchha, where Rama is worshipped as the reigning king, keeps it with a salute of the guard.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra rocks the cradle at noon in the Rama temples and gives out sunthavda; the Kalaram temple at Nashik draws its chariot and Shirdi holds its great Ram Navami festival.
- Nepal
- Nepal keeps Ram Navami at the Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, Sita's town, where the crowds come from both sides of the border.
The dates above are the North India reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
राम नवमी की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएंRam Navami ki hardik shubhkamnayein
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu
The entry for this day names Rameswaram, and it is a temple of Rama. Ayodhya, Bhadrachalam and Rameswaram each keep it as their own
- Bhadradri Kothagudem, Telangana
The entry for this day names Bhadrachalam, and it is a temple of Rama. Ayodhya, Bhadrachalam and Rameswaram each keep it as their own
- Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Ayodhya 1,539 kmUttar Pradesh
The entry for this day names Ayodhya. The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Ayodhya fills for the day, the Ramcharitmanas is read to the end, jhankis and shobha yatras go through the towns, and the cradle with the infant Rama is rocked at the midday hour.
- Janaki Mandir, Janakpur 1,628 kmDhanusha, Madhesh, Nepal
The entry for this day names Janakpur, and it is a temple of Rama. Nepal keeps the great mela at the Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, held to be Sita's own town, and Maharashtra rocks the cradle at the midday hour.
- Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Thursday is Baba’s day, and Ram Navami, Guru Purnima and Vijayadashami are its three festivals.
- Mahavir Mandir, Patna 1,483 kmBihar
The gazetteer line for this temple names the day. Tuesdays, Saturdays and Ram Navami are its days.
4 more temples in this gazetteer are recorded for the day. Find temples near you.
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules for a puja held alongside, whose day the family chooses
Ram Navami's own date is set by the rule in "The hour" above, and no muhurtham moves it. For a satyanarayana puja around it, whose day the family does choose, the finder below applies these rules.
The Satyanarayana vratam and katha at home. Pournami is the day of the vratam and Ekadasi the next best; Kartika Pournami, Vaishakha Pournami and the Sankranti days are the ones most families choose. Thursday, the day of Guru, comes first among the weekdays, and Tuesday is the one usually passed over. The puja is done in the evening and the prasadam shared after the katha, so no lagna window is computed here.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.