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
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
- Thursday, 15 April 2027
- Monday, 3 April 2028
- Monday, 23 April 2029
Where Ramanavami 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
Tamil Nadu calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The birth of Rama, held to have been at noon on Chaitra Shukla Navami. Temples read the Ramayana through the nine days from Ugadi and the panagam, the jaggery and cardamom drink, is given away at the roadside. In many Tamil towns the Sita Kalyanam, the marriage of Rama and Sita, is performed the same day or the next.
- 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 to Kausalya in Ayodhya under Punarpoosam nakshatra with Katakam rising, and the day is kept as the coming of dharma in a human life, one that could be lived and copied. Tamil Nadu came to Rama through Kamban, whose Ramavataram retold the Valmiki story in Tamil verse, and through Thyagaraja of Thiruvaiyaru, whose kritis to Rama are sung in every music room in the state. That is why the days around Ramanavami are kept in Tamil towns with concerts in the sabhas and bhajans in the streets, and why many families write Sri Rama Jayam a hundred and eight times in a notebook on the day. The panagam and neer mor at the roadside are the summer's charity as much as the festival's: Ramanavami falls in the hottest weeks, and a cool drink given to a stranger is counted as given to Rama.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Ramanavami: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a Rama pattabhishekam picture
- a manai, the low wooden seat
- tulasi leaves and a tulasi garland
- jaggery, dried ginger, cardamom and lemon for the panagam
- buttermilk, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves for the neer mor
- soaked moong dal, cucumber and grated coconut
- fruit, betel leaves and areca nut
- kuthuvilakku and camphor
- a notebook for Sri Rama Jayam
The steps
0 of 9 done
What is cooked
Tamil Nadu makes panagam (jaggery water with dried ginger, cardamom and a squeeze of lemon), neer mor (thin buttermilk with ginger, green chilli, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida) and vadai paruppu, soaked moong dal with cucumber, raw mango and coconut, with sundal and sakkarai pongal or payasam in many homes. Andhra and Telangana make the same pair as panakam and vadapappu; Karnataka calls the moong salad kosambari and serves it with panaka and buttermilk; the north offers panjiri and panchamrit and feeds young girls halwa, puri and chana for the kanya puja that closes the Navratri.
The hour
Clock times for Thursday, 15 April 2027 at Chennai
Madhyahna, the midpoint of sunrise and sunset, 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. Madhyahna, the middle of the day, on the Chaitra Shukla Navami that runs at noon, or failing that at sunrise. The fast is kept until the noon puja, which marks the birth.
| 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 |
| Sunset | 18:22 | the moment the sun goes down |
| Pradosha kala | 18:22 to 20:46 | the 2 h 24 min after sunset, the evening worship hour |
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 light fast until the noon puja, broken with panagam, neer mor (spiced buttermilk) and kosambari; some keep it as a full upavasam until the evening.
What is avoided
No meat, fish, onion or garlic in the house, and no food before the noon puja for those who fast. Those keeping the full upavasam take nothing but water or panagam until the evening.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Andhra and Telangana keep the same tithi as Sri Rama Navami with the Sita Kalyanam at Bhadrachalam; the north keeps it as Ram Navami and closes Chaitra Navratri with it.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu (the dates above)
- Kept in Tamil Vaishnava and Smarta homes alike, with the Sita Kalyanam, Rama Navami bhajans and concerts; the Ramaswamy temple at Kumbakonam and the Kodandarama temple at Vaduvur keep it most grandly.
- Kerala
- Kerala marks it quietly at the Rama temples and keeps its great Rama observance in Karkidakam, the Ramayana masam.
- Telugu
- Andhra and Telangana keep Sri Rama Navami with the Sita Rama Kalyanam at Bhadrachalam on the day itself, the state sending the silk and the pearl talambralu, and street pandals giving panakam and vadapappu.
- Kannada
- Karnataka keeps it with panaka, kosambari and buttermilk given out at the temples, and Bengaluru holds a Rama Navami music festival that runs for weeks.
- North India
- Ram Navami closes the Chaitra Navratri: Ayodhya bathes in the Sarayu and celebrates the birth at noon, and many homes feed young girls for the kanya puja.
- Maharashtra
- Maharashtra keeps Ram Navami in the Ram mandirs with the birth kirtan timed to noon and the child laid in a cradle.
- Nepal
- Nepal keeps Ram Navami at Janakpur, Sita's city, where the Janaki Mandir draws pilgrims from both sides of the border.
The dates above are the Tamil Nadu 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
இனிய ஸ்ரீ ராம நவமி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்Iniya Sri Rama Navami nalvazhthukkal
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
- Bhadradri Kothagudem, Telangana
The entry for this day names Bhadrachalam, and it is a temple of Rama. Andhra and Telangana keep the same tithi as Sri Rama Navami with the Sita Kalyanam at Bhadrachalam
Temples of Rama near you
Not recorded for this day in particular: the nearest temples of the day's own gods, for a reader whose own temple is not listed above.
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Venkatakrishnan (Parthasarathy) with the arrow scars on his face
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · The eight forms of Lakshmi in shrines on four floors, facing the sea
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adhivyadhihara Bhaktha Anjaneyar, thirty-two feet tall from a single block of granite
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Neervanna Perumal below and Ranganathar on the hill, in four postures
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
Ramanavami'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.