1. Hindu Festivals HRT3M7 By: Alvin Li, Charles Lam, Jeff Guo & Kevin Tsang Rama Navami:

2. Rama Navami A special day of worship celebrating the birthday of Lord Rama (one of the seven main avatars of Vishnu.) Takes place around noon on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra. (March-April.) (On the ninth day, devotees stay up expecting Rama’s birth.) Description:

3. Rama Navami Before Rama Navami: - A recital of the Sanskrit epic of 24,000 stanzas takes place. - Worshipers take a vow of fasting the previous day. - The house is cleaned and decorated. - Fruits and flowers are offered on the family shrine.

4. Rama Navami During Rama Navami: - The youngest female leads the puja. - She applies a red mark to the foreheads of all other family members. - At noon, they worship an image of Rama. - They then offer sacred foods to Rama. (After the rituals, the image of Rama is given to a Brahmin.)

5. Rama Navami When one performs the ritual properly, it is said that they have destroyed one's sins. The full, complete ritual is not commonly performed these days, compared to centuries ago. (Ex. Only the highlights of the epic are read during the ritual.)

6. Rama Navami History: The festival of Rama Navami originated from the epic Ramayana: It tells of an emperor with three wives, who worries that there will be no heir to the throne since none of his wives had any children. The emperor is suggested to partake in yajna.

7. Rama Navami Ramayana: As the result, he is provided with a bowl of payasam (preparation of rice and milk) which he is requested to give to his wives. In just a few days all three queens give birth, with one of them giving birth to Rama after nine days. (Because of the unequal distribution of the payasam, one the king’s wife gives birth to twins.)

8. Rama Navami Traditional foods eaten during Rama Navami include pastries, desserts and sweets, representing the payasam from the Ramayana epic.

9. Rama Navami Purpose: Rama Navami is an important day for worshipers of Rama or Vishnu since it marks the birth of this important avatar. - Performing Rama Navami is said to help devotees reach Moksha - Also, it is said that those who do not fast will go to the worst hell while those who pray will have their wishes fulfilled

10. Rama Navami In one of the famous stories of Ramayana, Rama attempts to save his beloved wife Sita. Sita was captured by Ravana who was a rival monarch. Rama defeated his magical army and rescued Sita.

11. Rama Navami Rama is considered to be the perfect man who is dedicated to dharma and compassion. People who worship Rama are striving to become perfect beings by replicating Rama's perfect actions.