Rama Navami (Sanskrit: राम नवमी, romanized: Rāmanavamī) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu, to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya in Ayodhya, Kosala. This festival is a part of the Chaitra Navaratri in the spring, and falls on the ninth day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the lunar cycle of Chaitra (March-April), the first month in the Hindu calendar. Rama Navami is an optional holiday for government employees in India.
The day is marked by reciting from the Hindu epic Ramayana which narrates the tale of Rama. Vaishnava Hindus celebrate the festival by visiting temples, praying, fasting, listening to spiritual discourses and singing bhajans or kirtans (devotional songs). Some devotees offer worship to Ram like an infant by placing an image of him in a cradle. Charitable events and community meals are also organized. The festival is an occasion for moral reflection for many Hindus.
Celebrated in April, thousands of devotees visit the Ram Navami Mela to celebrate the birth of Lord Ram on the ninth day of the Navratri festival. This festival falls under the Hindu month of Chaitra and is considered one among the five most sacred festivals according to the Hindu religion. One of the special features of this fair is the Ram-leela act (depicting the life and times of Lord Ram) organised widely in the city. Temples all over the city are widely decorated for the mela.
