Ram Navami

King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, childless after years, performed the putrakameshti yagna. From the sacred fire came payasam, which his three queens shared. Nine months later, on Chaitra Shukla Navami at noon, Kausalya gave birth to Rama — Vishnu's seventh avatar, born to dharma's defence.

Rama Navami marks not just a birth but the descent of dharma into form — the maryada purushottama, the ideal man, who shows how to live duty without ego.