We’ve known the story of Ram and Sita ever since we started watching Ramayana on TV as a child. The seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama will always be looked up to as the ideal son, brother, and king. Therefore, his birth, Ram Navami is an important festival amongst Hindus and everyone has different ways to celebrate Ram Navami. While some observe fast, others visit temples and offer puja. In this article, we will tell you how to celebrate Ram Navami.
How to Celebrate Ram Navami
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Every year with faith and devotion, devotees look up to the months of March and April to prepare and celebrate Ram Navami. Millions of devotees around the world pay visits to temples to celebrate Lord Ram’s birth.
Simple Rituals for Ram Navami Celebration
- If you have a small idol of Lord Ram, you can perform a simple puja by bathing the idol, dressing up with miniature clothes, and offering fruits.
- Light a diya and agarbatti and read Ram Stotra.
- You can perform an arti and sing bhajans.
- Once you pray and take blessings, you can share the prasad among households.
Offering Food to Lord Ram in Temple
Ram Navami food is prepared with great love and dedication by the devotees. All favourite food items of Lord Ram are cooked and served in the temple in the form of prasad. Here are some suggestions of food items you can prepare for the festival.
Panakam
This drink is easy to make and the most important prasad offered on Ram Navami. It is a cooling drink made with basil, lemon, jaggery, dry ginger and edible camphor.
Neer Mor
Since the festival falls in the summer months, most of the offerings in Ram Navami festival are coolants. Neer Mor a sort of diluted buttermilk which is also prepared as prasadam in Tamil Nadu.
Vara Paruppu
This is essentially moong dal which is soaked in water overnight and made into vadas the next day. A lot of dry spices go into the making of Vara Paruppu and it’s usually served with a red tomato chutney.
Puja Vidhi for Ram Navami Celebration
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Wondering how to celebrate Ram Navami or looking for different ways to celebrate Ram Navami? Well, here’s something to get you started:
- Wake up early and take a bath
- Clean your house
- Place Lord Ram in the puja room
- Place akshat, roli, chandan, dhup, incense sticks
- Place delicacies prepared for the lord
- Read Ramayana
- Perform aarti
- Distribute prasad to everyone
- Give clothes and money to the needy
Fasting During Ram Navami
Fasting is a major part of a lot of Hindu festivals. Every festival has different fasting methods, rituals and rules and here we are listing down the same for Ram Navami.
- Swap your regular meals with fruits and fruits juices. Do keep in mind to not add salt or sugar to them.
- Fruits are filled with essential nutrients and fibres that can help in staying full and meet the water intake of the body, so eating fruits can help you stay healthy as well as hydrated.
- If you are cooking meals for other members of the family, make sure it follows satvik guidelines, i.e no garlic and onion.
- If you can’t do fruit fasting, make sure the food you prepare for yourself doesn’t have spices like turmeric, chilli and salt.
- A starchy and energetic meal can be made from sago, otherwise known as sabudana.
Although each household has its own Ram Navami celebration ideas, it’s important that whatever you do, you do it with full faith, belief and devotion.
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