Festivals >> (28-Mar-2015)Srirama Navami >>

Search

Sri Rama Navami

On Chaitra Sukla Navami (the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra) 'Sree Ramanavami' is
celebrated. In this Sree Sarvadhari Nama Samvatsara on 14th April 2008 we celebrate this
auspicious day. Sree Rama was born on this day and years later on the same day Rama
married Sita. 'Sree Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsav' (wedding) is performed in the abode
Sitarama Temple, Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, Andhra Pradesh with great tradition
and Bhakti. On behalf of Andhra Pradesh Government, Chief Minister with his wife visits
the Kalyana Mahotsav and offers Silk Clothes and Pearls as Talambralu (auspicious) to the
God and Goddess. The whole of this celebration is telecasted live in Doordarshan.
"Wherever four Hindus live, Rama and Sita will be there" so said Swami Vivekananda, one
of the foremost harbingers of modern national renaissance of Bharat. The reverse also is
equally true - wherever Rama and Sita live, the people there will remain and live as
Hindus.
Every hill and rivulet of Bharat bears the imprint of the holy feet of Rama and Sita. Sri
Rama reigns supreme to this day in the hearts of our people, cutting across all barriers of
province, language, caste or sect. Even the tribes living in isolated valleys and jungles
have names like Mitti-Ram and Patthar-Ram. In some other tribes, every name carries the
proud suffix of Ram, such as Lutthu Ram, Jagadev Ram, etc. In many northern parts of
Bharat mutual greetings take the form of Jay Ramjee Ki.
Sri Rama has become so much identified with all the good and great and virile qualities of
heroic manhood that expressions such as 'Us me Ram nahi hai' (there is no Rama in him) meaning that a person has lost all manliness and worth - have become common usage.
And when a Hindu quits the world stage, he is bid God-speed in his onward journey with
Ramanama satya hai or Raghupati Raghava raja Ram, patita paavana Sita Ram. In fact,
the latter couplet has become the nation's bhajan par excellence.

Sri Rama's story, Ramayana, has been sung and resung in all the languages and dialects of
Bharat. The tradition of writing epics centering round the saga of Rama's achievements
started by Valmiki in Sanskrit and was continued by Tulsidas in Hindi, by Kamban in Tamil,
by Ramanujan in Malayalam, by Krittivasa in Bengali and Madhav Kambali in Assamia and
in fact, in almost every Bharatiya language. The tradition is being continued up to the
present day. The Ramayana Darshanam of K.V. Puttappa, the national literary award of
Bharat by the Jnana Peeth. The enchanting Geet Ramayana composed in Marathi by G.D.
Madgulkar and set to tune by Sudhir Phadke is now thrilling the hearts of millions in
Maharashtra.
The various tribal groups too have sung the story of Ramayana in their dialects. Sri Rama,
Lakshmana and Janaki mirror the ideals for millions of tribal boys and girls. The Khamati
tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, which is Buddhist, depicts Ramayana as the story narrated by
Buddha to his first disciple, Ananda, and carries the universal message of Buddha. How
deeply significant that every group and sect even in distant and far-flung parts of
Bharatavarsha should have found a radiant reflection of its own ideals in the form of Sri
Rama!
The comparison of Sri Rama's fortitude to Himalayas and the grace and grandeur of his
personality to the ocean - 'Samudra iva gaambheerye, dhairye cha Himavaan iva' portrays how inseparably his personality has been blended into the entire national entity of
Bharat.