Sri Rama Navami is the ninth day of the waxing Moon of Chaitra, when Rama was born at noon. In Tamil Nadu it is a festival of the house and the sabha more than of the street: a puja at midday, panakam and neer mor handed to every visitor in the heat, and in the cities a season of Carnatic concerts and Ramayana discourses that runs for ten days or more.
The story
Tamil has its own Ramayana. Kamban, in the twelfth century, retold the story in more than ten thousand verses as the Ramavataram, and by tradition first recited it in the pillared hall at Srirangam.
The far south is also the Ramayana's own ground: at Rameswaram Rama worshipped Shiva and built the bridge to Lanka, and at Dhanushkodi he is said to have broken it with the tip of his bow on his return.
ஸ்ரீ ராம ஜெயம்
Victory to Sri Rama
Written over and over as an act of devotion
How it is kept
- Midday pujaThe birth is marked at noon, with the picture of Rama's coronation, the Pattabhishekam, at the centre.
- Panakam, neer mor, kosambariJaggery water with dry ginger and cardamom, spiced buttermilk, and a salad of soaked moong dal.
- Sri Rama JayamThe two words are written out in notebooks 108 or 1,008 times.
- Concerts and upanyasamSabhas hold music festivals and nightly discourses on the Ramayana.
Why this date
Rama Navami is the Navami of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, on the day it covers midday, the hour of the birth. By the Tamil solar calendar it falls late in Panguni or early in Chithirai.
Rama Navami in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sunday | |
| 2026 | Thursday | |
| 2027 | Thursday | |
| 2028 | Monday | |
| 2029 | Sunday | |
| 2030 | Friday |
More Tamil festivals
1 AprilPanguni Uthiramபங்குனி உத்திரம்
14 AprilPuthanduதமிழ்ப் புத்தாண்டு
19 AprilAkshaya Tritiyaஅட்சய திருதியை
15 FebruaryMaha Shivaratriமகா சிவராத்திரி
1 FebruaryThai Pusamதைப்பூசம்
25 JanuaryRatha Saptamiரத சப்தமி
Where to see Rama Navami
In Tamil Nadu
- RameswaramTamil NaduWhere Rama set up the linga before the crossing; the wells and corridors of the temple are full on this day.
- Ramaswamy Temple, KumbakonamTamil NaduCalled the Ayodhya of the south: the whole Ramayana is painted round its corridor.
- Kothandaramaswamy Temple, VaduvurTamil NaduKnown for the beauty of its bronze of Rama, with a ten-day festival.
- MadurantakamTamil NaduThe temple of Eri Katha Ramar, Rama who guarded the lake.
Across India
- AyodhyaUttar PradeshThe birthplace, where sunlight is brought on to the image at noon.
- BhadrachalamTelanganaThe Telugu country celebrates the day as Rama's wedding.
- BengaluruKarnatakaA month-long Ramanavami music festival held in the open since 1939.