Ram Navami Festival, India
In India, Ram Navami, the anniversary of his birth, is celebrated as a celebration of the seventh incarnation of Vishnu who was born to Dashratha and Kaushalya in Ayodhya in the Treta Yug.
The Ram Navami festival takes place during the brighter half of the Hindu month of Chaitra. The Rama Navami festival is recorded in the Ramayana; it is one of two great Sanskrit epics of Hinduism. It is also called the Vratha Katha. As King Dashratha's three wives were incapable of bearing him an heir, Rishi Vashishth advised them to perform the Putra Kamesti Yagna on the advice of King Dashratha. During the yagna, the three queens received kheer, which had been blessed by Yajna, the God of Yagna. . It is observed as a Hindu spring festival on the ninth day of Chaitra Navratri, the day when Lord Vishnu became the seventh avatar of Ram.
As soon as the queens consumed the kheer, they conceived and on the ninth day of Chaitra month, Queen Kaushalya conceived Rama. The other queens gave birth to Bharat, Lakshman, and Shatrugana. The devotees pray for success, prosperity, and peace on this day and wish Rama blessed prosperity. A ninth-day celebration of Ram Navami follows Navratri on Ram Navami when devotees feed the needy. On this day, Hindus also perform the rituals of Kanya Puja, where 9 girls are invited and are respected as they are considered the manifestations of Devi. After the puja ritual, girls are also served prasad consisting of sooji halwa, Kala chana, and puri.
A major Hindu festival, Ram Navami is celebrated in a variety of ways. A devotee bathes and dresses up miniature images of Rama, lights a lamp in front of the image, and then places it in a cradle alongside kheer, a sweet offering to God, to mark his birth.