Ram Navami

During the Treta Yuga, the demon king Ravana's atrocities had mounted beyond endurance. He had received boons through his immense austerities making him unconquerable by gods and demons alike—but he had contemptuously overlooked mortals, dismissing them as too weak to threaten him. At this moment, the gods appealed to Vishnu, who agreed to incarnate as a mortal human.

King Dasharatha of Ayodhya had no heir despite performing the great Putrakameshti yajna. From the sacred fire emerged a golden vessel of divine kheer which he distributed among his three queens. On the ninth day (navami) of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, at noon, Rama, the eldest son, was born to Queen Kaushalya—with complexion the dark blue of a rain-laden cloud, eyes like lotus petals, and flowers raining from the sky as the gods declared his arrival.

Rama's life—his perfect adherence to dharma through every hardship, his rescue of Sita from Ravana, and his reign as the ideal king Ramraj—forms the heart of the Ramayana. His name alone is considered the most potent of all mantras: "Rama Rama japiyo jaise kanak kasei."