Birth of Lord Rama.
Ram Navami celebrates the birth of Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, who was born at midday in Ayodhya to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya. It falls on the ninth day of Chaitra Shukla Paksha, the very day that crowns Chaitra Navratri. Rama is loved as Maryada Purushottam, the perfect man, whose life of truth, duty and dharma is told in the Ramayana, and his birth is remembered with great devotion across India.
Because Rama is believed to have been born at noon, the heart of the festival is the madhyahna, the midday hour. At that time devotees place a small image of the infant Rama in a decorated cradle and rock it gently, singing bhajans, reading the Ramayana and the Ramraksha Stotra, and calling out the name of Rama. Temples hold special darshan and kirtan, and many keep a fast through the day, breaking it after the midday worship.
In Gujarat, Ram Navami carries a second great meaning. On this very day, Chaitra Sud 9, in 1781, Bhagwan Swaminarayan was born in Chhapaiya, a village near Ayodhya. For the large Swaminarayan community of Gujarat and its diaspora, the day is celebrated as Swaminarayan Jayanti alongside Ram Navami. In Swaminarayan temples such as those of BAPS, Vadtal and Ahmedabad, the murti is placed in a beautifully decorated cradle, devotees keep a waterless fast, and the day fills with abhishek, kirtan and scriptural discourse until the birth celebration in the evening. It makes Ram Navami one of the most joyful days of the Gujarati spring.
Ram Navami 2027 is on Thursday, 15 April 2027. It falls on Chaitra Shukla Navami, the ninth and final day of Chaitra Navratri. Lord Rama is believed to have been born at madhyahna (midday), so the main puja is held around noon.
According to tradition, Lord Rama was born at madhyahna, the midday period. This midday window, which lasts about two and a half hours, is considered the most auspicious time to perform the Ram Navami puja and the birth celebration.
They fall on the same day. Bhagwan Swaminarayan was born on Chaitra Sud 9 in 1781, which is Ram Navami, so the Swaminarayan community celebrates Swaminarayan Jayanti on this day alongside the birth of Lord Rama. In Gujarat the two are often celebrated together.
Ram Navami is the ninth and final day of Chaitra Navratri. The spring Navratri, nine days of worship of Maa Durga, reaches its peak and concludes with the birth of Lord Rama on Navami.