Ram Navami

When it falls

Chaitra Shukla Navami (the ninth, at midday)

• 2026 · Thursday, 26 March 2026
• 2027 · Thursday, 15 April 2027

Significance

Ram Navami marks the birth of Rama — the prince of Ayodhya, hero of the Ramayana, and for many the model of dharma, of duty kept even when it costs everything. Where Krishna is born at midnight, Rama is born at noon, at the height of the light.

It closes the spring Chaitra Navratri — the nine nights that begin the lunar new year — so the festival of the Goddess hands directly into the birth of Rama.

How it’s observed

The day is kept with readings of the Ramayana, bhajans (devotional songs), and in temples the ceremonial birth of the infant Rama at midday. Many fast until noon; some keep a fuller vrat (vow of fasting and observance) through the nine nights that precede it.

The timing, explained

Ram Navami falls on Shukla Navami — the ninth day of the bright fortnight — of Chaitra, the first lunar month of the year. It is the spring counterpart to autumn’s Navratri: both are nine-night festivals of the Goddess, but the Chaitra one resolves in Rama’s birth rather than Dussehra.

Keep reading

• What is Paksha?
• What is Tithi?
• See it on the calendar
• All festivals