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Ram Navami
Lord Rama is regarded as another incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Nepalese, therefore, have deep belief and extreme faith in him. His
strength, courage, purity of heart, compassion, sweetness of speech,
serenity and abiding wisdom made him the favorite idol of his people.
His
life story is told in the much beloved epic- the "RAMAYANA". Before the
birth of Sri Ram, the world was under the reign of an evil and fiendish
demon king Ravana. Ravana had pleased Lord Brahma, who bestowed on
Ravana the boon that no God or demon could kill him. This gave Ravana
immunity from everyone except a mortal man. Thus, to save the world
from evil, Lord Vishnu took birth as Ram in the city of Ayodhya.
King
Dasharath, who ruled over Ayodhya, had one misery - his three queens
bore him no sons. Lord Vishnu gave them nectar to drink, and soon the
eldest produced Ram, the next gave birth to Bharat and the third had
twins, Lakshman and Shatrughana. All four of them became exemplary
youths but it was Ram who grew in grace and virile beauty.
Another
king Janak, who ruled over Mithila in southern Nepal, had a beautiful
daughter called Sita. When she was about sixteen Janak held a great
tournament wherein it was announed that the one that onw ho could
string the divine bow of Lord Shiva would win the fair Princess Sita's
hand. Princes and kings from far and wide tried to do it but all
failed. But Lord Ram not only curved the bow but also snapped it in
two. Thus, Lord Ram won the hand of Sita, who is regarded as the most
exalted epitome of womanhood- beautiful, pious, loyal, gentle and
modest.
During the 14-year exile of Ram, the demonic Ravana
abducted Sita but she resolutely resisted his advances. It was the
loyal monkey Hanuman, son of the Wind god who discovered Sita's
whereabouts. Ravana had taken her to his realm Lanka, a mythical
country now believed to have been Ceylon.Eventually, with the help of
Hanuman and the monkey horde Ram and Lakshman slew the evil Ravana and
eradicated the whole dynasty of demons from the earth.
Ram
Nawami is thus celebrated as Lord Ram's Birthday. It is celebrated with
much pomp at Janaki temple in Janakpur city, which lies in southern
Nepal. Huge processions of elephants, bullock carts and sometimes upto
100,000 pilgrims go through the city, dancing and singing the lord's
praises. In Kathmandu many people, including the royal family, go to
the temples to pay homage to Ram, while symposiums are held to exalt
the ideal life he lived. In Bhaktapur, the neighboring town of
Kathmandu, the people go to the banks of the river Hanumante, where a
temple bearing the idols of Ram and his loyal servant Hanuman is
situated.
Thus, Ram Nawami is celebrated throughout the Kingdom with great fanfare.
Article by Vani Shah
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