Background of Rama's Birth
According to 'Ramayana', all the deities of the Heaven approached to Lord Brahma with a request. They stated that they were going through lots of difficulties for a demon namely Ravana. This demon who was the King of Lanka, received a blessing from Lord Brahma that no God, gandharva, demon or demigod will be able to terminate his life ever. As Ravana was fearless about human being, so he never thought about human being as his possible assassinator. Lord Brahma assured the deity of the Heaven that one day a human being will take Ravana's life. At that time Lord Vishnu arrived in the same place. All the deities requested the Lord to take birth as a human being so that it becomes possible to slain the demon Ravana. Lord Vishnu ensured them to do so.
The Story of King Dasaratha
At the same time Dasaratha , the King of Ayodhya , a very prosperous region of that era was going through a difficult phase in his life He had three queens. His only problem was that he had no children. Rishi Vasistha advised him to perform rituals of 'Puthra Kamesthi Yagna'. It was a very complicated ritual. The King chose rishi Rishyashring and bestowed him the solemn responsibility to carry out this ritual. At the final stage of that elaborate ritual, when rishi Rishyashring recited hymns addressing the fire, Lord Vishnu appeared before the King and offered him a divine food. It was a combination of milk and rice called �payasam�. The Lord asked the King to distribute the food among his three Queens. Feeling extremely happy, the King shared the divine food among his Queens Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra.
Birth of Rama
As a result of that heavenly food, King Dasharath became the father of four sons. Queen Kaushalya was the mother of Rama who according to religious belief is the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Queen Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata and Queen Sumitra was the mother of twin sons namely Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Rama took birth at noon of the ninth day of the month of Chaitra.
Purpose of Rama's Birth
Hindu religion believes that Rama was born to destroy the signs of evil from the earth and to eliminate negativity from life. In this context it can be said that, Ravana was the symbol of evil power for whose destruction Lord Vishnu was born as Rama. In later period of his life, Rama became the King of Ayodhya.
Exact Date and Time of Rama's Birth
According to research, Lord Rama was born on 10th January 5114 BC in Ayodhya. The timing of his birth was in-between 12 noon and 1 pm in the Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month.
Rama- The Symbol of Courage
As per the Hindu religion, Rama is the symbol of the perfect man or Lord of Self Control or Lord of Virtue. Lord Rama truly represents the virtues like sacrifice, indomitable courage, honesty and strength. He executed the murder of Ravana without losing his cool even in most difficult situations that he faced during the course of the time.
Transformation of Rama into Lord Rama
Lord Vishnu made promise to protect the deities of the Heaven from the tyranny of Ravana, the demon. The Lord kept his promise in the form of a human being namely Rama. Later, people's devotion towards Rama transformed him into a deity and since then he became known as Lord Rama.
Importance of Ram Navami
The epic of 'Ramayana' bears an account of Rama's life in exile in forest for fourteen years for the sake of his father's honour. The celebration of Ram Navami intends to glorify the role of Lord Rama in representing the supreme qualities like courage and sacrifice. This festival conveys the message that we can escape the negativities of life with the help of never-say-die -attitude.