Shri Ram

Who Shri Ram is

Ram is the seventh avatar of Vishnu and the hero of the Ramayana, born in Ayodhya to King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya. He is revered as maryada purushottam, the ideal man who upheld righteousness (dharma) even at great personal cost. That includes fourteen years of exile, which he accepted without complaint to honour his father's word. For millions, his name alone, "Ram", is a complete prayer: people greet each other with "Ram Ram" and "Jai Siya Ram", and it is the name chanted at the very end of life.

Where his story is told

The earliest telling is Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana. In the 16th century Goswami Tulsidas retold it in Awadhi as the Ramcharitmanas, which became the most widely read version in North India and the source of the Ramlila tradition. There are many others, from Kamban's Tamil Ramavataram to the Adhyatma Ramayana, as well as versions across Southeast Asia.

The story the Ramayana tells

• Childhood and marriage: Ram and Lakshmana protected the sage Vishwamitra's sacrifices, freed Ahalya from her curse, and at King Janaka's court in Mithila Ram broke Shiva's great bow to win Sita's hand.
• Exile: on the eve of his coronation, Queen Kaikeyi claimed two old boons from Dasharatha: her son Bharata on the throne, and Ram in the forest for fourteen years. Ram left with Sita and Lakshmana. Bharata refused the throne and ruled only as regent, with Ram's sandals (padukas) placed on it.
• In the forest: Ram met sages and devotees, such as Shabari, whose tasted berries he ate with love. Then Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, abducted Sita.
• The search and the war: with Sugriva's vanara army and Hanuman, Ram found Sita, built a bridge (setu) to Lanka, and defeated Ravana. That victory is celebrated on Dussehra.
• The return: Ayodhya lit rows of lamps to welcome him home, the origin of Diwali. His reign, Ram Rajya, is still the byword for just, compassionate rule.

Symbols and family

Ram is shown dark-complexioned, holding a bow (the Kodanda) and arrows, usually with Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman together, a grouping called the Ram Darbar. His brothers Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna are each models of loyalty in their own way, and Hanuman kneeling at his feet is the image of the perfect devotee.

How he is worshipped

Ram's worship is simple: chanting his name. The Shri Ram Mantra and "Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram" are chanted on the mala. Many write "Ram" over and over in notebooks as a practice (Ram naam lekhan). Reading the Ramcharitmanas, especially the Sundarkand, is a common household practice, as is the Ram Chalisa. Because Hanuman is his foremost devotee, Ram and Hanuman are almost always worshipped together (see Shri Hanuman).

Festivals and temples

Ram Navami, on the ninth day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, marks his birth at noon and closes Chaitra Navratri. Vivah Panchami celebrates his wedding to Sita, Dussehra his victory, and Diwali his homecoming. The foremost temple is the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya. Others include the Ram Raja temple at Orchha, where he is worshipped as a reigning king, Kalaram in Nashik, Bhadrachalam in Telangana, and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, where tradition says Ram himself worshipped Shiva before crossing to Lanka.