Rama

Rama (राम), prince of Ayodhya, is the hero of the Ramayana and the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is honoured as Maryada Purushottama, the best of men who never crossed the bounds of dharma: the ideal son, brother, husband, friend and king. His name is among the most spoken in India, in the greeting “Ram Ram”, in the chant “Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram”, and in the last words of countless lives.

Birth and youth

King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, of the solar dynasty of Raghu, had no children, and performed the putrakameshti sacrifice. From the fire came a vessel of sacred food that he shared with his three queens. Kausalya gave birth to Rama on the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra, the day celebrated as Rama Navami; Kaikeyi bore Bharata, and Sumitra the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The princes studied with the royal priest Vasishtha. While still a youth, Rama went with the sage Vishwamitra to protect his sacrifices, killed the demoness Tataka and drove away Maricha, received divine weapons, and freed Ahalya from her curse.

The bow, the wedding and the exile

At Mithila, Rama lifted and broke Shiva’s bow Pinaka, which no king could even raise, and married Sita, daughter of King Janaka. Years later, on the eve of his coronation, Queen Kaikeyi, urged on by her maid Manthara, claimed two boons Dasharatha had once promised her: that Bharata be crowned and Rama be sent to the forest for fourteen years. Rama accepted without a word of protest, and Sita and Lakshmana followed him. Dasharatha died of grief. When Bharata came to Chitrakoot to bring him back, Rama refused to break his father’s word and gave Bharata his sandals to place on the throne.

Loss, alliance and war

In the Panchavati forest, after Lakshmana maimed the rakshasi Shurpanakha, her brother Ravana used the golden deer Maricha to lure Rama away and carried Sita off to Lanka. Searching for her, Rama met the dying Jatayu, the devoted Shabari, and then Hanuman and Sugriva, whose throne he restored by killing Vali. Hanuman found Sita in Lanka; the vanara army built the bridge across the sea; Vibhishana took refuge with Rama; and after a long war in which Kumbhakarna and Indrajit fell, Rama killed Ravana with a Brahmastra after reciting the Aditya Hridayam taught by the sage Agastya.

Rama Rajya and the end of the story

Rama returned to Ayodhya, welcomed with lamps, the origin of Diwali in North India, and was crowned. His reign, Rama Rajya, became the image of just and happy rule. The Uttara Kanda tells that he later sent Sita away because of the people’s gossip, that she raised their twin sons Lava and Kusha in Valmiki’s hermitage, and that she finally returned to the earth. At the end of his life Rama walked into the river Sarayu and returned to his divine form.

How is Rama worshipped?

Rama is worshipped with Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, a group called Ram Darbar. Major temples include the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, consecrated in January 2024, Bhadrachalam in Telangana, the Ramaswamy temple at Kumbakonam and the Ram Raja temple at Orchha, where he is worshipped as a reigning king. His festivals are Rama Navami, Vivah Panchami (his wedding), Dussehra (his victory) and Diwali (his return). Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas and the stuti Shri Ramchandra Kripalu are sung daily in many homes.