The first Ram Navami in Mumbai after the consecration of the grand temple in Ayodhya will be celebrated on a bigger scale. Temples have started programmes that will continue till Ram Navami on April 17, also the last day of Chaitra Navratri.
Many temples have begun 10-day long events that will continue till Ram Navami. The Shree Ram Mandir in Wadala, called the ‘Ayodhya of Maharashtra’ and the city’s most important shrine to the god, started its religious programmes from Gudi Padwa on April 9 with Devata Prarthana. The temple, which is celebrating the 60th Ramnavami Utsav this year has announced a series of programmes to celebrate its diamond jubilee. This will include a chariot ceremony called ‘Brahma Rathostav’ on Ram Navami day.
Thousands of devotees will join the process and pull the chariot carrying the image of the deity. Shrimad Vidyadheesh Teerth Shreepad Vader Swamiji, the 24th Peethadhish of Shri Guru Parampara, will be at the temple between April 13 and 18. Daily programmes include ‘Akhanda Ram-Naam Sankeertan, recitation of Valmiki Ramayan by Vedic scholars, and Palkhi Utsav.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been holding Ram Katha readings by spiritual leader Gauranga Das at its Govardhan Ecovillage in Wada in Thane district from April 9. The 18 readings from the chapters of the Ramayana at the temple outside Mumbai during the nine days will be attended by thousands of ISKCON followers. On Ram Navami day, ISKCON’s temples in Chowpatty, Juhu, Thane, Mira Road, and Kharghar, will have Ram darbar abhishek, shringar, aarti, and katha. An ISKCON spokesperson said that nearly one lakh people are expected to visit the organisation’s largest temple in Juhu on Ram Navami day.
Other Ram temples in the city, like the Shree Ram Mandir, Padhye Wadi, Dadar, and Goregaon's Ram Mandir, also have programmes for the festival.
The period from April 9, the first day of the month of Chaitra, which was celebrated as Gudi Padwa, to April 17, is also called Chaitra Navratri. It is distinct from the more famous Sharadiya Navratri which will observed between October 3 and 12, in the month of Ashwin during Sharad or autumn. The Chaitra Navratri, also called Vasanta Navratri because it occurs in vasant or spring season, is a period to worship the nine incarnations of Shakti. The last day of the festival, called Navami, when devotees pray to Goddess Siddhidatri, is the day when Lord Ram was born.
Chaitra Navratri is spent in fasting, prayers, abstinence from meat, alcohol, and other foods. On the eighth day of the festival, known as 'Ashtami,' young girls, considered incarnations of the goddess, are worshipped in a ritual called 'Kanya Puja'.
