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 Rama, 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 Rama, the next gave birth
to Bharata and the third had twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughana.
All four of them became exemplary youths but it was Rama 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 who 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 Rama 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 Rama and Lakshmana slew the evil Ravana and
eradicated the whole dynasty of demons from the earth.
Ram Nawami is thus celebrated as Lord Rama's Birthday. In some
Indian cities huge processions of elephants, bullock carts and
sometimes upto 100,000 pilgrims go through the city, dancing and
singing the lord's praises.
Thus, Ram Nawami is celebrated with much pomp and great fanfare.
Article by Vani Shah
