Ram Navami at Ayodhya | Fit for a king: Peetambar mein Ram aayenge

On the occasion of Ram Navami today, Ram Lalla will be donning a special, yellow handwoven khadi-silk vastra (costume) with padma (lotus) motifs for the ceremony at Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi-based designer Manish Tripathi has been designing the vastra since the temple’s consecration on January 22. The vastra, Tripathi says, has been designed and made with great care and features elaborate embellishing along with the handprinted motifs.

“The lotus motifs are done by hand block-printing while the embellishments have been done with gold and silver wires. It’s an utsav day so it has to be grand,” explains Tripathi.

The designer enlisted 15 artisans who worked for around 20 days to prepare the garment in Ayodhya.“The colour of the vastra is peetambar (yellow) because he is Lord Vishnu’s avatar aur utsav ke din peela vastra dharan kiya jaata hai. Shri Ram is also known as Peetambar, hence the peetambar vastra,” he says.

Talking about the textiles used to make the garment, he adds: “With summer here, we have been using various types of indigenous cotton and malmal, sourced from different parts of country and using crafts from different Indian regions. As suggested by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra temple trust, the endeavour is to do season-based garments and promote Indian handicraft and handwoven and handloom clothes,” he tells us, adding, “We prepared the vastra with Sanganeri prints from Rajasthan, Chanderi and Ujjain’s batik print from Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal’s jamdani and so on.”

Surya Abhishek

The highlight of the day is Surya Abhishek which the scientists will make possible around 12.16 pm for five minutes. The Surya Abhishek was suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Deepotsav celebration on October 23, 2023. Two successful trials have already been done by the team of Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, on April 8 and 12. “Trial run of the event has been successful. The sun’s rays in full glow fell on Ram Lalla’s forehead (on Wednesday),” said temple’s head priest Acharya Satyendra Das. The temple trust has urged people to watch the live telecast.

56 bhog

Lucknow-based Madhurima Sweet which offered 56-Bhog on silverware on Pran Pratishtha day (January 22) is serving four thals with 14 bowls each. “This time the 56-Bhog will be of sweets, dry fruits and falhari (fasting) items since Navratri is going on. We have prepared four thals for the auspicious bhog on Ram Navami which is being transported to Ayodhya,” says its owner Srajal Agarwal.