Hyderabad: Rama Navami, marking the birthday of Lord Rama and also the marriage day of Rama and Sita, will be celebrated in famous Bhadrachalam Temple on Monday, March 26.
Many temples in various districts of the Telugu states follow the celebration day at Bhadrachalam Temple and conduct Sitarama Kalyanam on the same day. According to Divyagnana Siddhanti, general secretary of Telangana Vidhwatsabha, Bhadrachalam Temple follows Vaishnava Sampradayam (tradition) and the day of the festival is decided based on ‘Nakshatra’. Accordingly, Rama Navami will be celebrated when the nakshatra is ‘Punarvasu’.
All temples following Vaishnava Agamashastra will celebrate the festival on March 26. However, this year, the festival is likely to be celebrated on two days. Apart from March 26 (Monday), March 25 will also witness rituals for Lord Rama.
Archakas following Smartha tradition will be celebrating the festival on Navami Thithi because they follow ‘Thithi’ instead of Nakshatra. “Nakshatra (Punarvasu) and Thithi (Navami) coincides on the same day for the last few years, but this year, the situation is different and this can happen sometimes,” Divyagnana Siddhanti said.
He added that there was no difference of opinion among the archakas over the celebration of Rama Navami festival. “Temples following Vaishanava tradition will be celebrating on March 26 and the ones following Smartha on March 25,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government has declared March 26 (Monday) as a holiday for the festival. It came as a relief for the government with March 25 being a Sunday and holiday so that some temples and devotees could conveniently celebrate the festival according to their beliefs on that day.
It may be mentioned here that this is the third time this year that a major Hindu festival is likely to be celebrated on two days. Earlier, Maha Sivarathri and Holi was celebrated in Telugu states on one day and in other states, across the country, on the next day.
