| Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born in the Treta Yuga to King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya of Ayodhya. His birth is celebrated as Ram Navami. King Dasharatha was the ruler of Ayodhya, a prosperous and peaceful kingdom. However, his happiness was incomplete as he was childless even after several years of marriage to his three wives - Kaushalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. The king was deeply saddened by this and yearned for an heir to his throne. After many years of longing, King Dasharatha decided to perform the Ashvamedha Yagna, a grand horse sacrifice, to please the gods and seek their blessings for progeny. The yagna was a complex ritual that required the king to set a horse free, which was then followed by his army. If the horse entered a foreign territory, the ruler of that land had two options - to fight or accept the supremacy of the king performing the yagna. The horse, if it returned safely to Ayodhya, was then sacrificed in a grand ritual. The yagna was performed under the guidance of Sage Rishyasringa. Pleased with the king's devotion, the gods granted him a divine dessert, Payasam, which was to be distributed among his wives. The king gave half of the Payasam to Kaushalya, a quarter to Kaikeyi, and the remaining quarter to Sumitra. In due course of time, the queens conceived. Queen Kaushalya gave birth to Lord Rama on the ninth day of the Chaitra month (March-April), which is celebrated as Ram Navami. Sumitra gave birth to twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna, and Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata. The birth of Lord Rama brought immense joy to King Dasharatha and the people of Ayodhya, who celebrated the arrival of their future king. Lord Rama grew up to be a righteous and brave prince, embodying the qualities of an ideal king, son, brother, and husband. In terms of how long King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya waited before the birth of Lord Rama, the exact number of years is not mentioned in the Ramayana. However, it is generally believed that they were childless for a significant period of their married life, which led to King Dasharatha performing the Ashvamedha Yagna to seek divine intervention. |