• Happy Sri Rama Navami

• Rama Navami is a spring Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of the Hindu God Lord Rama. He is particularly important to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, as the seventh avatar of God Vishnu. 
  

• Rama Navami commemorates the birth of Lord Rama. Celebrated on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra, it marks the culmination of the spring festival of Vasanta Navratri and Chaitra Navratri which begin on the auspicious day of Ugadi. 

• On this day it is believed that Lord Vishnu descended in his seventh avatar - Rama Avatar - through his birth as the first son of King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Rama Navami is celebrated across India and festivities and worship differs with regions and cultures. While some people observe a day-long fast, others perform the ceremonial wedding of Lord Rama and Sita, while Rama Navami processions are also conducted. 

• As Lord Rama was born in Ayodhya, the celebrations there are remarkable. Devotees from all over the country come to Ayodhya, take a holy dip in river Sarayu and visit the Rama temple to participate in birthday celebrations.

• On this auspicious day of Rama Navami we bring to you some rare prints of Lord Rama that were created between 1870 and 1970 across various printing presses in Calcutta, Bombay, Poona, Mathura, New Delhi and even Karachi. 

• Notice how the style of each print, the facial features of the characters, the colours used, background elements, all vary as the image of Lord Rama evolved at these various printing presses across 100 years. 

• Collection: Courtesy Mark Baron and Elise Boisante, New York based collectors of early Hindu devotional prints

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