Sri Rama Navami Special ....

Sri Rama Navami is the celebration of the Birthday of Sri Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who was born for the destruction of the demon king Ravana and years later on the same day Rama married Sita. Sri Rama Navami falls on the ninth day of the Hindu month of Chaitra (Chaitra Masa Suklapaksha Navami).

For the occasion, Hindus are supposed to fast, or restrict themselves to a specific diet. Temples are decorated and readings of the Ramayana take place. Along with Sri Rama, people also worship Sita, Rama's wife; Lakshman, Rama's brother; and Hanuman, an ardent devotee of Ram and the leader of Rama's army in battle.

Hindus normally perform Kalyanotsavam (marriage celebration) with small murtis of Rama and Sita in their houses & in temples by temple priests, and at the end of the day the deity is taken to a procession on the streets. 'Sree Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsav' (wedding) performed in the temple of Bhadrachalam, in Andhra Pradesh is very famous. This day also marks the end of the nine-day utsavam called Chaitra Navaratri or Vasanthothsava (festival of Spring), which starts with Ugadi.

The special dish prepared for this festival is called Panakam, a mixture of new jaggery, cardamom, black pepper powder and water. On this occasion, we prepare panakam & chalimidi vadapappu as naivedyam.

Preparation of Panakam:


Ingredients:

Water	2-3 Cups
Ginger (grated)	1 Tsp
Jaggery (grated)	2-3 Tbsp
Peppercorns (crushed)	1/2 Tsp
Elachi (Cardamon pwd)	1/4 Tsp

Process:

• Mix the grated jaggery & ginger in water. Keep it 1/2 an hour for dissolving.
• Filter the water and add cardamom pwd, crushed peppercorns and mix well. Serve it at room temperature.