Was Sri Ram’s birth a reality?

Sri Ram Naumi

Though the Mahabharata era dates back to 5233 years (3226 BC) it was roughly in 1557 AD, about 500 years ago, when poet Soordass joyfully sang, "SOOR GAVAT BHITAR MAHAR KE" or birthday gifts are presented to Lord Krishna at Gaulok or Vrindavan Dham but by God's Grace the poet happens to reach this unique land of Nandbaba. With the blessings of great Saints, we can participate in the divine festivities of Vrindavan even today.

It is a proven fact that on several Janmashtmis or Ramnaumis, stars are identical to the original Janmashtmi or Ramnaumi. In 5114 BC the stars were precisely the same as on the first Ramnuami of treta yuga, 17,50,000 years ago.

Now let me update you about specific software from the US. It is used to predict the solar or lunar eclipses coupled with the distance and location of other planets from earth. If you enter relevant details of planetary positions narrated by Maharishi Valmiki convincing results are obtained, determining important dates right from the birth of Shri Ram to his return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.

Shri Ram being highly significant to Indian ethos, it is imperative to know who was Shri Ram! Was He really born? In case He did take birth, when and where? Ardently believed by millions of people, did he really step on Indian soil, ranging from the North to South, to alleviate human suffering, ensuring the victory of good over evil? Let us take a detailed look at historical evidence.

The story of Shri Ram's life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki in the ‘Ramayana.’ The epic was written after the coronation of Shri Ram as the king of Ayodhya. A great astronomer, Maharishi Valmiki endorsed sequential astronomical references on important dates woven around Shri Ram’s life. He noted the location of planets as related to zodiac constellations and other stars or nakshatras. Needless to add that a similar positioning of planets and nakshatras is not repeated in a span of thousands of years. Entering precise details of the planetary configuration of Shri Ram’s lifespan into the software named ‘Planetarium’, one can easily obtain the exact corresponding dates of significant occurrences according to the Roman calendar.

Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in Balkaand’s sarga 19, shloka 8 and 9 (1/18/8,9) that Shri Ram was born on the ninth tithi of Chaitra month. The position of different planets compared to zodiac constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) were: i) Sun in Aries; ii) Saturn in Libra; iii) Jupiter in Cancer; iv) Venus in Pisces; v) Mars in Capricorn; vi) Lunar month of Chaitra; vii) Ninth day after no moon; viii) Lagna as Cancer (cancer was rising in the east); ix) Moon on the Punarvasu (Gemini Constellation and Pllux star); x) Day time (around noon).

This data was fed into the software with results indicating that this was precisely the location of planets and stars at the noon of January 10, 5114 BC. Thus it was a repetition ot the first Ramnaumi dated 17,50,000 years ago. As per the Indian calendar it was the ninth day of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month and the time was about 12 to 1 at noon, the allotted date and time when Ramnaumi is celebrated with great fanfare all over India.

Shri Ram was born in Ayodhya. This fact can be ascertained from several books written by Indian and foreign authors before and after the birth of Christ - Valmiki Ramayan, Tulsi Ramayan, Kalidasa's Raghuvansam, Baudh and Jain literature, and so on. These texts give us a detailed description of the location, rich architecture and beauty of Ayodhya, majestic with many palaces and temples dotting the kingdom. Ayodhya was located on the banks of the Saryu River overlooking Ganga and Panchal Pradesh on one side and Mithila on the other. By all standards 17,50,000 years is a very long time span, during which earthquakes, storms, floods and foreign invasions significantly changed the course of rivers, ravaged towns and drastically altered territories. Therefore, the task of unearthing facts is monumental. The present day Ayodhya has considerably shrunk in size, with rivers shifting their course about 40 km north or south.

Shri Ram stepped out of Ayodhya in his childhood (13th year as stated in Valmiki Ramayana) with Rishi Vishwamitra who lived in Tapovan (Sidhhashram). From there onwards he went to Mithila, King Janaka's kingdom. Here he married Sita after breaking the Shiv Dhanusha. Researchers tracked the route adopted by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayana and discovered 23 sites with memorials commemorating events related to Sri Ram’s life. These include Shringi Ashram, Ramghat, Tadka Van, Sidhhashram, Gautamashram, Janakpur (now in Nepal), Sita Kund and the rest. Memorials are invariably built as a tribute to great men and not for fictitious characters.

Date of Shri Ram’s exile: It is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana's, Ayodhya Kand (2/4/18) that Dashratha was impatient to coronate Shri Ram because Sun, Mars and Rahu had surrounded his nakshatra, and usually under such a planetary configuration the king dies or becomes a victim of conspiracies. Dashratha's zodiac sign was Pisces and his nakshatra was Rewati. This planetary formation was prevalent when Ramji's turned 25 and hence He had to leave Ayodhya for 14 years of exile. Several shlokas in the Valmiki Ramayana endorse this fact.

This epic refers to a solar eclipse during the war with Khardushan in the later half of the 13th year of Shri Ram's banishment. It was the day of Amavasya and Mars was in the middle. When this data was fed, the software indicated a solar eclipse on 7th October, 5077 BC, (according to the Roman calendar) which could be seen from Panchvati. The planetary configuration was also the same, Mars was in the center, flanked by Venus and Mercury on one side and Sun and Saturn on the other. Based on the planetary pattern described in various chapters, the date of Ravana’s killing works out to be 4th December, 5076 BC. Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on 2^nd January, 5075 BC.(Roman calendar) Navami of Shukla Paksha in the month of Chaitra also fell on that day. Thus Shri Ram had returned to Ayodhya at the age of 39 (5114-5075).

Off late, Dr Ram Avtar’s research on places visited by Shri Ram during his exile gives us valuable information. Sequentially he moves to sites seen by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan, right from Ayodhya upto Rameshwaram. He found 195 locations with memorials paying tribute to events narrated in the Ramayana. Vestiges of an earlier civilization they include Tamsa Tal (Mandah), Shringverpur (Singraur), Bhardwaj Ashram (situated near Allahabad), Atri Ashram, Markandaya Ashram (Markundi), Chitrakoot, Pamakuti (on banks of Godavari), Panchvati, Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund in Triambakeshwar near Nasik, Shabari Ashram, Kishkindha (village Annagorai), Dhanushkoti and Rameshwar temple.

In the Valmiki Ramayana we find a mention of Shri Ram's army constructing a bridge over the sea between Rameshwaram and Lanka. His army had defeated Ravana after crossing this bridge. Recently NASA had put up pictures on the Internet of a man-made bridge, the ruins of which are submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. Some time back the Sri Lankan Government had expressed a desire to develop Sita Vatika as a tourist spot. They believe that this was the Ashok Vatika where Ravana had imprisoned Sita. NASA images can be viewed at 'Images from NASA of Sri Ram bridge' and 'Satellites prove it twice' !

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Indian history records that Shri Ram belonged to the Suryavansh dynasty and he was the 64th ruler of this empire. The names and other relevant details of the previous 63 kings are listed in ‘Ayodhya Ka Itihas’, written about 80 years ago by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram. Professor Subhash Kak of Lousiana University, in his book, ‘The Astronomical Code of the Rig Veda,’ has also noted 63 ancestors of Shri Ram, who ruled over Ayodhya. They are King Dashratha, King Aja, King Raghu, King Dilip and so on. In our vast mainland encompassing Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Bengal to Gujarat, People fervently believe in the reality of Shri Ram's existence, particularly in the tribal areas of Himachal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the North-East. Festivals celebrated in these regions invariably revolve around events of Shri Ram’s and Shri Krishna’s lives.

Vestiges of an ancient civilization, sites related to the life of Shri Ram hold great cultural and social value for Indians, irrespective of caste and creed. They can be summed up as our ancient lineage. Shri Ram belonged to an era when Prophet Mohammed or Jesus Christ were not born, with Muslim and Christian faiths being unknown to the world. The words ‘Hindu’ (resident of Hindustan) and ‘Indian’ (resident of India) were synonymous. India was also renowned as ‘Bharat’ (land of knowledge), ‘Aryavarta’ (where Aryans live) and Hindustan (land of Hindus-derived from the word Indus).

During the famous Ram-Rajya period, evils of the caste system based on birth were non-existent. Despite the fact that Maharishi Valmiki belonged to the shudra class or scheduled caste, Sita lived with him as his adopted daughter after being banished from Ayodhya. Luv and Kush grew up in his ashram as his disciples. We should be proud of Valmiki, probably the first great astronomer and his study of planetary configurations which inevitably stood the test of time. Even the latest computer software has corroborated his astronomical calculations, proving that he did not err in any way.

Shabari is said to belong to the Bheel tribe. Shri Ram's army which defeated Ravana, was composed of various tribals from Central and South India. The facts, events and details woven around Shri Ram’s life span are the common heritage of all Indians including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Muslims, Christians and their likes. Prophet Mohammad was born 1,400 years ago and Jesus Christ took birth 2,000 years back. Gautam Buddha came into this world 2,600 years back, where as Shri Ram was born much earlier. Dredging details related to Shri Ram's life is tougher since destruction caused by floods, earthquakes and invasions would be far greater. But should that in any way hinder our quest for learning more about our cultural lineage?

As Indians, let us take pride in the fact that Indian civilisation is the most ancient today. It is certainly millions of years old. The view of Aryans invading India in 1,500 BC can be rejected as a motivated implantation. In fact Max Mueller, the creator of this theory, had himself rebuffed it. During the British Rule, we were educated in schools based on Macaulay school of thinking which endorsed that everything Indian was inferior and, "Indian literature was not worth even one book rack in England”. If certain features of Indians and people from Central Europe were similar the usual inference drawn was that Aryans coming from Europe, invaded India and settled here. No one dared to change this thought process, “VINASHKALE VIPRIT BUDHI” ........

Therefore there is a dire need for historians and other intellectuals to stop reducing Indian history to myth. A requirement to garner, dredge, search, unravel and analyse all evidence which enlightens us on ancient Indian civilisation and culture is vital.


It is imperative for the media to register this evidence, prodding our knowledgeable youth to foray into this neglected field and bring to light some untold aspects of our ancient lineage.

Indians can safely conclude that we are the descendants of one of the oldest civilisations and should be truly proud of our ancient culture. However during British Rule an inferiority complex gripped us, adversely affecting our quest to disclose facts about our glorious past....

In the new millennium amidst unprecedented prosperity, our educated youngsters are higly capable of dredging true facts and confident enough to evaluate them objectively.