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Ram Navami is a festival celebrated to commemorate Lord Ram’s birthday. This falls on nineth day of  the spring Navaratri festival, which is on the Shukhla Paksha (waxing phase of the moon)  of the month of Chaitra as per Hindu calendar. Navaratri is a festival celebrated over nine days, dedicated to Mother Divine. “Nav” means nine and “ratri” means night, which means nine nights. Devotees worship Mother Divine in her aspect of Goddess Durga, which is further subdivided into nine forms. These nine forms are worshiped for nine days by fasting and worshipping, as per the individual’s will and capability.  

The spring navratri culminates with the celebration of the birthday of Lord Rama, at noon. Rama is widely worshipped among Hindus and also across the world, where the Indian diaspora is present. He is also known as Seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu as per Hindu mythology. His whole life event has been described and written in the epic RAMAYANA.

Where was Lord Rama born? 

As per Ramayana, which was millenniums ago, Lord Rama was born in Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya is also known as Rama Janambhoomi( “Janam” means birth and bhoomi means “place”)  

One must visit this place to learn about the heritage and culture of the city which is prevailing since thousands of years. To know more about this watch: 

Ram Janambhoomi Ayodhya

How is Ram Navami celebrated? 

People fast for Navaratri and offer oblations to Goddess Durga for nine days consecutively. Navratri is celebrated five times a year.  These are named as per month names of Hindu calendar : Chaitra Navratri, Ashadha Navratri, Sharad Navratri , Pausha and Magha Navratri. Chaitra  month is basically from March to April. On this day people worship Lord Rama and go to temples to offer prasadam (oblation) of fruits and coconut based sweets called ladoos, kheer (sweet dish made of rice and milk), halwa (a mixture of semolina and milk) etc. This is the beauty of Hinduism, everyone allow their heart to influence their mode of worship. All festivals aim at purification of the self from greed and fasting, which has health benefits of its own. To heal internally as well as physically many such festivals are celebrated all over India and that’s this unity in diversity is popular all over the world. 

Maha Shivaratri is celebrated mainly amongst Hindus. Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, and its evidence can be found in The Vedas which are 5000 years old written texts. Hindus have settled down all over the world. In India, Maha Shivratri will be celebrated on the 11th March 2021, date which differs every year, as the Hindu calendar is based on the luni-solar calendar, differentiating it from the Gregorian calendar. If we break down the Maha-Shiva-Ratri word: Maha means big, Shiva is Lord who is worshipped, personified or impersonified, for this is the energy on which the entire creation rests, and Ratri means night which gives rest and comforts one. Hence this night is about contemplating on physical and mental peace along with spirituality.  

Actually, Shivaratri happens every month and Maha Shivaratri, once a year. The festival of Maha Shivaratri is celebrated on the Chaturdashi of the Krishna Paksha of Phalgun month as per Hindu calendar. 

Figure: Iconic representation of Lord Shiva known as Shiva Linga

So why is Maha Shivratri celebrated and what is done during the festival?

As per Hindu mythology Maha Shivaratri celebrates the marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati. There are other stories as well behind this festival, and all over India people have personal beliefs linked to their devotion.  Shiva is often referred to as the Lord of destruction while Goddess Pravati is known as Goddess of fertility, love and beauty. Many devotees of Shiva  fast on this festival, worshipping him in temples or from their own home, in the form of Shiva Linga, an iconic representation of Shiva, reminding one of the impersonal nature of the divine. Many are those who stay awake and worship him all night long, chanting Har Har Mahaadev or Om Namah Shivay. 

Figure: Brihadeshwara Temple in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, Dedicated to Lord Shiva

Shiva temples are usually busy on this particular day, with devoted souls flocking in with offerings of fruits, flowers, milk, honey and seeds. 

Devotees do Rudra Abhishek of Shiva Linga where the linga is bathed with different substances like water, curd, milk, honey, Datura fruit as well as other offerings made to Lord Shiva. An offering of Dhatura, scientifically known as Datura stramonium, or Thorn Apple (Datura) is believed to help one get rid of envy, terror, wicked nature or any other negative tendencies. Offerings are made as per one’s own will and capacity.

Who is Goddess Parvati?

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Dussehra: The nine nights of celebration of divine feminine strength 

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Why do people fast? 

Married and unmarried men and women both worship Shiva and typically fast. Fasting is good for health and has many scientific merits to it, as it allows the body to go into autophagy. Some only drink water; some might keep to a fruit diet while others might have only one meal in the evening. It all depends on the individual and his/her faith. There is no absolute path in the Hindu religion. 

How do Indians celebrate when they are not fasting?

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Maha Shivaratri : A day of devotion and patience 

This day is an opportunity for people to align with the all-pervasive consciousness by fasting and chanting. Lord Shiva is known as the annihilator of  evils and also the first yogi. This is a special day where people pray to seek blessings and perform rituals, which give them immense tranquility and comfort. On this day, we wish everyone a Happy Maha Shivratri and  happiness to each and every being on Earth. 

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is taken very seriously in India. In fact, it is the only country to have a mandatory CSR spending law in the world. It was introduced for the first time in India under the Companies Act 2013 under section 135. Its rules were notified in Feb 2014 and came into effect since April 2014.  

What is CSR? 

The basic principles of CSR: Although the ideals of CSR have a long history in India, its roots can be traced to Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of building a self-sustainable society. Gandhiji was of opinion that concentration of wealth with one group of people is of no good to the welfare of the society. Which is why he formulated the trusteeship model so that wealthy industrialists are obligated to invest in the welfare of society. This was, however, limited to very few activities. After Independence and the subsequent liberalization of Indian economy, globalization ensured global standards were met. Although many industrialists like TATA, Birla and even PSUs (Public sector Units) were doing activities in line with current CSR practice, the CSR laws were proposed in India. 

 India still needs to improve in terms of development and CSR can catalyse such endeavors because Indian businesses spend around ₹15,000 crore a year on CSR as per pre-pandemic official estimates.  

Corporate social responsibility law 

This law is applicable to all companies incorporated in India and have either of these in their preceding financial year: 

• Net worth of INR 500 Cr or more or 
• Turnover of INR 1000 Cr or more or 
• Net profit of INR 5 Cr or more 

It has also been clearly mentioned that under this law, pure philanthropy or mere donations cannot be considered as CSR endeavors.   

Read: Collaborative India – Your Next Expansion Destination!

The list of activities and areas under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are defined clearly under CSR law. All organizations have to spend at least 2 % of their average net profit for three consecutive fiscal years as per CSR law. A lot of development has been happening in this space to make every work accountable. The Indian government keep making efforts for impactful results. Many  changes have been happening for FDI (foreign direct Invesment) as there were some reports of fund misuse. As many companies which do CSR are not doing what they should do or NGOs which get funds but not making good use of the money. Recently many changes also happened in the CSR policy with amendments in terms and definitions as notified under the MCA ( Ministry of corporate affairs) notifications 2021. Here’s some of the key changes: 

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• The definition of administrative overheads has been introduced  and it excludes  expenses directly incurred for designing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a particular CSR project.  
• Now there is compulsory registration electronically with Ministry of corporate affairs so that government knows exactly where and which agencies are doing implementations 
• New terms have been included under the international organisation section so that instances like NGOs or any organisation working in this sector can take help from such international organisations in designing, monitoring and evaluation type activities. 

• The Impact assessment has been added new in the policy so that any activity done by any the organisation can be verified. It can happen through proper CSR assessment and reporting methodology. To know more about it, view this course, linked below. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so such content get pushed to you!

We have only covered a few of the many updates in this topic. There are many rules and policies which keep changing acording to time and requirements. 

Currently India stands at a low HDI(Human development ranking ) and much more is needed to remove poverty, hunger and many more issues like child malnutrition, education, the fight towards climate change.  The CSR structure has the potential to bring together government, NGOs and international organization to work together for the benefit of the society.   

The following videos are valuable knowledge sources for getting a deeper understanding of CSR in India: