2013
Friday, 19 April 2013
In 2013 the tithi runs from 6:54 am on 19 Apr to 8:14 am on 20 Apr; it is running at aparahna, the afternoon on Friday, 19 April 2013, so that is the day of Ram Navami.
2014
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
In 2014 the tithi runs from 3:11 am on 8 Apr to 5:37 am on 9 Apr; it is running at aparahna, the afternoon on Tuesday, 8 April 2014, so that is the day of Ram Navami.
How the date is fixed
Ram Navami falls on the ninth day of the bright half of the lunar month Chaitra (Shukla Navami). The date is the day on which that tithi is running at aparahna, the afternoon.
About
Ram Navami falls on the ninth tithi of the bright half of Chaitra and closes Chaitra Navratri. The Ramayana places the birth at midday in Punarvasu nakshatra, so the madhyahna (midday) period is the governing moment, and the day whose midday holds Navami is chosen. Where Navami touches midday on two days, the texts prefer the day on which Navami is joined with Punarvasu or, failing that, the first day. Ayodhya, Bhadrachalam and Rameswaram hold their largest gatherings of the year on this day.
How it is observed
Recitation of the Ramayana, a midday birth ceremony in temples and a fast kept until the midday puja.