Lockdown and Ramnavmi

 Dhwaja -Ramnavmi

Our family is the ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman ji .Hanuman ji is not just a God but he is also a family member , our guide, guardian and spiritual force for us . This is the legacy what we have got from our ancestors, from our grandfather . The festival Ramnavmi is celebrated on the occassion of Lord Shri Ram's birthday but this festival is especially dedicated to Lord Hanuman . My grandfather used to celebrate this festival fervently . After the death of my grandfather (Dada ji ) and Father (Babu Ji ) , my elder brother has kept the tradition alive . Every year he worships Hanumanji on Ramnavmi and performs all essential rituals of the festival .

This year , Ramnavmi was quite different from other years . This year Ramnavami festival fell on 1st April and during that time there was corona- Induced lockdown across the country . My mother usually used to live in village but from last 2-3 years she has been unwell . For Doctors consultations and other medical services & facilities she would stay with my elder brother ( who is headmaster of a government middle school ) in Bhagalpur and would frequently visit village ( which is in Munger district ) to look after agriculture related activities, to attend extended family related functions and village festival . When lockdown was announced that time she was in Bhagalpur and her condition was not less than serious . During lockdown district border was sealed and travelling was not allowed from one district to other district . There were some rumours that there were some corona positive patients in Tarapur ( Block town which is just 3KM far away from my village ). This was the first time in the history of our family when we couldn't celebrate the Ramnavmi on festival day . Though we all were not feeling well but my mother was inconsolable that day . In mid May , my neighbour who is our kinship informed my mother that our house was burgled during lockdown . It was second depressing news in lockdown  ( Will write in detail about burglary in next blog ) . 

When lockdown was lifted on 1st June , my elder brother went to home and arranged everything for Ramnavmi . Next day, with the help of  village priest  he  performed  all the rituals related to ramnavmi   like installing Dhwaja, Satyanarayana prabhu puja etc with observing corona related guidelines .   When 
 the required rituals of ramnavmi was done , we all felt a sense of relief . In our family tradition , rituals are very important and any aberration in observing rituals are considered as God's will . It is believed that God's will is always a blessing for devotees . Though I follow rituals religiously but I believe in connecting with God spiritually more than ritually .

~~~Ramanuj Dubey