Once in Ayodhya, there lived a king named Dashrath. He was a great devotee. He had three wives, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. But he did not have any child. So he went to sage Vashishtha. The sage suggested him to do a putreshti yagya. During the yagya, lord Agni appeared before Dashrath. He gave a bowl of payasam to the king to be fed by his three queens. The king gave half payasam to Kaushalya and half to Kaikeyi. The two wives divided their share into half and each gave its half portion to Sumitra. Some days later, the three queens were pregnant. On the ninth day of Chaitra month, the first son was born to Kaushalya during afternoon. This son was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The whole Ayodhya, the king, the queens and the maids were very happy. The gods started showering flowers from the heavens to express their joy at the birth of the Lord. Then Kaikeyi also gave birth to a son while Sumitra gave birth to two sons at the same time. Ayodhya was decorated in happiness. Everyone in Ayodhya, and the gods in the heavens blessed the four sons of Dashrath. This way, the four princes of Ayodhya were born.
BIRTH OF LORD RAMA
