Ram's Coronation

Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughna had Ram's matted hair untied and bathed him. The ascetic's bark garments came off, and royal robes went on. The queen mothers lovingly adorned Sita too. After fourteen years, Ayodhya saw its prince as he once was.

At an auspicious hour, the family guru Vasishtha performed the coronation. Ram sat on the throne with Sita and was anointed with water from holy rivers and seas. Shatrughna held the royal umbrella, while Lakshman and Bharat waved the whisks. The gods showered flowers from the sky.

Ram gave gifts to everyone. The Valmiki Ramayan has a sweet scene: Sita held the pearl necklace from her neck and looked at Ram. Ram said: give it to the one who pleases you most. Sita gave it to Hanuman, in whom brilliance, patience, strength and wisdom were all found together.

A well-loved popular tale adds that Hanuman began breaking the pearls open to see whether Ram was inside them, since anything without Ram was of no use to him. For devotees the story stands for Hanuman's single-minded devotion.

In time Sugriv, Vibhishan, Angad and the vanara heroes took their leave, eyes full of tears. Ram embraced each one and thanked them: without you, this victory would not have been possible.