Shri Rama Ashtottara Shatanamavali (108 names)

When it is sung or recited

When it is chanted: traditionally on Ram Navami (Chaitra Shukla Navami), during Chaitra and Sharad Navratri, on Vijayadashami, and along with a reading of the Ramayana. Many families also read it as part of daily puja to remember Shri Rama.

How to chant

How to chant: say Om, then the name, then Namah, for example 'Om Shriramaya Namah'. Take a mala (rosary) of 108 beads and say one name for each bead, so one full round of the mala completes the 108 names. Without a mala, simply read or listen to the names in order. Ask a priest or elder to guide pronunciation. Lighting a lamp and offering a flower is traditional but not required.

Please note

There are several lists of 108 names of Shri Rama. This is the one that begins with Shri Rama, Ramabhadra, Ramachandra and Shashvata, and it appears in the same order on three well-known sites. The name Jitamitra occurs twice in this list, at places 11 and 49, so it is given twice here as well and is counted both times on the mala (only one published list prints the second one as Jitamitra with a short vowel). A few names are worded differently from site to site (for example Jitavarashi and Jitavarisha, Shivalinga-pratishthata and Vibhishana-pratishthata); where the sources differed, the form found in most of them is used, and where they were evenly split one form had to be chosen. A separate list built from verses of the Valmiki Ramayana is also published; if your family or temple follows a different list, use your own book.

Text compared with: drikpanchang.com, stotranidhi.com, sanskritdocuments.org. A comparison with printed editions is still in progress. Wording differs between sources, so follow your priest’s version.