Hoping for an 'auspicious' start for their newborns, many couples had muhurat deliveries, planned in consultation with doctors, in hospitals on Monday coinciding with the Ram Lalla idol consecration in Ayodhya.
While 'Ram' and 'Sita' were the preferred names for many, a baby boy born to a Muslim family in the district hospital in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, was named Ram Rahim by his grandmother.
Dr Naveen Jain, in-charge of the district women's hospital, said that the woman, Farzana, gave birth to a baby boy and "the child's grandmother Husna Banu has named him Ram Rahim" saying she wanted to give a "message of Hindu-Muslim unity".
JSS Super Speciality Hospital run by the 'Shri Siddeshwar Loka Kalyana Charitable Trust in Karnataka's Vijayapura had special requests from over 50 pregnant women to align their delivery dates for January 22 and has conducted over 20 deliveries on Monday.
"We had special requests from over 50 pregnant women to align their delivery dates for January 22... since it is Lord Ram's day," Leelavati CA, head HR, told PTI.
"Since, there were several requests, after looking at the medical condition of the expecting mothers and multiple scanning, we could schedule the delivery of over 20 pregnant women for January 22.
"Today (Monday) alone, we have carried out delivery of more than 20 women so far and still operation threatres are full and scanning is still being carried out to schedule the next line of deliveries," the hospital official said.
Ashwini Bagli, 21, whose husband is a bank employee, is among those who had their delivery planned for Monday.
"It's an auspicious day and our family wanted to get the delivery done on a historic day when Lord Ram is back in Ayodhya. I gave birth to a baby girl on this auspicious day and so, we are planning to name our baby Sita," she said.
The hospital had announced free delivery of newborns at its facility from January 18 to January 22 and carried out over 100 deliveries during the specified period, according to the hospital administration.
It also organised a "cradle ceremony" on January 22 of which three newborns - two baby boys and a baby girl -- were a part as "Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman".
A 42-year-old woman delivered a baby boy at Male Hospital in Maharashtra's Thane city after doctors agreed to her request for a delivery on January 22 though she was due on January 23.
Samrudhi Bamane, who works in the IT sector, had requested that her delivery be advanced by a day so as to coincide with the auspicious occasion, Dr Chandrakant Barure of Male Hospital in Thane told PTI.
The baby was born at 12.30 pm at the hospital, located in Naupada area of Thane, the doctor said. The mother and the baby are doing well, he added.
Many expectant parents nationwide have sought muhurat deliveries' to coincide with the consecration of Ram temple at Ayodhya.
There were also several parents like 30-year-old Boramma who had a natural childbirth and felt it was their good luck.
"My husband is a farmer and we did not have enough money to get my delivery scheduled for January 22 .. I felt like even Lord Ram wanted me to deliver my baby on this auspicious day," she said hours after delivering her baby at JSS Super Speciality Hospital.
"Being a devotee of Ram, we have decided to name our newborn as Shri Ram. I feel blessed," she said.
Seema Dwivedi, acting in-charge of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, said as many as 25 babies were delivered here on Monday.
Talking to PTI over the phone, Dwivedi said that several expectant mothers had requested her a Caesarean section on January 22.
Out of the 25 infants, 10 were girls while the rest were boys and all were normal and healthy, she said, adding they were a mix of natural births and planned deliveries.
Dwivedi said that Bharti Mishra, who delivered a boy, has christened the child Ram, believing that it will have a positive impact on the baby's personality.
The boys were given other names of Lord Ram also like Raghav, Raghvendra, Raghu and Ramendra, while many girls have been named Janaki and Sita.
A girl was born to couple Sanjana and Lokesh through a caesarean delivery at Depalpur Civil Hospital in Indore, Dr Sushma Boriwal said.
"I was in touch with the doctors and medical staff of the hospital to have the baby delivered on January 22 but was told it had not completed its term. However, Sanjana complained of pain at around 11 am, after which the operation was performed," Lokesh told PTI.
Both the mother and child are in good health, he said.
At least 47 babies were delivered in different hospitals in three districts of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, health officials said.
While 33 babies were born in three hospitals in Indore, the figure was 13 for Damoh and one for Bhopal, they said.
In Indore's state-run PC Sethi hospital, 18 babies, comprising nine girls and as many boys, were born on Monday, Dr Veerendra Rajgir told PTI.
While 17 were normal deliveries, one was a caesarean procedure, Rajgir added
Eleven infants were born through normal deliveries, while three were delivered by caesarean operation at the government-run MTH Hospital in Indore, senior gynaecologist Dr Sumitra Yadav told PTI.
The infants - eight girls and six boys - are doing well, she added.
