Enchanting Bhagwat Katha at St. Louis, Missouri

After rendering a very emotionally uplifting discourse on “Bhakti Yoga” (in Gujarati) from Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta in Nacogdoches, Texas, Param Pujya Bhaishri arrived in St. Louis, Missouri on late Saturday evening,19th June 2004. This historic Katha in St. Louis was first of its kind in the State of Missouri and it was the culmination of aggressive six months of planning and preparation from approximately eighteen sub-committees of Gujarati Samaj of St. Louis. The magnificent katha event was spearheaded by Shri Ramanbhai Patel, Shri Anilbhai Gopal and Shri Rajivbhai Shah (who also serves as the President of the Gujarati Samaj of St. Louis).

St. Louis is an eclectic city, which was celebrating its 200th anniversary of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition that began from St. Louis during the year 1804 and undertook a challenging two and a half year trip through the Oregon Trail to seek out and establish the Western Frontiers of the United States of America. In addition to these festivities, Gujarati Samaj of St. Louis was also celebrating its 20th anniversary since its inception.

Approximately 800 people attended the katha on a daily basis and the Mahaprasadam was served every day prior to the Katha commencement until 6:30 p.m. so that every devotee got prasad. During the early mornings, Pujya Bhaishri met with well wishers who visited him at the host family’s residence and also addressed their queries and questions. Later on, Pujya Bhaishri went for multiple Padhravanis and also found time to visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Meremac Caverns in Stanton, Missouri. The Gateway Arch symbolizes the Western migration approximately 200 years ago and was completed in calendar year 1968. It is made of concrete and surrounded by shining and spotless metal. There is an elevator ride comprising of 8 compartments of five seats each, that in a matter of minutes takes all the tourists up to the pinnacle at the height of 630 feet across which, one can see the State of Illinois and on the other side, the city of St. Louis.

The next day, Pujya Bhaishri visited the Meremac Caverns in Stanton, Missouri (approximately 70 miles southwest of St. Louis). Some of the rock formations in the Meremac Caverns are at least 100 million years old view of which made it an amazingly great experience with the nature!

Although the audience at the Katha was predominantly from Gujarat, the Katha organizers had requested the katha to be narrated in Hindi so that other non-Gujarati devotees could appreciate the “nectar” of the Katha. This commitment in itself signified unity and selflessness that was the prime theme that Pujya Bhaishri espoused upon in the beginning of the Katha.

On Saturday, June 26th, 2004, Pujya Bhaishri also visited the beautiful temple at 725 Weidman Road in St. Louis to conduct a “Youth Session” in which the youth sang bhajans and played dandiya-raas. Pujya Bhaishri spoke in English to approximately 120 youths accompanied by their families and addressed their questions about spirituality and religion. The depth and the inquisitiveness of the youth were simply remarkable! The final session began at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 27th, 2004 and the almost 40 hour duration Katha ended very successfully. However, on a bittersweet note, the entire week had flown by in the twinkling of an eye!

During the Katha, there were four significant Utsavs that were choreographed and headed by Smt. Naynaben Choksi.

Pothiji Yatra
The host family, Shri Arvindbhai Patel and Smt. Tiluben Patel and their family members (daughter Vaishali, daughter-in-law Prital) brought the Shrimad Bhagwat Pothiji to the Katha hall at around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 20th, 2004. Pretty young ladies dressed in colorful costumes carrying various Kalash and Divas preceded the Pothiji that arrived in a ceremonious parade accompanies by drums, raas-garba, Vedic chants, etc.

Shri Krishna Janma
It was an exciting session on Thursday, June 24th, 2004 Pujya Bhaishri commenced the Katha at 6:30 p.m. and the excitement was building throughout the discourse as the storyline proceeded towards the birth of Lord Krishna. At 11:30 p.m. Pujya Bhaishri celebrated the ‘Utsav’ by chanting ‘Jai Kaniya Lal Ki’ and showering Prasadam to the delighted devotees. Then there was a ceremonial celebration by Vasudevji, Nandji, Yashodaji, etc. that was choreographed to a pre-recorded musical extravaganza. Pujya Bhaishri and the devotees were in a totally enchanted mood as they sang and danced joyously late into the night to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna.

Shri Govardhan Lila (Annakut)
On Friday, June 25th, 2004, an enthralling session took place that described the numerous phases of “Shri Krishna Leela” — it began at 7 p.m. and it ended just before midnight. The almost five hour session had wonderful hymns and bhajans, subsequent to which there was a 25 minute artistic rendition of the Shri Govardhan Lila by numerous devotees, both young and old, that culminated in the lifting of the “Govardhan Mountain” by Lord Krishna. This was followed by the Annakut which had approximately 110 mouth-watering colorful dishes prepared by Haribhaktas. The prasadam was shared at the main mealtime on the subsequent days.

Rukmani-Vivah
On Saturday, June 26th, 2004, the session began promptly at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 11:30 p.m. after which the celebrations of the Rukmani Vivah took place. The ceremonies were interspersed with various Mantras and Vedic chants from the Purohits. There were colorful costumes, gifts exchanged, and traditional wedding songs were also played. The entire event lasted until about 12:45 a.m.

Indeed it was a katha that will be remembered always!