HINDU YOUTH FESTIVAL – Bhagavat Katha in UK organised by the Youth

For the first time in eight years, Pujya Bhaishri conducted a divine Bhagwat katha at the first ever Hindu Youth Festival in London, from the 26th July to 5th August organized by the Oxford Centre of Vaishnava and Hindu Studies (OCVHS). He shared his thoughts and realizations on the Bhagwat Puraan, where he enthralled audiences with sweet stories, humorous episodes and soul-stirring Kirtan. Pujya Bhaishri, concentrated on the important branches of the Bhagwat. He explained the importance of the Bhagwat (its Mahima) and how it can help us in our daily lives.

The Shobha Yatra

As is traditional at the start of a Bhagwat Katha, the Shreemad Bhagwat Pothi was led into the main katha marquee by a procession. The Youth of the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Willesden, London, led the procession with a band while young girls played Raas-Garba, followed by the various saints that attended the opening day, including Pujya Muniji Maharaj and Pujya Shankaracharya Deevyanand Tirtha, Pujya Swami Pragnanandji Maharaj, Pujya Swami Amaranandji Maharaj and Pujya Swamiji Bharti Bapu. The Mayor of Brent, Mr Rameshchandra Patel, and the Labour MP for Brent North, Barry Gardiner, also joined the saints in the procession. Hundreds of devotees followed closely behind singing Kirtan.

The Bhagavat Bhagirathi

The 10-day Bhagwat katha was rendered for the first time by Bhaishri in Hindi, whereby a wider audience of Hindus could understand and benefit. To begin, Bhaishri explained the significance of the Bhagwat Puraan (the Mahatmaya). He said that the Katha touches the heart of millions of people because ‘it is the words of God Himself and spoken by Himself.’ He continued, ‘The Bhagwat is the nectar of the scriptures and flows like the Holy Ganges.’ Bhaishri gave great importance to the Mother Tongue and said that ‘great cultures had vanished because they lost their own language’. He also told youth to live for the moment, not to live in the past. ‘Don’t spoil your present; it is a present (gift) from God. The past is history and the future a mystery.’ The audience received such messages very well. Many will remember the time Pujya Bhaishri spent hours describing the five features that distinguished the Hindu faith from other faiths. These are: 1) The concept of Yagna, 2) Belief in Karma and Reincarnation, 3) The 16 Sanskars, 4) The Varnashram System, and 5) The 4 types of Pursharth (Dharma, Artha, Kaam and Moksh). He explained further that the major difference between the Hindu and Abrahamic faiths (Islam, Judaism and Christianity) is that the Abrahamic faiths believe everything is God’s, while Hindus believe not only that everything is God’s, but also that everything is God. He is not just the ‘Nimit Karana’ but also the ‘Upaadaan Karana.’ During the course of the Katha, three main events of the past-times of Shri Krishna (his Lilas) were celebrated, including His birth (Krishna Janma Utsav), His lifting of the Govardhan parvat (Govardhan Lila) and His marriage with Rukmini (Rukmini Vivah). The youth organised, arranged and participated in these Utsavs with great pomp and joy. The Katha ended on Saturday 4th August with a summary of the essence of the Bhagwat and words of praise and encouragement to the Youth for taking on such a mammoth project.

Mahavishnu Yagya

In addition to the Katha, there was also a Mahavishnu Yagya that started on the second day of the Katha and ran until Saturday 4th August. It consisted of 5 Kunds where families and individuals sat and conducted the sacred ceremony. A team of pundits from Ahmedabad sang Vedic chants headed by Shastriji Raghunath Chunilal Dave. The Yagya was conducted for World peace and prosperity.

Youth Activities

The Youth activities took place on nine evenings of fun, culture and enlightenment in which a variety of activities were staged in the main marquee. With the help of a large screen and projector equipment, the audience was enraptured with animations, videos, flash and power point presentations. Plays and comedy sketches that have a spiritual significance were performed in front of large crowds. These were received extremely well and proved to be educational as well as entertaining. Well-performed dances and Bhajans sung by young children taught us of our rich culture and proved to be very inspiring to many in the audience. On a daily basis Saints and Swami’s attended the evening activities, many of whom gave brief talks in English. These included Swami Chidatmananda (Chinmaya Mission), Swami Dayatmananda (Ram-Krishna Vedanta Centre), Swami Chidanand Sarawati (Muniji), Shankacharyaji Deevyanand Tirtha, Sivaram Maharaj (ISKCON), and Swamini Vimalananda (Chinmaya Mission). In addition, local speakers were invited to share their knowledge with the audience. They gave wonderful presentations, which were incredibly informative. The majority of presentations were conducted by youth speakers who had spent many weeks preparing talks on topics such as The Aryan debate, Ayurvedic Medicine, Hindu Festivals, Jyotish Shastra, Art and Architecture of India, and The Ancient Rishis of India. Much emphasis was given on the social issues that effect young Hindu’s, such as identity, women’s role in society, caste system, vegetarianism, sex and sexuality, and drugs and alcohol abuse. On the 7th day Bhaishri and Muniji attended the evening activities and enjoyed them immensely. Pujya Muniji gave a short talk on the importance of 16 Sanskars in Hinduism. At the end of the programme, Bhaishri gave his blessings to all the youth that had gathered (about 1200) and expressed how much he enjoyed the programme. He even suggested that in future years, the youth should perform short plays in Sanskrit. During the week, there was a break from these activities and a special Raas-Garba evening was organised that was attended by over 1,500 people. With traditional music by Shri Niranjanbhai Pandya from Gujarat and his band, the Katha marquee became a giant arena where hundreds of people enjoyed Raas-Garba until the late hours of the night.

Visit by Swami’s from Bhuj

During one afternoon, six Swami’s from Bhuj, who are currently at the Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Willesden, attended the katha. These were Swami Ramswarupdasji, Purani Paramhansdasji, Swami Aksharprakashdasji, Swami Narayanmunidasji, Swami Aksharmuktadasji and Swami Maniswardasji. Swami Aksharprakashdasji gave his good wishes to the youth organisers and to the festival on behalf of the Bhuj temple.

Visit to Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir, Neasden

On Sunday 29th July, Pujya Bhaishri was invited to attend the Aarti and Sunday ‘Sabha’ at the Shri Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Neasden, inspired by H.H. Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Pujya Bhaishri accepted the invitation and straight from the Katha attended the sabha in the presence of Pujya Shri Atmaswaroop Swami, the Mahant of the temple. Pujya Bhaishri sang a dhun and gave a short pravachan in front of a 1000 people in the sabha. He also expressed his happiness of visiting the beautiful temple that has become a symbol of Hindu spirituality in Britain today.

Raksha Bandhan

On Saturday 4th August was ‘Raksha Bandhan’, a very important day for the devotees of Bhaishri who all expressed the wish to tie Rakhi to their dearest Brother. Bhaishri was very kind to allow all to tie him Rakhi, young and old alike. In addition, from the Vyas Pith, he mentally tied Rakhi to all the shrotas in the audience and gave blessings to the youth for the forthcoming year.

Satyanarayan Katha

On the last day of the festival, Sunday 5th August, a special ‘Samuh-Satyanarayan Katha’ was held where families participated in the three-hour puja. Over 60 families conducted and hundreds came to attend and hear the Katha that was given by Shastriji Raghunath Chunilal Dave. The festival ended with a second Raas-Garba programme where hundreds attended.