Navratri Anushthan 2010
The joyous occasion of Navratri involves prayers and devotion to the three main forms of Mataji, also referred to as Shakti. Various devotees of Maa Shakti hold various anushthans to offer their prayers. At Shri Hari Mandir and Sandipani Vidyaniketan, this year celebrated the 29th year of Navratri Anushthan from 8th October to 18th October 2010.
Pujya Bhaishri recited Shri Ram Charit Manas in different tunes with the devotees who sang in one rhythm with him. This electrified the atmosphere with divinity and the present devotees were filled with bhakti for God. The number of devotees increased as the days progressed.
In the afternoons, Shri Piyushji Maharaj of Vrindavandham narrated the Shrimad Bhagavat Katha. Shri Piyushji Maharaj is the grandson of the celebrated Bhagavat katha narrator, Shri Binduji Maharaj. He made the satsang memorable by focusing on kirtan bhakti and therefore singing enchanting bhajans, slokas and aarati during the katha. Pujya Bhaishri said that Shri Piyushji Maharaj’s katha provides a beautiful combination of melody like Shri Krishna and rhythm like Shri Radha.
After the katha, Pujya Bhaishri, various saints and the devotees assembled for aarati in Shri Hari Mandir and experienced celestial bliss. Shri Karunamayi Maa blessed everyone with her divine darshan dressed in various beautiful clothes and ornaments every day for the nine days and her temple decorated with flowers and rangolis as described in detail below.
On the first day, the temple was decorated with a range of coloured lights. On the second day, Mataji was present in the temple decorated with a variety of coloured chunris. Devotees on the third day felt that Mataji was relaxing in the garden as the floor of the temple had been laid with grass and Mataji was seated in a beautiful seat made of flowers. On the fourth day, Shri Karunamayi Maa gave darshan surrounded with flowers, while on the fifth day she was seated on an elegant throne of marigold flowers. Devotees praised Maa on the sixth day seated under an umbrella made of marigold and other flowers. On the seventh day Mataji provided darshan in the brightness of a rangoli made of diyas. On the eighth day, different types of food were offered to Maa giving the impression that Maa was nourishing the world. The prasad was then distributed to all the people present. Finally on the last day, the decoration showed abhishek of Shri Karunamayi Maa. Shri Rambhai Mokaria of Maruti Courier sponsored all the flowers bought on the nine days and Shri Atulbhai Pandya sponsored the floral garlands for the temple.
After the aarati, the devotees joyfully played raas-garba on the foregrounds of Shri Hari Mandir. In addition, several cultural programmes were held late at night which included a musical programme of Bhakti sangeet and raas by Niranjan Pandya and Deepti Desai. The festival was also graced with the presence of renowned saints like Shri Devprasadji Maharaj of Anandabawa ashram of Jamnagar, Shri Ajasranandji Maharaj, Shri Vasantbawaji of Porbandar and Shri Hariprakashanandji of Swaminarayan cult.
This year, Shri Rajendrabhai Jani of Bhavnagar honoured the brilliant students of Babadeshwar Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, who came first, with gold medals.
In addition, like every year, various medical camps including: dental, cataracts, acupressure, pulmonology, gynaecology, endocrinology, ENT and general medicine, were run successfully this year. A total of 2493 patients were treated including any tests required and free medication from the pharmacy dispensary for the first five days. The patients will be provided with a free follow up for three months.
Shrimati Jasumatiben Bhad of Ahmedabad, Shrimati Pushpaben of Ichalkaranji, Shrimati Gauri Vijay Goyal of Meerut, and Shri Jayantbhai Pandya of Ahmedabad sponsored the hoisting of flags atop the temples. Also, Shri Dheerajbhai Pandit sponsored the expenses of a full day. The chief hosts of the whole festival were Shri Hiteshbhai Jaiswal and Shrimati Nilamben Jaiswal of USA.
