CHICAGO: Hindu Mandir of Lake County welcomed New Year 2014 in a traditional Indian way on 31st December 2013 in the morning with Pt. Anil Joshi performing Lord Ganesh, Sarva Dev and Devi pujan along with special poojan of Shri Ram Parivar and Lord Hanuman.
Pt Joshi also performed the pujan of holy book Ramayana. Ramayana path was started at 11am and went all through the day and night without any break. In spite of bad weather and snow, almost 300 devotees attended the program.
This trend is showing that Indian communities are becoming more spiritual minded and taking part in all the religious and cultural events of the temple with zeal and zest. New Year celebration by the temple was very much enjoyed by young adults and children.
At midnight, all devotees welcomed the New Year with chanting of Jai Shree Ram, Jai Hanuman with conch and bells sounds that filled the shrine and created a devotional atmosphere. On first January 2014, Ramayana purti was performed by priest with Mantras and Slokas. President Harsh Kumar, Avinash Kotage, Madhup and other dedicated members of Akhanda Ramayana Path team offered new vastram and pushpam to the holy book.
Bhajans sung by Kamalesh Desai, Avinash, and other devotees made the atmosphere very divine and blessed. The whole program was under the supervision of Madhup Ji. Special puja and archana were performed to all deities in the temple with bright lights and festive cheers.
Pt. Anil Joshi spoke on the importance of Ramayana. He said that Ramayana is like a flowing Ganga. You can take this Ganga rupi Ramayana with you anywhere in the world. To take a holy dip in Ganga you have to go to India but when you read Ramayana, you can get the benefit of the holy dip. Ramayana offers stability, sense of balance and equilibrium to our mind and helps us to uplift ourselves above the paap and punya concepts and attain high level spiritual enlightenment.
Further Pt. Joshi said that Ramayana is a complete Hindu scripture and philology that proposes solutions to all our day to day life problems. Ramayana also makes us realize how to pursue ideal life and understand our responsibilities towards family and society in particular and the world in general.
He also said that Ramayana tells us to love and respect all the creations of God and maintain good familial and social relationships which are essential to bring in harmony, peace and advancement in life. At the end, Pt. Anil Joshi gave blessings to all the devotees for their happiness, hope, prosperity and success in life.
South Indian community offered Phulangi Seva to Lord Balaji which was an extraordinary attraction of the day.
The meaning behind this Phulangi alankaram is that by offering colorful and fragrance filled flowers to Lord Balaji we obtain his blessings that make our life more colorful, consecrated, and meaningful. Devotees chanted Vishnu Sahastranam and Hanuman Chalisa and performed archana and aarti. Later, Lord Ganesh Abhishekam was performed by Pt. Ganesh.
The temple served mahaprasadam to all devotees on the New Year’s Day with love and blessings of God. Traditional prasadam was prepared by Kamal Gupta and his team. President Harsh Kumar thanked each and every one including sponsors, volunteers for making the New Year celebration a grand success.
Geetha Patel
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