Hindu Temple hosts Mother’s Day and Narayana Parayanam

Geetha Patil

GRAYSLAKE IL: Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, IL organizedShriman Narayana Parayanam and Mother’s Day celebrations in a typical Hindu traditional way onMay Sunday 9, 2021. There were devotes during these programs and they followed all the COVID-19 instructions and restrictions for public gatherings.

Vaishakamasam is said to be the dearest to Lord Vishnu and the best month for dharma, yagna (holy sacrifice), rituals and tapasya (meditation), as compared to other months. The “Parayana” of Narayaneeyam is believed to possess the wonderful power of healing afflictions, both mental and physical, of the devotees and enable them to attain ” Ayurarogyasoukhyam”/health and happiness in life.

Hence, the temple devotees organized Puja, Abhishekam, and Chanting of Mantras for each Avatar/incarnation of Lord Vishnu. After every Avatar’s puja, home-made naivedyam offered to the deity. This intensive 5-hour long chanting of SampoornaNarayaneeyam and Puja of all Avatars of Lord Vishnu was led by Rajesh Jayaraman along with a team of Mantra chanters while temple priests,

Pt. Anil Joshi Ji and RadhaKrishna performed puja rituals. Narayaneeyam was written by Bhattathiri in 1586 AD. It is a devotional Sanskrit work, in the form of a poetical hymn, and consists of 1036 slokas/verses.

This auspicious Lord Vishnu Puja program was concluded with Mother’s Day celebration. Children washed the feet of mothers, offered them Tilak, Akshata,flowers, and fruits. Pt Joshi Ji honored and blessed all the mothers by offering Uttariyas/scarfs.

Before his discourse,Pt. Joshi Ji along with all the devotees prayed for the relief from Corona virus impact in India and said that worshipping Lord Vishnu during this month will yield best fruits for our efforts and grants ayu (longevity), yash (fame) and pushti (sustenance) and the unending blessings of Vishnu. He also said that in Hinduism, Mother’s Day is a celebration of honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. The modern Mother’s Day has been assimilated into Indian culture and celebrated in a traditional way.