CHICAGO: Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, celebrated the dual festivals of Chaitra Navaratri of Devi Durga and Shree Ram Navami with all the religious fervor and enthusiasm.
Hundreds of devotees and kids participated in these nine days long events with daily holy Pujans and Alankaram of Ma Durga and discourses on the meaning of Hindu New Year, importance of Kalyam, and various characters of Ramayana by Pt Anil Joshi .
Chaitra Navratri, a Hindu festival was dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga and her nine avatars for a period of nine days from March 18 to 25. Temple priests started the celebrations with the Hindu New Year ‘Vikram Samvat’ Panchang Pujan along with Gauri-Ganesh Pujan. Each day of Navratri celebrated a different avatar of Goddess Durga. Pt. Anil Joshi delivered discourse on Ramayana every evening.
On March 24, BalajiKalyam was performed by the South Indians in the morning. Mata Ki Chowki was observed in the evening with hundreds of Kanya Pujan. More than 300 devotees gathered on this special day Pujan of Ma Durga. Chaitra Navratri marks the change of season from spring to summer and is also known as Ram Navratri. This festival marks the birth of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord
Vishnu.
On Sunday, March 25, morning, melodious Bhajans were sung by Rita Patel and Kamalesh Desai. At 11:45am Lord Baby Ram, the son of king Dasaratha and his wife Kaushalya entered the Shrine and the devotees along with the priests welcomed Baby Ram folding their hands and chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans. Nicely decorated Lord baby Ram statue was placed in the cradle after Abhishekam and offered beautiful garlands and home-made naivedyam. Devotees rocked Baby Ram one by one and obtained his blessings with utmost reverence. Sunderkand was started by the temple priest Yogesh Pandey, Madoop Dhoan, and Avinash Khodake.
In his message, Pt. Anil Joshi said, Lord Rama’s life is a message in itself, a message of adhering to the values of righteousness, walking on the path of truth, devotion to duty, restraint and selfless service. He called on people to embrace these moral values and make the world beautiful, clean, and joyful with their good deeds. He shared many incidents with devotees depicting various phases of Lord Rama’s life.
He further laid emphasis on the importance of ‘Karma’ in our lives and advised everyone to have ‘Seva Bhava’ in life like Lord Hanuman. Pt Joshi expressed his gratitude to the lovely nature of Chaitra Masa and all the living creatures that helped Lord Ram and are also useful to the continuity of our life on this earth. He thanked and blessed all the devotees for their active participation and support to the temple.
Maha Prasad prepared by Smt. Prameela Dutt and team was served to all the devotees after Archanas and Maha Mangal Arati.
 Geetha Patil
