Suresh Bodiwala
CHICAGO: Dwarkamai a recognized non-profit organization is dedicated to organizing events and conducting activities directed towards personal spiritual development of the community by following the teachings of Shri Sainath, a saint from Shirdi.
The Guiding Principle behind opening Dwarkamai’s “Centers of Spiritual Excellence” was to take the worship center closer to devotee’s homes based on request from devotees in an area rather than make devotees drive for hours to visit a worship center.
The same principle has brought us to the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL where a group of 60 devotee families felt the need for a worship center nearby and requested Dwarkamai to open a Spiritual Center on the lines of those started in Massachusetts.
Under the guidance of Anil Naik and support from the members of the community and a Landlord willing to go the extra mile, Dwarkamai’s newest “Center of Spiritual Excellence”, Shri Shirdi Sai Mandir, Rolling Meadows, opened its doors to the community on Dusherra Day, Oct 25, 2020 and has been providing volunteer driven services to the community since then.
Shri Shirdi Sai Mandir, Rolling Meadows kicked the month-long Shri Venkateswara and Navagraha PraanaPrathisthaMahotsavam- July 2021 with the Jaladhivasam event on Sunday, July 4, 2021 During Jaladhivasam, the Vigrahas are completely immersed in water in a reclining position. This is done to emphasize centrality of water in the Vedas. Water is the essence of Jyothi or light.
The essence of the mantras chanted during this ritual is that all entities including vital air, animals and food are a form of water. Water shines brilliantly by itself and cannot be ruled over by any other entity. Truth is also considered as a form of water. Devotees sang “Govinda, Govinda” accompanied by sounds of temple bells, conch and musical instruments during this event and poured water over Lord Venkateswara and Navagrahas to immerse them in water completely.
The next event during this month-long event is the Dhanyadhivasam event scheduled on July 15, 2021 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The temple management invites the community to come and participate in this once in a lifetime event. During Dhanyadhivasam, the Vigrahas will be completely immersed in Dhanyams for 11days. Bhagavan is saluted through this ritual as “Vishwa-bhuk“, the protector of the Universe. The essence of the manthrams recited at this time is that the Lord is recognized as the Controller, Master and Consumer of the entire universe and pray to him for his satisfaction with the offering of Anna or Dhanyam. It states that the food is a form of nectar and is offered to the Lord as a form of complete surrender unto HIM.
For program details and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: https://shrishirdisaimandir.com/index.php/sponsor
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