CHICAGO: Hindu Mandir of Lake County has turned out to be a front ranking socio-religious organization of Indians in Chicagoland that seek active participation of youth and children in social and religious activities. The celebration of Vasant Panchmi involving worship and Puja of Ma Saraswati was one of the steps that the Mandir management has initiated in recent years.
The Mandir performed Ma Saraswati Puja on Sunday, February 2 in the morning with more than 125 students of different ages from the temple and other local schools participating and praying for academic success. Children were really enthusiastic about the puja as they were given a special puja plate with Lord Ganesh and Ma Saraswati, Kumkum, Akshata and flowers.
Pandit Anil Joshi started Lord Ganapati and Ma Saraswati puja and asked children to perform the same in their plates along with him. All children chanted Saraswati Beej Mantra, Stotra and Vandana along with him. It was really spectacular to see the children in yellow dresses, uttariya and their chanting with utmost devotion. Other devotees too participated with great religious fervor and singing of devotional Bhajans.
Grayslake Hindu Mandir has been conducting religious and Hindi language classes for the past four years on every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of the month. These classes are organized by Sanjay and Parina Mehrotra, along with 28 dedicated teachers and 15 volunteers. They run 14 classes for students who are in the group of 5 to 15 years.
Bhagavat Gita classes are arranged for adults by Shri Upadyaya Ji. The temple is making all efforts to build a bond between the younger generation and Hindu religion by teaching them all our socio-cultural, spiritual values and languages.
Pandit Joshi said that Vasant Panchami marks a glorious occasion to seek Ma Saraswati’s blessings to acquire secular and spiritual knowledge. He said that she rides on a white swan on this day which is known for its peculiar capability of separating water from milk. The swan indicates that we should have the ability to discriminate the bad from the good. He blessed all the children for bright future, success in their studies and life.
He added that real education makes a person humble, compassionate and full of loving energy whereas knowledge makes man egoistic. He blessed all the devotees, sponsors, and parents for participating in the puja. President Harsh Kumar gave a vote of thanks to all the volunteers and devotees. Finally a grand Maha Mangalarati was performed by all. After the aarti the prasad was distributed to all served by Neelakanth Anand and his team.
Geetha Patil
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