960 CONTINOUSH HOLY HOURS OF SRI RAM CHARITRA MANAS PATTH.
Just for a few seconds, close your eyes and picture this – 960 hours of continous rectitation of the sacred scripture of Sri Akhand Ram Charitra Manas Paath. It gives you goose bumps, doesn’t it? There are absolutely no words to thank Her Holiness GuruMaa who introduce this program, the continous reading of the holy of Sri Ram Charitra Manas, more than a decade ago at the New York Ashram. GuruMaa, being in India, it seemed difficult almost impossible to conduct something of this stature. But as She says that She and Baba are and will always to present guiding everything and blessing everyone.
The Indians residing in India (like my parents, who happened to be in NY at this time of the year) are very surprised that there is such program taking place in US.
The positive vibrations that fill the Ashram these 40 days is truly amazing. This recitation benefits hundreds of congregants not only by spreading the message of this holy scripture, but also by celebrating the holy month of Sravan and also by encouraging devotees to fast, give up bad habits , etc. All this has only been possible by the Bhakti and Shraddha of a lot of devootees and the blessings of GuruMaa and Hanuman Baba.
GuruMaa started this Paath with a day and slowly it grew to 21 days. Soon the number of days were extended to 32 and now it is 40 days. Her devotees have a very strong faith in Her and Her beliefs and are following Her lead. Like always, there were a number of devotees who undertook Sadhana during these 40 days. Some gave up bad habits and some made it a point to visit the Ashram to pay regards and get blessed every day of this continous recitation.
The Trust Board of VHI would like to thank all the sponsors – Dr. G.S. Gill, Dr. Yadav, Mrs. Puja Sandeep Sehgal, Mrs. Advaitpriya & Advaitmitra, Mrs. Yogita Vikas nand, Indu, Anil, Vinaod & Pramod Sharma, Mrs. Sunita Raj Jain, Mr. Satyanarayan &Kusum Yadav, Mrs. Deepa GuruDatt Pharma, Mr. Devang Patel, Mr. Chetan Trivedi, Mrs. Rita Mallik, Mr. Anand Tiwari, Mrs. Seems Ramtirth Sharma, Mr. Trilok Mehta, Yutipriya, Mrs. Daya Narayan Dave, Mrs. Meera Shaw, Mrs. Ami Atul Vadya, Mrs. Nilima Arun Madan, Jajoo & Dhoot Families, Mrs. Priti Hasmukh Sheth, Mrs. Sarita Sat Sharma, Mrs. Raman Kulbhushan Sharma, Nirmal & Shashi Sharma, Vedantpriya & Vedantmitra Bhavsar, Mr. Arun Dhingra, Mrs. Anita Vijay Singh, Mr. Satish Kumar, Mr. Vijay Mistry, Ruder Family, Mrs. Suman Ramesh Sharma, Mrs. Rita Kohli, Mrs. Shobha Vohra, Dr. Rina Sarkar, Mrs. Vibha Trivedi, Mrs. Lata Goyal, Mrs. Nisha Hitesh Pandya, Mrs. Prem Vinod Chhabra, Mrs. Rekha Batra, Mr. Amrish Kachhy, Motibhai Patel, Mr. Rajan Sachdeva, Mrs. Beena Singh, Mrs. Kank Singh, Mrs. Harish Kakkar. These sponsors alongwith their friends and families not only took responsibility for reading the Holy Book for 24 hours but also prepared Prasad and Bhog for all the Pujas for the day and fed all the devotees with great love and hospitality. And then there were devotees like Mataji and Agampriyaji who were there for all 40 days(and nights) to help read the Holy Scripture, Mrs & Mr. Datta, Balaji, Ms. Beena Sabhapathy, Mrs & Mr. Naresh Verma, Ms. Bhakti Gadkar,Ms Anita Singh, Mr. Satish Kumar, Mrs. Raman Sharma who were there to help and support in all possible ways-be it singing bhajans, preparaing and distributing Prasad, cleaning the temple-any seva that was required was performed with humility and positive attitude. Last but in no words least, the seva of Pandit Rameshji was unparalleled, ably supported by Pandit Soma ji. It was indeed a very festive atmosphere just like an elaborate family wedding.
The program was concluded on 15 August successfully. People from all over the states came to the program-Arizona, Tennessee, Minnesota, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsalyania,etc. Devotees like Anudidi and Vidya Uncle made two trips to & from Arizona. Their bhakti truly is uncomparable. Preparations for this day were conducted feverishly. The great Mahabhog was celebrated with much vigor. Nearly 60 aarti thalis were decorated, “Nariyals” prepared for the Havan, garlands made of freash flowers readied.
At noon, the energtic group of devotees settled down to begin the 108 recitation of Sri Hanuman Chalisa Paath. It was heart warming to see children join the adults.
All the devotees stood up and chanted the last Paath while dancing in front of Sri Hanumanji. It was a great sight. All the devootes converged towards the Havan Kund for Sri Sunderkand Paath Havan. The gold and silver cocnuts were ready for the Purnahooti. The holy fire burnt brightly as the vibrations from the holy chantinh filled the air. The last pages of the 40th recitation of Sri Ram Charitra Manas Paath was conducted and the holy book closed ceremoniously. This year our beloved Nayan bhaiya was also missed as he was in India. He is a strong force(both physically and emotionally) behind the success of any program in this Ashram. With Nayan Bhaiya also not there, it was the youngsters Adit Singh and Rishi Sharma who thanked every sponsor and volunteer on behalf of GuruMaa and the trustees. After all the volunteers were honored, the auction of the “Chandoba” was conducted. This Chandoba is believed to bring good luck and piousness to anyone who takes it home.
This year it was who took it home with her. Aarti followed with beautifully decorated thalis. The Mandir was filled to capacity with overflowing devotees. It was a wonderful to see faith and devotion so alive in this modern age in this country. Everyone proceeded to the auditorium for the Maha Prasad. Special thanks to countless sponsors of Baba’s Sringar, Baba’s dresses, Maha Bhog, Aarti thalis, Havan Nariyals,etc. In Gurumaa’s absence the trustees and the devotees are trying their best to achieve Her goal of keeping our roots and heritage healthy and growing here.
The objective of conducting such a holy program not only provides a platform for discourses and recitation on the value of ancient teaching to modern living but also very positively impacts the devotees, changing several lives for better. Everyone leaves with countless blessings from Baba and Kripa of GuruMaa.
