Annakut Samaiyo
Sunday 18 November
2001, Birmingham, AL
BAPS-Birmingham celebrated Diwali-Annakut Samaiyo on Sunday,
November 18, 2001. Haribhaktos from all over Birmingham and
suburb area of Homewood, Hoover, Oneonta, Tarrant, Bessemer,
Gadsden, Athens etc. attended the celebration which started
at 3.00 pm and continued until 6.30 pm. Along with the Annakut
other features of the celebration included dhun-prarthana, kirtan-bhakti
and cultural programs followed by samuh aarti.
People started gathering around 11.00 am to perform their part of Annakut seva. Kishore mandal had volunteered for Parking, cleaning, video recording, and, audio system seva. Kishori mandal decorated the Mandir with attractive lighting, flowers, fountains and colorful Indian saris. Yuvak mandal took care of all the maintenance, sabha vyavastha and mahaprasad organization. Mahila mandal did their best to have an awesome 261 item Annakut. Annakut items included the typical Indian food consisting all the sweets, farsan, drinks, vegetables, rotli, puris etc. with tempting western puddings, cakes, pizza, softdrinks and juices. All the items were prepared by volunteered mahila haribhaktos.
The celebration started with dhun-prarthana performed by balaks and kishores at 3.30 pm. kishore sang Diwali Utsav kirtan “raj mare din din Diwali re” which was followed by a speech on activities of year 2001, by Kishore. Another kirtan and Diwali speeches were performed by devotees respectively. The main attraction of the celebration was a drama called “Aa court judi chhe” (this court is different). Yuvak mandal and Kishore mandal collectively performed this drama which passed a message on importance of daan-seva. A speech by devotee on daan-seva followed the drama. The Annakut was placed among the murtis of Shri Akshar Purushottam maharaj, Shri Radha-Krishna dev, Guruparampara, Hanumanji, Ganpatiji, Shri Ram-Laxman-Janki, Shri Shiv-Parvatiji and Utsav murti. Kishore-Yuvak mandal offered various thaal (dinner) to bhagvaan after a spectacular samuh aarti. The celebration ended with mahaprasad.
