BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in San Francisco, CA, celebrated its first patotsav celebration on Sunday 17th April. The three hour evening sabha consisted of kirtans and pravachans in the divine presence of santos. For the event, a special annakut consisting of 300 dishes of savories, sweets and fruit was also placed before the murtis.

During the course of the sabha, one of the San Francisco mandir karyakar described some of the activities that the mandir has started since its inception. These include computer classes for seniors, yoga classes, Gujarati classes and special religious assemblies for all ages. From adults to high school students to children attending elementary and middle school.

The santos during their address stressed the need for parents to fulfill their obligation and commitments to their children by ensuring they did well in school and on the spiritual and cultural front attended regular bal and kishor mandal sabhas. They stressed that this was important if children were to retain and appreciate their cultural roots.

The evening ended with mahaprasad for everyone and also various savories and fruits from the annakut.