April 6, 2006
USA & Canada
BAPS North America Mahila Mandal celebrated the birth anniversaries of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Shri Ram, which fell on Chaitra Sud Nom, April 6th 2006, across North America at their respective centers with great devotion and dedication through a cultural presentation.
The program was a grand celebration of unwavering Bhakti (devotion) and total Samarpan (sacrifice). Women and girls of all ages participated in the festivities, which commenced with traditional vedic shlokhas, a dhoon and prarthana followed by devotional kirtans. The performance portrayed three dramas, namely Manthara, Sitaji, Kushal Kuvarbaa and Sonbai which transported the audience back to Bhagwan Swaminarayan's time and Bhagwan Ram's time depicting the devotion of women devotees and how spiritual inspiration can be gained from them and imbibed in today's hectic lifestyle. Yuvatis, Kishoris and Balikas performed gracefully choreographed dances offering devotion to the deities and creating excitement and joyousness in the audience.
The grand finale
took place when Shri Harikrishna Maharaj was cradled in a
beautifully decorated swing accompanied by loud, joyous chants
of the kirtan, "Drama Gher Anand Bhayo Jai Kanaya Lal Ki.."
The whole celebration enhanced an atmosphere of true divinity.
In addition to
the celebrations, the youth wing of BAPS were also honored
for their participation in the recent cooking classes that
were offered at centers across North America. The classes
catered to girls attending Balika, Kishori, and Yuvati mandals.
All participants of the classes were awarded a certificate
of appreciation and graduation from the 1st phase of the cooking
class project. The samaiyo culminated with arti followed by
mahaprasad
Photo
gallery
