On Friday 11th 
                      April 2003, the birthday anniversaries of Bhagwan Swaminarayan 
                      and Bhagwan Ram was celebrated at Shri Swaminarayan Mandir 
                      in Auckland. The mandir was decorated with special attention 
                      to the shrine's of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Shri Ram.
                    On this auspicious day from 
                      11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon devotional songs on Shri Ram were 
                      sung by devotees and a speech on "Maryada Purushottam 
                      Ram" was delivered by the pujari Shri Shatrughnabhai. 
                      At 12:00 noon arti was performed, in which over 100 devotees 
                      participated. 
                    Throughout the day, devotees 
                      had the opportunity of darshan. Some 500 people visited 
                      the mandir throughout the day. In the evening, between 8:00 
                      p.m. to 10:00 p.m. special assembly was organized to celebrate 
                      the birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. It included kirtan 
                      bhakti and speeches about Bhagwan Swaminarayan's glorious 
                      life. At 10:10 p.m., the birthday clebration arti of Bhagwan 
                      Swaminarayan was performed. Every devotee personally had 
                      the opportunity to rock the decorated cradle (parna) of 
                      Thakorji. To mark this auspicious occasion, 15 devotees 
                      had fasted without water (nirjala upvaas).
                      
                      The following Sunday, on 13th April 2003, Shri Hari-jayanti, 
                      Ramnavmi samaiyo was held in the weekly satsang assembly. 
                      The stage was beautifully decorated with a large replica 
                      of the Shikshapatri with shlok No.116 " Nijatmanam 
                      brahmarupam
.." The stage decoration also displayed 
                      a beautiful dark sky full of stars and clouds with the murti 
                      of Ghanshyam Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The whole 
                      program was carried out by kishores (teenagers) and balaks 
                      (kids) of BAPS NZ Inc. At the end, a speech on the "Living 
                      model of Shikshapatri - Pramukh Swami Maharaj" was 
                      delivered by Shri Shatrughnabhai.
                    The climax of the utsav was the 
                    grand play performed by the Kishore Mandal on how the British 
                    Governor Sir John Malcolm was impressed by the social reforms 
                    carried out by Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Kishore Mandal and Bal 
                    Mandal also delivered discourses on the life of Shri Ram, 
                    sang devotional songs and carried out a Pothi Yatra of the 
                    Shikshapatri in traditional dresses. Around 600 people had 
                    attended the celebration. This was followed by arti and mahaprasad.