By Gayatri Pariwar Houston
KATY: The grand opening and pran pratishtha ceremony for the new temple of ma Gayatri in Katy called “The Center for Gayatri Consciousness” took place very successfully in the presence of five saints from Shantikunj ashram, Haridwar India. Resp. Dr. O.P Sharma ji, Resp. Shri V.P. Tripathi ji, Resp. Shri Shantilal Patel ji, Resp. Shri Ramesh Tiwari ji and Resp. Shri Pushkar Singh Raj ji from Shantikunj had travelled especially for the ceremony from India. The respected saints poured their heart and soul in the ceremony and really channelized the divine energy in the program. Everyone could feel the subtle presence of divinity very distinctively and the atmosphere created during the whole ceremony was charged with spiritual vibrations.
Bhaagvat Katha Saptah
The extensive celebrations began with a seven days Bhagvat Katha conducted by Resp. Rashmiben Patel. Her katha was full of devotional bhajans in her graceful voice, teachings relevant for today’s time and the timeless tales of all 24 avatars of the Lord. The seven day event saw a great turnout from the local Katy community. Dinner Prasad was served for all seven days.
Kalash Yatra & Deep Yagya
The main event started on June 26 with kalash yatra where many ladies bore the holy kalash on their heads. Kalash represents the universe where all the divine energies of God work in synchronization and complement each other. Similarly beginning a ceremony with a kalash yatra signifies that all of us should come together, co-operate and work towards a single goal. The honor of bearing the Kalash on the head is given only to the ladies since only they are considered strong enough to bear such a significant responsibility of carrying all the energies of God on their heads. Kalash yatra was followed by a cultural program by the Bal-sanskarshala kids of the temple. Through the dance performances the kids welcomed everyone to the event and also explained the significance of Gayatri Mantra. The next program in the evening was deep yagya, which is a ritual where many deeps are lighted and bhaav-aahutis of Gayatri mantra are offered to the deeps. 108 deeps were lit and in the beautiful light filled environment Gayatri mantra aahutis were given by the devotees. The shantikunj team sang very melodious and impactful pragya geets, which mesmerized the attendees. Adarniya Dr. Pranav Pandyaji, who had to cancel his visit due to health issues, had sent a video message for the attendees which was played during the ceremony.
Pran Pratishtha & Gayatri Maha yagya
Next day, on June 27, the pran pratishtha ceremony was conducted where the divine energy of Maa Gayatri, Lord Hanuman and Lord Ganesh were invoked in the idols. Resp. Dr. O.P. Sharmaji who was a medical doctor and a radiologist by education before he committed his life to spirituality, explained each and every ritual scientifically to the devotees which created a very keen interest towards the ceremony especially in the youth. After the invocation a 24 kundi yagya, where all attendees gave their ahutis, was conducted. Hon. Consulate General of India in Houston Shri. Parvathaneni Harish was the chief guest for the event. He arrived with his family and took part with full enthusiasm in the yagya. An annakut was also organized to welcome Maa Gayatri in the temple. A book stall showcasing a wide range of literature written by the founder of Gayatri Pariwar Pt. Shriiram Sharma Acharya covering a variety of topics related to science & spirituality was also set up on both days.
Center for Gayatri Consciousness – A brief introduction
Gayatri Pariwar aims to bring heaven on earth by awakening divinity in man and is inspired by the motto “Hum badlenge, yug badlega (when we transform, the world transforms)” In order to achieve this goal we are building a unique place which will be a place of worship as well as a place to learn the skills required to transform one’s personality. With this in mind, we have planned to install the idol of Ma Gayatri, the goddess of righteous intellect, Lord Hanuman, the highest ideal of devotion and Lord Ganesh, the giver of discriminatory knowledge. Along with this, we will also have space for various activities that will help the devotees in sculpting their personalities and developing themselves into what truly can be called a divine human being, because we believe that “Apna sudhaar hi sansaar ki sabse badi seva hai (reforming oneself is the biggest service to the world)”. These are some of the activities we are planning to organize at our new temple: • Bal-sanskar classes for kids for ages 4-15 • Workshops & Seminars for youth and working professionals • Spiritual discourses, meditation & Gita classes • A platform to celebrate Indian cultural festivals • Gayatri Havan, Satyanarayan katha • Punsavan, Naamkaran, Vidya-aarambha, Annpraashan & other sanskars.
(For more information contact awgp.houston@gmail.com or visit http://texas.awgp.org )
