Report Bangalore - Sri Jagannath Mandir Seshadripuram, India, 2018
The 69th Vyasa-puja of HH Jayapataka Swami Guru Maharaja was celebrated on March 27, 2018 at ISKCON Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Bengaluru. Guru Maharaja is also the GBC for South India and therefore, this Temple.
This most auspicious occasion was celebrated with all pomp and gaiety by Guru Maharaja’s blessings. Following is a short summary of the Vyasa-puja celebrations.
Adivasa: We started the celebrations with the auspicious adivasa ceremony, where many auspicious items were offered to Sri Salagrama-sila, then to Tulasi Maharani and finally to Guru Maharaja. The items were offered by guests and devotees, starting with the Temple President HG Anukul Kesav Prabhu.
Paduka Abhisheka: We were blessed by the all-purifying presence of Guru Maharaja’s padukas (wooden sandals). All the assembled devotees and guests received an opportunity to bathe the divine padukas with milk. Adding to the festivities were the ecstatic kirtanas and bhajanas (like, Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura) sung in dedication to the spiritual master. The whole atmosphere was spiritually surcharged.
Vyasa-puja Address at Chennai: Guru Maharaja had addressed thousands of gathered devotees at Chennai. The transcript of this address was read out for the transcendental benefit of all the assembled Vaishnavas.
Vyasa-puja Homage: Senior disciples of Guru Maharaja and other well-wishers shared their respective homages to Guru Maharaja. The realizations were touching and spiritualized everyone’s consciousness.
Arati and Pushpanjali: We had a wonderful rendition of the Sri Gurvashtakam prayers, followed by pushpanjali, where all the assembled Vaisnavas offered flowers to Guru Maharaja after the recitation of his pranama-mantra.
Ekadashi Feast Prasadam: The program ended with a grand non-grain feast, which devotees honored with great relish.
Special Attractions:
Decoration: The vyasa-asana that served as the seat for Guru Maharaja’s photograph was attractively decorated by many devotees.
Bhoga Offering: As many as 200 food items were offered to Guru Maharaja. All of these items were prepared by his disciples. Nandarani Yashoda Mataji, who recently received brahmana-diksa from Guru Maharaja, had single-handedly prepared 90 items!
Quotable Quotes: A disciple of Guru Maharaja, along with another aspiring devotee, prepared a nice PowerPoint presentation with extracts from different books of Guru Maharaja.
Book Stall: The next edition of the Gurudev Kripa Bindu Diya magazine was released and many other books authored by Guru Maharaja were displayed for the transcendental benefit of all devotees.
Last but not the least; all devotees were blessed with the wonderful opportunity of receiving “charana-sparsha” of Guru Maharaja’s padukas.
Continuation of Celebration on Sunday, April 1, 2018
Vyasa-puja Homage: The reading of homages continued after the Sunday Shrimad-Bhagavatam class. In less than an hour, 20 devotees offered their homages.
Cake Offering: A large cake was offered to Guru Maharaja and later distributed to all devotees and guests.
Prasadam Feast: Usually a feast is organized for all devotees on the Dvadasi day following Vyasa-puja. Since that day was a working day, the mega feast was organized on Sunday.
For the divine pleasure of Guru Maharaja and as a prayer to receive more and more of his association in the future, devotees of our temple chanted 14,500 additional rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
We pray to the lotus feet our Divine Spiritual Father (HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja), that we can continue serving this mission of Srila Prabhupada under Guru Maharaja’s able guidance. Let there be cooperation and service attitude amongst all the devotees, for the pleasure of all the current acharyas, previous acharyas, Sri Sri Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra, Sri Sri Radha Krishnachandra, Sri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha, Sri Sri Nitai Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada.
https://www.facebook.com/sjmblr/videos/1940532132687624/ -> video link for Vyasa Puja celebrations in ISJM Seshadripuram
