July 7th 2009
The full moon day of the ashad month is a day to pay tribute to one’s Guru parampara. It’s a time for prayerful gratitude deep from the hearts for all the Gurus starting from sage Vyasa for showing the path.
We at the Hyderabad ashram celebrated Guru Poornima with great joy & pomp. The festivities started early in the day before dawn with Br. Raghunath performing the Ganapathi Homam at the school grounds. The devotees had stayed up late the previous day & had decorated the ashram beautifully. Huge shamianas were erected in the playground and a Homa Kunta built in the middle. The stage was set with Amma’s photos and padukas.
The vibrations & the sacred smoke from the Ganapathi Homa filled the whole atmosphere and as the sun rose Br. Raghunath and Br. Sunil Dharmapal performed the Guru paduka pooja. The DGP of Hyderabad as well as the former collector Mr.Chandravadan took part in the celebrations. The people of the Gudimalkapur slums were also invited and they arrived fresh in their finest clothes. There were also people from the medak district who had come all the way for the celebrations.
The children of AmritaVidyalayam were eager by then to participate in the sanskruthi pooja and had already taken their seats at the feet of their parents. Bri. Sreekumari explained the significance of the sanskruthi pooja and started the pooja with prayers and bhajans. She then asked the children to wash their parent’s feet and offer sandal, kumkum and flowers. The parents were moved by the reverence and respect shown by their children and immediately hugged and kissed their children. It was a heartfelt moment for both the child and the parent. Whatever barrier there was between the child and the parent was washed away by this simple act and the bond between them became stronger.
The sarvaishwarya pooja followed the sanskruthi pooja. The devotees sat in rows in front of their pooja plates ready to perform the pooja. It was lovely to see people from the slum area also participating in the pooja. The temple poojari started the homa for the sarvaishwarya pooja and the bhajan team led by Br.Raghunath belted one bhajan after the other. He led the pooja in between the bhajans and started the satsang which he delivered both in English & in the native Telugu. Swami was explaining the greatness of Guru Bhakti.
The devotees after offering navadanyam in the homa came up to Amma’s paduka’s to offer milk & to bow down at Her feet. Everyone partook of the mahaprasad which followed immediately after.
It was a wonderful opportunity to pay gratitude to our beloved Guru & to meditate on Her & Her immense compassion for each & every one of us. May Amma’s compassion light our hearts & leads us to where She wants to take us.