By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader
The All-India Padayatra reached Bharkawada village, about 140km north of Ahmedabad, on April 20, 2021. We stayed at the large Panchmukhi mahadev temple on the outskirts of the village, temple trustee Bharat Bhai having made arrangements for our accommodation, and celebrated Ramanavmi there.
Lord Rama is a renowned incarnation of the Supreme Lord and His appearance day is celebrated as Ramanavmi, which according to the ancient Vedic calendar falls in the northern hemisphere spring. Lord Rama was born to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya in Ayodhya and His three younger brothers were Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
In honour of Lord Rama, the padayatris fasted ahead of a grand sankirtan and feast. Our day started with mangala arati followed by Rama katha by our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja. Some padayatris then recited pastimes of Lord Rama.
Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar were nicely prepared for an abhishek. Our pujari, Dhiranayak dasa, dressed Them as Rama and Lakshmana so both looked very beautiful, like kings travelling in a chariot. At 11am we began the abhishek of Their Lordships and Sri Rama saligram shila and then everyone sang the glories of Lord Rama followed by an opulent feast. The programme was attended by several Bharkawada residents and many village children also participated in the celebration.
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religion and the rise of irreligion the Lord appears millennium after millennium. When the Lord comes to this world, He doesn’t take birth like ordinary human beings but appears of His own sweet will. Whenever there is a need for the protection of devotees, the Lord appears. We all prayed to the Lord on His appearance day to kick away the corona virus pandemic and let everyone live contentedly.
Sarve sukhina bhavantu
Bharat Bhai sponsored 40ltrs of milk for the occasion, so we made lots of sweet rice. In the evening we went on nagar sankirtan and distributed the sweet rice to all the villagers. Lord Rama is very merciful – it was His arrangement that those who could not attend the celebration got His mercy in the form of sweet rice. The villagers were happy to join the sankirtan and relished the prasadam.
Jai Sri Rama.
Ramanavmi mohatsava, ki jai.
Book score:
Small books: 28, Maha-big books: 32, Total: 62 books distributed.
