May 2013 Newsletter
6 years ago by SVBF
TEMPLE EVENTS IN APRIL
Ugadi
The Lunar New Year (Vijaya Nama Samvatsaram) was celebrated on April 10, 2013 and the temple had the Ugadi celebrations on Saturday April 13, 2013. The Vishu Punyakalam and Tamil New Year’s Day was celebrated on April 14, 2013.
The annual Saint Thyagaraja Day was celebrated in a grand manner on Saturday April, 13 at Sri Bharati Teertha Auditorium. The program started with the rendering of Saint Thyagaraja’s Pancharatna Kritis by teachers and students of Tri State area.
The North American Young Musician Award was presented to Shri Ramakrishnan Murthy. He also gave a vocal concert, accompanied by Sri V. V. Murari on the violin and Sri Arun Prakash on the mridangam. In the afternoon session, students of various music teachers in the area rendered Thyagaraja Kritis. This was followed by Harikatha and Namasankirthanam on Utsava Sampradaya Kritis of the saint by Smt Lavanya and students.
63rd Vardhanti of The Jagadguru H. H. Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamiji
The 63rd Vardhanti ofacharya Jagadguru H. H. Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamiji of Sringeri was celebrated in a grand manner on Tuesday, April 16 and on Saturday, April 20.
The event started with Guru Vandanam and Ganapati Homam, followed by Avahanti homam.
The Acharya’s portrait was taken as a procession around the premises of the temple to the Veda Vyasa shrine. Devotees then performed pada puja to the Holy Padukas of the Acharya.
Vasanta Navarati, the navaratri that comes in the vasanta rtu (Spring season) culminates with Sri Rama Navami. This day marks the birth of Sri Rama, the ideal king, born on the ninth day of the bright half of Caitramasa under the asterism of Punarvasu. Sri Rama is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He represents the ideals of both a son and a king. As a son he was absolutely devoted to his parents. He symbolized adherence to one’s father’s words as gospel, never to be transgressed; even in the face of great hardship to oneself. As a king, he represented his citizens with utmost honor, sincerity and trust.
Rama Navami was celebrated at SVBF on April 19 with Sita Rama Kalyanam performed to the deities Rama Parivar. The Rama parivar dieties in SVBF Stroudsburg temple are exactly similar to that in Sringeri, as with other dieties in the temple.
The 404 day Vijaya Yatra undertaken by the Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh concluded on Friday, April 5 when the Jagadguru returned to Sringeri. The Jagadguru was accorded a memorable welcome by the denizens of Sringeri with grand procession in a specially built “ratha” from the town entrance. The grand procession which had many floats was led by Veda Ghosha and Mangala Vadya.
During His Vijaya Yatra, the Jagadguru visited various places and gave his anugraha bashanam for the benefit of devotees. More details about the Jagadguru’s Vijaya Yatra is available in the
website dedicate to His Vijaya Yatra.
UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE TEMPLE
Sri Sankara Jayanti
Sri Sankara Jayanti is the observance of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada’s birthday. Sri Sankara propagated the Advaita philosophy and also set up the four Amnaya Peethas, of which Sringeri Sharada Peetham is a revered Peetham. SVBF will celebrate Sankara Jayanti on Wednesday, May 15 and also on Saturday, May 18 for all devotees to participate and get the blessings of the Guru.
The Annual Maharudram event will be held at SVBF, Stroudsburg PA on Saturday, June 1. Starting from the year 2012, the annual Maharudram is being celebrated as one day event. More than 121 ritwiks from all over North America participate in the event. Since 1995, Maharudram has been a routine in SVBF and most anticipated event for the devotees and Veda students in the tri-state area. 121 ritwiks chant Sri Rudram 11 times (121 x 11 = 1331 times), followed by 133 times Rudra Homam. Hearing to the chanting of the holy hymn Sri Rudram protects a person from sickness and danger. The hymn also protects the entire neighborhood and showers blessings for all.
SVBF welcomes devotees to participate in this event and seek the blessings of Lord Chandramouleeshwara.
In the afternoon at 4 PM, there will be Shiva Parvati Kalyanam to pray for prospective proposals for eligible youths.
Bhagavadgita holds a special place among the scriptures of India. In addition to rich spiritual insights and a universal message of wisdom, it also gives us profound yet simple guidance on how to make the right choices in the complex problems of life, enliven our lives based on those choices and eventually realize the vision of oneness and truth. To celebrate the significance of Gita and promote its recitation and understanding, with blessings from H. H. Jagadguru Sri Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamiji, SVBF been celebrating the annual Gita Day on first Saturday following the summer solstice.
This year, the Gita Day will fall on Saturday, June 22. This day will be marked by Gita chanting competition for all ages. The designated chapter for memorization/fluent reading is the 18th chapter for 2013, as announced in last year’s competition. To encourage just about everyone to participate, we are continuing the fluent Gita reading competition for adults. Since Gita Talks have been a huge success in previous years, we are continuing the Gita Talk competition to encourage a competitive and exploratory spirit. Prizes and participation certificates will be distributed at the end of the program.
Please register your participation by uploading your details in our registration page. The last day for registration is June 15th, 2013. There is no registration fee of any kind to participate in the competition.