35th weekly posting of Saudi SAI activities-Oct 20

[Guest guest]

Sairam!!

That was a wonderful job.It would be worth

the trouble if you could collect more Durga pooja

photos,like the one which was eco-friendly pandal and

Ma Durga idol,the village theme,etc.etc. which were

briefly shown on NDTV.There is no dearth of these

wonderful ideas by artists in Bengal.Two eyes and 24

hrs. aren't enough to watch them.

Thanks

With regards

Dr.Shobha

--- Rajan PBV <sssdgroup wrote:

 

> Sai-Satsang in 4 centers continued

> (week ending 20th Oct, Saturday)

>

> Sairam to all Children, Sisters and Sai Brothers

> in all 4 Sai SatSanghs in Dammam, Jubail, Jeddah and

> Riyadh.

>

> We continue with the Thirty fifth (3) posting of the

> activities of all 4 centers. Meanwhile, Apologies

> for

> late posting this week.

>

> Summary:

> 1) Total Attendance all over Saudi above 120

> 2) Navarthri/Durga Puja –

> Note on celebrations in

> different parts of India

>

> Details:

> In Dammam the weekly satsangh was held on the

> evening

> of Wednesday 17th Oct at Bro. Ganesan’s residence in

> Khobar. The high attendance of about 45 members was

> due to Eid holiday coinciding with Navarathri.

> Aarthi

> was taken by Bro. Ganesh. A number of devotees had

> arranged in their home “Kolu” which means arranging

> toys for display in steps. Bro Prem provided the

> report. Thank you Prem.

>

> Jubail center held the weekly Satsang on Thursday

> 18th

> Oct (during Eid break) at 7.30 pm attended by about

> 15

> members at Bro Gopal’s residence. Aarthi was taken

> by

> Bro Swamy Mahadevan. Bro Wimal provided the report.

> Thank you Wimal.

>

> The Jeddah Sai Samithis members met Bro Ashok’s

> residence on Thursday 18th Oct/2007 with an

> attendance

> of about 22 members. Aarthi was taken by Brother

> K.P.

> Rajan. Thought for the day was read out by Bro

> Ashok.

> The report was provided by Bro. Ashok and Bro. Gopi.

> Thanks you both.

>

> Riyadh center held a Bhajan on Friday morning 9 am

> on

> 19th Oct, The Bhajan was attended by about 45

> members.

> Bro Jay Sekar took the aarthi.

>

> Next day on Saturday 20th Oct, Saraswati Puja (9th

> day

> of Narathri) was celebrated in the center at 7.30 pm

> by reciting Saraswati shothram, and the regular Devi

> Namavali (1000 names), Susthi and Mahishasura

> Mardhini. The puja takes about 1.30 hrs. The

> attendance was by about 45 members. Bro. Srinivas

> took

> the aarthi. His family also sponsored the dinner

> following the Bhajan as they are leaving on Exit and

> going to Dubai. We wish them all well and SAI’s

> blessings. Incidentally Srinivas is Alumni of Baba’s

> management Institute at Puttaparthi.

>

> The following is a brief note on how Navarathri and

> Durga Pooja are celebrated in different parts of

> India.

>

> The ongoing festival of Navaratri (nine nights) and

> Durga Puja/ Dasera is a celebration observed in

> different part of the country but each with its own

> local flavor. However the main purpose is to give

> prominence to ladies and emphasize their role with

> Mother Goddess being worshipped as supreme deity.

>

> In 3 southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra and

> Karanataka, it is essentially a Ladies festival for

> 9

> nights with lot of social calls. This is facilitated

> by some houses displaying “Kolu” and arrangement of

> toys in steps, usually in odd numbers of 3-5-7-9

> etc.

> Sundal (form of boiled Lentil) is a must for this

> prasadam. Usually ladies render some Carnatic music

> during these visits. Most ladies take care to wear

> different saris for each of the 9 nights and thus it

> becomes a soft cultural pageant, if not a fashion

> show. Naturally small girls are excited by this

> festival as it involves a lot of house visits. One

> can

> hear a lot of “Vara Veena” – the first geetham in

> Carnatic music being sung these 9 nights. In a way,

> it

> can be said to be equivalent of Hindu Ramadan

> although

> a shortened version.

>

> However in Maharashtra, western Karnataka and

> Kerala,

> only Dasera is observed as “Tools/ Arms day” mostly

> by

> Tradesmen and work-smiths downing the tools

> connected

> with Arjuna in Mahabarath and they give the plant

> with

> two leaves.

>

> In Gujarat, it s observed all the 9 nights via

> ladies

> and sometimes, men folk doing a social dance “Garba

> and Dhandiya (using small drumsticks). This is more

> like Tamil Nadu.

>

> In Punjab and North India, the 9 nights mean war of

> Ram with Ravana and Dasera is the “Victory” day when

> Ravana is slain. So in Ramleela Ravana’s effigy is

> burnt in front of a large public.

>

> In Eastern Bengal and Orissa, it is mostly a 4/5 day

> festival when Images of different Durgas created by

> artists are displayed in different pandals. Also

> young

> girls stil to atain puberty are fed treating them as

> Godess.

>

> In the web link

> http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/19slid1.htm

> You can see pictures of different Durgas in Kolkatta

> including one in Harry Potter Castle style.

>

> The write up in Hindu newspaper of 19 Oct 07:

> KOLKATA:

> Devotees on Friday thronged puja pandals across the

> West Bengal state to offer obeisance to Goddess

> Durga

> as part of the auspicious Mahastami day, the second

> of

> the four-day festival.

>

> With sky clearing up after showers considerably

> dampened celebrations on Thursday, revellers chanted

> hymns of the Goddess as lakhs of people from near

> and

> afar made a beeline at pandals to offer anjali

> (prayer).

>

> The whole city virtually turned into a walk-in art

> gallery as colourfully illuminated pandals , housing

> idols of the Goddess, invoked the spirit of

> merriment.

> Each pandal is a tribute to the consummate skill of

> the artisans and artistry -- both in terms of

> innovation in pandal -making and lighting.

>

> At Belur Math on the banks of Ganga in neighbouring

> Howrah district, 'Kumari Puja' was held as per the

> custom -- started by Ramakrishna Paramahansha in the

> late 19th century.

>

> The puja , offered to a young girl as the mother

> Goddess by the Ramakrishna Mission monks, was

> watched

> by thousands of devotees at the Math before

> partaking

> of the mahaprasad .

>

> People spent time with friends and relatives during

> the day and visited award-winning pandals like the

> Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore and Badamtala in the

> south of the city.

>

> It is possible that I have left out some key states

> or

> descriptions, if so my apologies. I request the

> observant readers to send us the missing details

>

> Pranams

> P.B.V.Rajan

>

 

 

With Best regards

Dr.C.S.Shobha

 

 

 

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