An Evening of Prayer with Swami Vishwaparanthapananda and Divine Mother

Thursday 21 July 2012 and my phone beeped, I saw a message from one of our South African Swami's who is currently in JHB asking me to join Him that evening in Benoni for a Prayer to Divine Mother. As she is my Ishta Dev and guardian I quickly replied YES and felt a wave of excitement rush through me.

As I was not sure what to expect I drove the 40 minute journey to Benoni to be a part of this wonderful evening dedicated to Divine Mother. Upon arriving Swami Vishwaparanthapananda briefed me on the significance of the evening being the solstice and what She had asked Him to do that night.

We were to begin with Panchamrit Abishekam followed by Puja and then offer 1000 lotus seeds and spoons of Kumkum to Divine Mother. After he placed a lotus seed I would offer Kumkum on top of the lotus seed. At each offering we would silently chant the Panchadakshakshari Mantra which Sri Swami Vishwananda had initiated us into last year during Navaratri. It is one of the most powerful mantras, extremely secret and bestows Divine Mothers grace upon the initiated chanter bringing what they ask for to life.

Placing my materialised Murthi of Divine Mother with a the Sri Yantra we would be using we began the prayer. It is funny sometimes that the larger the prayer the more time seems to stand still as 3 hours later we had finished 1000 repetitions of the Mantra and offered 1000 Lotus seeds and teaspoons of Kumkum to Divine Mother. 

Singing Arati to Divine Mother we concluded the evening with smiles and joy all round knowing that Divine Mother had allowed us the grace to worship her that evening from our hearts and souls giving us a connection with Her that will be with us even after we leave this body.

Love and Light

Dhanam Jay

Images from the Evening

The Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda

June 13th is one of our most important days in the  Bhakti Marga family and is a day that is celebrated around the world by thousands of devotee's that pay Homage to their beloved Sat Guru Sri Swami Vishwananda.

The Maha Jwala Narasimha in Johannesburg South Africa was no exception, inaugurated in 2009 by Sri Swami Vishwananda himself who breathed life into the Main Deity Maha Jwala Narasimha it was only fitting that a grand celebration was held to mark the appearance day of Sri Swami Vishwananda.

At first the idea was Simple, let us give everybody the chance to perform a Puja to the feet of Sri Swami Vishwananda. However as we moved down the line the celebration evolved into what the Masters had in mind. Let us give everyone the opportunity to perform the Puja to Sri swami Vishwananda's feet as the Abishek and the Main Puja is being done on His Paduka's but let us also gather 108 people to do the Puja at the same time to make it even more auspicious. So we began to gather numbers and prepped all the ingredients and puja items needed. Emails went out and replies came flying in to be a part of this wonderful event. 1 week before we had the main number, 108 people had RSVP and excitement was abuzz with all the devotees.

June 13th arrived and it was a full day of prayer and homage, starting at 6am was Yagna to mark the time Swami appeared on earth, then we had 2 Seva feedings setup. One at Inkosi's haven and the other at Duduzwane Aids Home. Swami is very big on Seva and selfless service so it was only fitting that honour Him as He himself would want it done.

4pm and the Devotees started coming together to begin prep and setting up at the temple, first we had decorations to put up and hearts and pictures of Swami were hung from the ceiling. Then began the puja prep, 108 puja plates needed to be setup for all attendees. 25 minutes to seven and the final puja plate was laid in front of a picture of Swami feet just in time for the opening prayers to be sung.

As with any prayer those involved are always busy, singing, prepping, answering questions or getting the food ready amongst other things. However a smile can always be seen on their faces as they do it with love, love because they enjoy it and love because they are serving not only their beloved Sat Guru but also fellow devotees of Swami.

The evening progressed in much of a blur as we were whisked into the heavens on our Journey by the two Swami's present, Swami Vishwamohini and Swami Vishwaparanthapananda. By the final Arati and cake cutting 108 Puja's had been done to Sri Swami Vishwananda Paduka's, beautiful Bhajans had been sung, devotees had danced together without a care in the world and Swami had been honoured with pure devotion from those presents hearts. 

Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda

Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda, a set on Flickr.

Photo's of the celebration on June 13th 2012