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Darshan Update & Photos 
Festival of Divine LoveSai Baba's 85th birthday 15th - 23rd November 2010 -
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Darshan Update & Photos Festival of Divine LoveSai Baba's 85th birthday 15th - 23rd November 2010 -
| Festival of Divine Love - 15th Nov - 23rd Nov. |
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Sun, Nov 21, 2010: 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: The countdown for the big day comes down to two days and with that the huzzle buzzle of the mammoth spiritual carnival peaked today with constant inflow of devotees throughout the day. After filling the available ashram apartments, the sheds and the temporary accommodation facilities, the fresh entrants are slowly occupying the building verandahs inside the ashram.
Ladies darshan line turned out to become a long serpentine one, turning at every possible detour, finally ending up at the western end passing through the shopping centre - book trust buildings. Adding to this comes the security cordon in view of the VVIP movement expected tomorrow. Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chief Guest for 29th annual convocation of SSSIHL, is scheduled to fly down from New Delhi tomorrow morning to deliver the convocation speech. Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Sri ESL Narasimhan is already camping in Prasanthi ahead of the VVIP visit and some of the Union Ministers along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister are expected to attend the glittering function scheduled for 11:00 hrs. tomorrow morning. This evening, penultimate day for the Annual Convocation, Bhagawan arrived at 1755 hrs. granting darshan to the packed audience. The stage was set for the annual convocation drama by the students of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. The drama entitled "Twameva Sharanam Mama" depicted the story of a tailor who, when fell short to deliver a duty assigned to stich 16 pairs of dresses ahead of Bhagawan's 85th birthday celebrations, gets the unseen blessing of His chosen deity, Lord Vittala of Pandharpur, in response to his desperate call, as saving grace.
Chinna Katha story involving King Alexander who invaded India, showcasing high morale exhibited by Bharatiyas of those days was shown as an anecdote. The drama ended with a Qawwali, sang in celebration of joy of His Advent. Upon the end of the drama Bhagawan posed for photograph with the drama crew before Mangala Arathi at 1915 hrs. One bhajan followed after which the cast sung the Prasanthi Love Song, Humko Tum Sey Pyaar Kitna... Bhagawan asked for an encore of "Samastha Lokaaha..." after which an announcement on the next day's convocation programme followed. It was announced that Prime Minister of India, His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh would be attending the Convocation as Chief Guest and the entry to the hall would be from 0900 hrs. onwards.
Yajur Mandiram, the Divine Abode, is indeed the cynosure of all eyes. For an onlooker watching from outside, the Mandiram shines with brilliance under the shades of changing colour themes. Information Kiosks have mushroomed at every vantage points, aiding and guiding devotees, well managed by grateful old students (boys) of Bhagawan's Institute. Earlier, the 9th World Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations - World Wide that got underway yesterday concluded this afternoon at 1430 hrs. with the final session held in the Poornachandra Auditorium. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, Nov 20, 2010: 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: Bhajans are indeed the high point of Prasanthi sessions. This evening, upon emerging at 1840 hrs. Bhagawan went for a full round of darshan before coming on stage at 1850 hrs. Bhajans continued with full spirit and Bhagawan was seen fully engrossed, often giving finger beats, enlivening the session. The session continued till 1935 hrs. when Bhagawan accepted Mangala Arathi. Spending another ten minutes on stage, conversing with some of the students and senior officials of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations - Worldwide, Bhagawan left the dais at 1945 hrs. retiring to Yajur Mandiram. Earlier, the 9th World Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations was held in the Poornachandra Auditorium during the day. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, Nov 19, 2010 - Annual Ladies' Day - 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: Annual Ladies' Day 2010 turned out to be a noon affair when Bhagawan was ushered into the hall by the Anantapur and Primary School Band just after 12 noon today. The Chief Guest for the occasion, Her Excellency, The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil along with other dignitaries, His Excellency ESL Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, His Excellency Sri Shivraj Patil, Governor of Punjab, etc., Hon'ble State Tourism, Information & PR Minister Smt. J. Geeta Reddy accompanied Bhagawan into the hall.
Smt. Mallika Srinivasan, Director of Amalgations Group and CEO of TAFE India Ltd.
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 || Samastha Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavanthu || | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, Nov 18, 2010 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: This evening Bhagawan was ushered into the hall by a host of Primary school children, that included the Veda chanting students, the Primary School Band, students dancing Bhangra steps deftly and a couple of students holding umbrella in their hands.
As He emerged out of the Yajur Mandiram at 1840 hrs. He was religiously received with Poornakumbham by the children before the commencement of the procession invoking The Lord into the Sai Kulwant Hall. All along the procession a welcome song was played in the background giving an added flavor to the Lordly entry.
As Bhagawan came on to the dais, students presented the programme to Bhagawan before they burst open into a dance scene commencing the presentation.
The leading cast or the narrator of the dance drama announced that such universal acceptance of God in human form has never occurred in the annals of history. A divine declaration by Bhagawan on who is He was then screened to the audience which set the benchmark for the dance drama. There were two short episodes in the drama, the first was the episode of Upamanyu from the Sivapurana and the second was the episode of Uddhava counselling the Gopikas after being sent by Lord Krishna. The speciality of this drama was a backdrop of LED screen which beamed crystal clear visuals to the audience. Added to this were two LED screens, one on the gent’s side and the other on the ladies side telecasting the proceedings in real time to the audience.
Giving a colourful visual spectacle towards the end of the drama students from the Primary, en masse, were seen waving colourful wands with lights. Bhagawan went down the dais and gave a prolonged photograph session to the cast, followed by the Veda chanting students, Band boys and Bhangra dance boys. The cast arranged themselves in small groups for the photograph session with Bhagawan. Bhagawan then directed the Institute students to distribute clothes and sweets to the participants. After group Bhajans by the Primary School students, Bhagawan was offered Arati at 2010 hrs. Then Bhagawan retired for the day to Yajur Mandiram. Earlier as Bhagawan came on to the verandah after His usual darshan rounds, latest edition of Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Vol 7 was taken to Bhagawan for blessing by the Publisher Sri KS Rajan along with the author Sri BN Narasimhamurthy. Bhagawan glanced through the same before conferring His blessings. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Morning Update 18th Nov. 2010 Ratotsavam is an annual feature that normally comes as a forerunner to the grand Birthday Celebrations of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. ..And ever since its inception many years ago, this festivity has been a fixed schedule for the 18th November. For so many years, this day had been tagged with another big event, Narayana Seva, en mass for the villagers in and around Puttaparthi, where in Bhagawan would present Himself through and through, along with hundreds of University students and sevadal volunteers, held at the Vidyagiri Sports Stadium.
This morning, at around 0945 hrs. the procession began from the bhajan hall with the idols, mainly Venugopala Swami idol, were taken out to be mounted on the main chariot stationed outside the main gopuram gate. The idols were taken out in a procession with the escort of Vedam and Bhajans by group of students from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.
Upon mounting the idols on the chariot, coconuts were broken and arathi was offered before the procession continued with great religious fervour attended by students and hundreds of villagers. The ecstatic mood of the village folk dancing to the tune of drumbeats, breaking coconuts and offering arathi enroute, is evidential of the religious fervour attached to the festive occasion. The Venugopala Swami idol will be mounted at the Pedda Venkama Raju Kalyanamandapa before return procession commences, carrying the Sita Rama idols, a custom that has been in place ever since the Chariot Festival began in Parthi. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|| Samastha Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavanthu || | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wed, Nov 17 2010: 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: It is said, marriages are made in heaven! ...And when marriages are done in the heaven on earth, in the immediate Divine presence of the Avatar of the Age, the joy of such a feat can only be described by the direct recepients of the benediction, ninety five couples who tied the nuptial knot in Prasanthi Nilayam this afternoon. This morning, Sai Kulwant Hall, the venue of the mass marriage function presented a festive look with beautiful decorations in the traditional way. The dais was decorated traditionally with coconut leaves and flowers of various hues. The brides and bridegrooms were seated in an orderly fashion along with their parents for the function. Bhagawan came for the function at 1125 hrs. After Bhagawan came to the dais, the chief priest started the rituals for the marriage asking the brides and grooms to follow him religiously. At the outset, the chief priest declared that it was a very auspicious moment for the brides and grooms since they had the opportunity to celebrate their marriage in the Divine Presence of Bhagawan on the occasion of Bhagawan’s 85th Birthday Celebrations. The proceedings began with the worship of Ganapati by the brides and grooms with Akshata (sanctified rice). Rituals like tying of Kankana (protective thread, which acts as a talisman) on the wrist and Kanya Dhanam (giving away the bride by her parents) were followed according to scriptural injunctions. Since this ritual entails that the bride and groom should not look at each other, a veil was placed in between them. Then came the most auspicious moment, the tying of Mangalasutra at 1159 hrs. when the bridegroom tied the Mangalasutra round the bride’s neck to the chant of hymns from the Vedas. Garlands were exchanged by the bride and groom and the couples went round the sacred fire observing the vow to be faithful to each other. An announcement was made that a few former students of Bhagawan from the Institute too had entered the wedlock on this auspicious occasion along with brides and grooms from the nearby villages. Bhagawan in His unbounded compassion had arranged for the distribution of articles of immediate household need. Even decorative jewellery, watches and sweets were distributed to the couples. Bhagawan then went down amidst the couples blessing the couples and their parents while the couples did Padanamaskar. Swami went in between in each of the rows as the research scholars from the Institute facilitated the free movement of Bhagawan. Swami had arranged a sumptuous feast for the couples and their relatives on this occasion. An announcement was made Bhagawan wants the couples to wear the new attire and come for the evening Darshan. Arati was offered to Bhagawan at 1255 hrs. and Bhagawan retired for the morning session. Two music concerts were slated for the evening session. The first was by Sri Pandit Ronu Majumdar, the renowned flautist and the second by Sri Sikkil Gurucharan, a vocal concert. After the long morning session, which ended well past 1 o’clock in the afternoon, Bhagawan came to Sai Kulwant Hall at 1830 hrs. as the bhajans were in progress. After giving Darshan to the devotees, Bhagawan came to dais of the Hall and listened to the invigorating and lively Bhajans of the students for nearly one hour. At the outset, the State President of Delhi, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations introduced the two artistes who were to perform on the third day of the Festival of Divine Love. Sri Pandit Ronu Majumdar is a renowned flautist who has performed in many international and national forums like The Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. He is the innovator of new age music. He is famous for his epoch-making album “Travellers Tale”. He has many awards to his credit like All India Radio Award, Aditya Vikram Birla Award, Lifetime Achievement Award by Sahara India, National Kumar Gandharva Award and Pandit Jasraj Gaurav Puraskar. The next artiste, Sri Sikkil Gurucharan is a vocalist from a reputed family. He learnt initially from his grandparents, the illustrious Sikkil Kunjumani and her sister Neela, and then from Vaigal Sri S Gnanaskandan, Smt. Mala Chandrasekar, etc. He has won numerous awards as a youth performer like Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, Yuva Kala Bharathi, to name a few. He has travelled frequently to Middle East, Singapore, etc., giving concerts in these countries. Pandit Ronu Majumdar began his concert by saying that he is the most fortunate musician sitting at Bhagawan Sai’s Lotus Feet. The flautist mesmerised the audience with his musical pieces. His second piece was the famous Mira Bhajan “Payoji Maine Ram Ratan Dhan Payo …” He began by playing the piece in his flute and then even sang the song. He ended his concert with the song “Vaishnava Jano Tho …” Bhagawan honoured the artiste and his accompanying musicians with shawls. The next artiste Sri Sikkil Gurucharan began his concert by saying that he was honoured to sing at the Lotus Feet of Sai Baba. He sang a few Thyagaraja Kritis (compositions) in his mellifluous voice and ended his concert with the famous lullaby song “Vuyyalaluguma Sri Sathya Sai …” Bhagawan then honoured Sri Sikkil Gurucharan and his accompanying artistes with shawls. Arati for the day was offered at 2035 hrs. after which Bhagawan retired to Yajur Mandiram. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|| Samastha Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavanthu || | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, Nov 16, 2010: 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: Day 2 The day was gloomy with overcast sky followed by intermit tend rains and the bright spot arrived with Bhagawan entering the hall at 1800 hrs. As the large assemblage of devotees in Sai Kulwant Hall was awaiting Bhagawan’s arrival, Bhagawan took everyone by surprise and went in the opposite direction towards the massive food pavilions at 1800 hrs. He entered the pavilion as the devotees were having their dinner - the devotees present there had Bhagawan’s Darshan. This was direct manifestation of Bhagawan’s love for His devotees; He wanted to see for Himself the arrangements made, though He is the all-knowing One. He also had a look at some of the replicas of structures put up at various points in the Ashram like the Bahai Temple, the Srirangam Temple. Bhagawan then went to the Sri Sathya Sai International Centre for Sports where the various State Organisations had set up an exhibition on Sri Sathya Sai Village Integrated Programme (SSVIP). Bhagawan had a look at the exhibits, after which Bhagawan returned to the Sai Kulwant Hall at 1835 hrs. and gave Darshan to the devotees.
The brides and bridegrooms who were to tie the nuptial knot on 17th November were seated in the Hall for Bhagawan’s blessings. Swami spoke for some time to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the Santoor maestro and then went in between the brides and bridegrooms and gave with His own hands the wedding attire. How fortunate were these brides and grooms to receive the clothes from Bhagawan’s Hands! Bhagawan gave the dress to each bride and groom and ensured that no one was left. He also spoke to a few of them. Arati for the day was offered at 1930 hrs. top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As Prasanthi gears up: “The Burden of the Badge” sounds on the responsibilities of the badge that one wear. The badge under reference is the Sevadal Volunteer Badge of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations and the reference is in connection with the mammoth exercise of celebrating the “Festival of Divine Love” on the occasion of 85th year of Bhagawan’s earthly Advent.
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|| Samastha Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavanthu || | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mon, Nov 15, 2010 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: Day 1 Echoing Music Divine, Festival of Divine Love, Nine-day long festival celebrating the 85th Year of the Advent of the Lord in physical got off to a sublime beginning in Prasanthi Nilayam this evening.
Setting a perfect background for the "Festival of Divine Love", Prasanthi experienced evening rains, an auspicious sign as is believed, for any fresh venture. With the dark clouds coupled with rains forcing an early sunset, the Divine Assembly in Sai Kulwant Hall shone brilliantly under the lights anticipating the Divine entry. Adding charm to the glare, the dais was bedecked with floral costumes. Enhancing the audio facility, in view of the week-long festivity, special speakers were installed at proper locations and facilitating closer view, two LED display, on both gents' and ladies' side, along with number of closed circuit tv sets were also set in place.
Emerging at the twilight hour, at 1845 hrs., His twenty minutes' round of darshan found the magnanimity of the Lord coming to the fore as Bhagawan negotiated the round most patiently, attending to many on the ladies' side, the primary girls, italian cake makers before coming on to the verandah where He had the artistes for the evening as well as many an organisational office bearer seeking blessing. Coming on stage at 1905 hrs., the stage was ready for the session to begin. An announcement on the programme was made introducing the artistes for the evening with brief description. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, the Sarod Maestro of fame along with son Aayan Ali Khan and Aman Ali Khan were to perform that was followed by Abhishek Raghuram, a child prodigy and grandson of legendary Mridagam Artiste, Palghat Raghu, on Carnatic Vocal.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan began his concert with a solo, a composition of Saint Puranadaradasa set to Raga Sivaranjini. He announced that he was inspired by the same rendering by legendary ML Vasanta Kumari, Carnatic Vocalist of yester years, and thus relish to sing the same in the Divine presence. Beginning the second piece with an introduction to his sons, the maestro on Sarod along with his sons produced a magical spell of instrumental music that lasted for more than twenty minutes, well received by the audience with rapturous applause.
Music is Divine and when legendary musicians rocks the stage with music's sublime touch at the highest platform, it not alone entices the onlooking mortal audience, but the first and foremost recipient of the offering is the Master Musician, the Immortal Divine Himself. With serene musical notes emanating from the blessed Sarod producing subtle waves, often raising and rising, slowing down, pausing, harmoniously blending with accompanying tabla, the session turned out to be a scintillating jugalbandhi, a perfect start for the Festival of Divine Love.
From the world of Instrumental into the world fo Carnatic Vocal. The second programme for the evening was by Abhishek Raghuram, an upcoming Carnatic Vocalist who began with a Thyagaraja composition "Nee Dayarada" set to Shrutibhairavi on Rupaka Talam. Perfectly harmonising with the accompanying mridagam and violin, the solo lasted for fifteen minutes. One more piece followed before he wound up to receive special blessings from the Divine Hands. The singer was completely engrossed in his devotional rendering and one could read his devotion to the dedicated profession, who spellbound the audience with his mesmerising rendering.
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|| Samastha Lokaaha Sukhino Bhavanthu || | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust - sssbpt.org - Radiosai.org - Sri Sathya Sai Media Foundation - h2hsai.org . | Web layout - Photo graphic design : saibabaofindia.com "SBOI" | - We gratefully acknowledge the publishers Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust & Sri Sathya Sai Media Foundation
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