NEWSLETTER - Newsletter July 2018

Sai Ram Jai Maruthi Jai Maruthi! Never is there a day where the feeling of happiness, positivity, love, and spirituality wavers, here in our ashram! This quarter was full of celebration, the not so pleasant heat of peak summer, and the very pleasant welcome of mangoes. The major event from this past quarter was Maa’s Nakshatra birthday,  during which a Chandi Havan was performed. Overall it made for a nice mix of high energy and a sense of relaxedness here in the ashram, this past quarter. 

        Starting off the functions for this quarter, following Maa’s Jayanti celebration on March 31^st, we celebrated Maa’s nakshatra birthday with a Chandi Havan in Sundari Garbitha format. The havan was performed as it is normally and included chanting of Chandi Parayanam. The special note of this havan was that usually, Chandi Havan takes approximately 2 hours to perform, however this time it took almost 4.5 hours! The energy and vigor was contagious on this day and the happiness and love for our dear Gurumaa was felt by everyone! It was a treat to have so many devotees together for this joyous occasion!

             Our next event, on April 14^th, was Pal Kodam. Pal Kodam is a very auspicious type of abhishek for Baba, especially as it highlighted the involvement of devotees from the surrounding villages, and their participation in order to complete the abhishek. During this abhishek, exactly 150 kalashas were filled with milk! Devotees then carried these kalashas around the temple, and completed pradakshinas, and entered the hall to perform the abhishek. All 150 kalashas of milk were poured for abhishek for our beloved Baba, with 150 litres of milk used! It was a powerful and auspicious occasion; one of high energy and vitality with the involvement of devotees from all surrounding areas! 

            After the functions concluded in mid-April, and all the fervor had calmed down, May brought Agni Nakshatram. The peak heat of the summer was finally here. The heat from the sunny skies mixed with the humidity, was simply overwhelming at times, and it felt like the heat would never ease. The upside of the lack of cool air was the plentiful mangoes in our ashram! So perhaps due to the abundance of sweet mangoes, it made the heat a little more bearable. As always, with so many mangoes in our ashram, we were sure to make lots and lots of oorgai(achaar), and varieties of dishes made with the sweet and raw mangoes!

            On the charitable front, Sri Sai Darshan recently donated 5 lakh rupees to Shankara Nethralaya which covered the collage  fees for 3 underprivileged students doing a diploma in ophthalmology . We also covered the school fees of 33,000 rupees, for a 12th standard student. Sri Sai Darshan also donated 50,000 rupees Sevalaya- an educational institute for the underprivileged.

        Our next event in the upcoming third quarter is Guru Purnima, which will be held on July 27th. In October, it will mark 100 years since Shirdi Baba took Maha Samadhi for which we will be commemorating with a grand 3-day function beginning with Ashtami, Navami, and culminating on Vijayadashami, on October 19^th. Another function to look forward to is our December function-Athi Rudram. More details regarding this function will be sent in the next quarter newsletter. We hope to see all Sai Darshan devotees at these functions! 

          As always, our regular monthly projects continue-including the medical camps, weekly annadhanam, Purnima Puja, and Pradosham Puja. We look forward lots of love, happiness, and festivities in the upcoming quarters.

May Baba’s grace and Maa’s blessings be showered on us all.

Jai Sai Ram Jai Maruthi Jai Maruthi!