CHICAGO: Grand Patotsav and Navagraha Murti Pratishtha ceremony was held at Shree Jalaram Mandir in Hoffman Estates, a north side suburb of Chicago from July 6 to 9.
The rite or ceremony is a ritual that includes elaborate procession and propitiating divinity, bringing spirituality to the temple. It is also referred to as Murti Sthapana (idol placement inside the temple), or the composite word Pranapratishtha.
Mandirs and Murtis form a basic element of Prana Pratishtha of mandirs. The word is a compound of Paat and Utsav – festival. Paat is derived from Patti, a strip of garment tied on the head of a Murti. The ritual typically involves a grand Abhishek of the Murtis. The sanctified Panchamrut, known as Charanamrut is collected and later availed of by devotees. After Abhishek, the Murtis are bathed with water and adorned with shrungar – garments, ornaments and flower garlands.
This most important ritual commenced with a “Ram Yagna” on Saturday, July 2 followed by a four day grand ceremony which included Navagraha Murti Pran Pratishtha and First Patotsav (Anniversary) from July 6 to 9.
Both ceremonies were performed with heavenly blessings from Aradhya Dev, Lord Ramchandra, and his disciple Sant Shri JalaramBapa. Deities involved in the Patotsav ceremony were Shri Ganesh, Goddess Jagdamba, Ram Parivar with Pavanputra Hanuman, Sant Shri Jalaram Bapa, Radha Krishna, Shiv Parivar, Veer Hanuman and Sant Shri Shirdi Saibaba.
The Pran Pratishtha festivity included Murti of Shri Suryanarayana or Sun God, and depiction of nine celestial planets, Navagraha named as Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Mangala (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus), Shani (Saturn), Rahu (North Lunar Node) and Ketu (South Lunar Node).
The rituals were performed by nine scholarly Acharyas. They conducted Puja Vidhi as per Hindu Shastras chanting Vedic mantras in Sanskrit over the period of four days and explained step by step procedure to the Yajman and devotees at large. Also, they worked diligently with harmony to coordinate and accomplish this monumental event.
The Murti Pratishtha ceremony on July 9 concluded with the thank you note from Jalaram Mandir Chairman, Chirayu Parikh. He made a point reminding everyone to cherish Jalaram Day (July 9) which was proclaimed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner in 2016.
Finally, this auspicious event was mesmerized by the musical evening and cultural program performed by the Mandir youth team, which included drama and traditional dances choreographed by Mrugakshi Patel of Nartan Dance Academy.
Daily events were attended with great enthusiasm and active participation by hundreds of devotees, well-wishers and members from various Hindu communities. Each day freshly cooked delicious lunch and dinner were served as Mahaprasad. Another reason for great success of the occasion was endless dedicated work by volunteers.
Board of Trustees: Chirayu Parikh, Chandulal Thakkar, Jashvantbhai Patel, Yogesh Thakkar, Jayshree Thakkar, Hasmukh Thakkar, Rajesh K. Thakkar, Bhupendra Thakkar, Ashwin Thakkar, Rajendra J. Thakkar, Dhaval Thakkar, Madhusudan Thakkar and Sumit Patel.
Executive Board: Bakul Thakkar, Ashish Thakkar, Kashyap Thakkar, Bhavik Thakkar, Dr. Ghanshyam Thakkar, Dipak Thakkar, Nayna Soni, Mahesh Patel, Dilip Patel, Jigar Dave, Jiga Thakkar, Chandrakant Thakkar and Ramesh Thakkar.
Suresh Bodiwala & Yogesh Thakkar
