CHICAGO: Hindu Mandir of Lake County hosted with great devotion the Vasant Panchami Ma Saraswati Puja on Sunday, January 21 for all the students and adults seeking success in their creative activities.
Ma Saraswati Puja is part of India’s traditional culture of showing respect for learning, nature, and the whole of life. More than 300 devotees with 80 students from different Indian communities participated in the Puja to obtain learning and reasoning powers, happiness and long life.
Before the puja, children were given Ma Saraswati sketches and color pencils for coloring. Devotional songs were sung by Smt. Sangeetha Singh supported by Kamalesh Desai and Ambika Singh. For Ma Saraswati Puja, the temple provided all the Puja samagris along with blessed notebooks and pens to all the participants.
Temple priests Pt. Anil Joshi, Yogesh Pandey and Ramachari performed Ma Saraswati puja along with students and devotees with all Vedic rituals and chanting of Mantras. This puja and the chanting of Vedic Mantras created a positive vibration all over and made the devotees feel peaceful and happy. All the children very patiently and actively participated in the event.
Pt. Anil Joshi delivered a brief discourse on the importance and benefits of Ma Saraswati Puja on this day.He said that Ma Saraswati is very powerful as part of our Tridevi unity (Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvathi) and also helps Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva to create, maintain and regenerate-recycle the Universe respectively. He also mentioned that in Hindu iconography, the Asans (chairs) and vehicles of our deities are emblematic and often represent the positive aspect of their powers or traits.
Ma Saraswati sits, he said, on white Kamal (lotus) which is a symbol of purity. Her vehicle peacock represents lack of worldly desires, splendor, majesty, and her another vehicle, hansa/ swan represents vivek/wisdom, grace, and beauty. She likes to stay where there is purity, and blesses wisdom and creativity but no worldly desires. He also praised the sponsors of the event and appealed to all the parents to bring their children for all the temple events.
All the priests blessed the participants and devotees with their Ashirvachan for their happiness and well being. Shammi Dhall distributed gifts to all the participants and thanked devotees and volunteers for their active participation. Maha Prasad was offered to all the devotesby the Temple Kitchen Committee lead by Kamal Gupta and Prameela Dutt.
Some children expressed their views about the Puja as: ‘My Dad told me that this Puja is for children’; ‘I was excited to participate in Ma Saraswati Puja with my friends’; ‘I liked coloring of Ma Saraswati picture and chanting of Ma Saraswati Shlokas in front of the group.’
Geetha Patil
