GEETHA PATIL
CHICAGO: Shree Ram Janaki Vivah Utsav, also known as Vivah Panchami, was celebrated on the Shukla Paksha Panchmi of Margashisha month of the Indian Calendar which fell on November 30 at the Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, a Chicago suburb.
Vivah Panchami is a Hindu festival celebrating the marriage anniversary of Lord Ram and Sita. More than 200 devotees, including young children, participated in the nearly four hours of celebrations
Sponsors from Lord Ram and Ma Janaki groups performed their Sankalpam with priest Genesh, who welcomed Ma Janaki into the shrine by chanting Vedic mantras. Ma Gauri Pujan was performed by all the female devotees according to the directions given by the priests. Young Ram, along with his father Dasarath, were welcomed into the shrine with the singing of Jaikara songs.
A nicely decorated “Dhanush” was broken by the young Ram in the midst of Jai Shree Ram slogans.
Later, priest Anil Joshi performed various rituals such as exchange of Jayamala, wedding ceremonies, Saptapadi, Mangal Sutra and Sindhoor dharana by chanting all the relevant Vedic wedding mantras. Seven phereas around the sacred fire were taken by the groom and bride’s sponsors one by one by holding Lord Rama and Ma Janaki statues.
Joshi delivered a brief discourse on the significance of celebrating Lord Ram and Ma Janaki Vivah Utsav. He said that in order to have Bhakti in life “we need to break our ego and then only we realize the real moksha in life”.
“Here Lord Ram represents Dharma and Gyan, Ma Janaki represents Bhakti and the Dhanush represents ego,” he said. “Gyan has direct connection with the self whereas Bhakti leads to the unity of the individual with the supreme self. Our Dharma and Gyan will be incomplete without Bhakti.Bhakti crowns Gyan.”
Melodious bhajans were sung by Rita Patel, and Atul Soni. Janaki Maha Bhojan and Maha Prasadam were served to all the devotees by the temple kitchen team lead by Vineet Kapoor.
Nilakant Anand, vice president of the temple and Dr Harsh Kumar, former president of the temple, thanked everybody for their active participation and support and making this event a grand success.
