GEETHA PATIL
BOSTON: The Boston ISKCON Temple organized a Ram Navmi program on the evening of April 14 with hundreds of devotees celebrating Lord Rama’s birthday on the ninth and last day of Chaitra Navratri.
The event was attended by devotees and children from the different areas of New England region dressed in traditional costumes. On the morning of April 13, the temple priests performed Abhishekam, and a special puja of Lord Ram. The ceremony was accompanied by Rama Katha recitals, bhajans, kirtans. A lot of devotees also observed fast on this auspicious day.
On the morning of April 14 , Sunday school children, namely Gopal, Mishtee, Ethereal, Radhapriya, Radha, Narayan, Nimai, Krishnapriya and Soham actively participated in the drawing and painting of images of Lord Ram. Their images were displayed on the altar of the temple to showcase their creativity and imagination. The evening celebrations started with singing of melodious bhajans by the devotees and recitation of Ramayana stories.
Following the arati of Lord Ram and other deities in the temple, priests Antaryami Prabhu and Dakshin Mataji let all devotees to offer the flowers to baby Lord Ram.
Temple president Vanamali Prabhu announced upcoming events. He also welcomed warmly and gave a brief introduction of Vatsala Prabhu’s commendable work in Russia and praised his incredible command over the Bhagavad Gita. He thanked Laxmi Narayan Prabhu and Lisa Rangoonanan for sponsoring the event and Jaya Sacimata, Sacipriya and Sacimata for cooking the delicious “prasadam” for this special event. He also thanked all the volunteers for their dedicated services to the temple.
