19th Nov 2009 - Ladies' Day & 18th Nov 2009 - Rathotsavam and drama practice

[Guest guest]

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009

 

November 19th has been celebrated as Ladies' Day by Bhagavan and all activities are done by ladies on this day. Smt. P. Susheela began the day by chanting the Suprabhatam at half-past five and the Vedam chanting before the Nagarasankirtan was also by Swami's girl students as on earlier years. The programme in Sai Kulwant hall began ten minutes after nine with Swami being welcomed by a procession consisting of the Anantapur brass band and Vedam chanting students. After His darshan round Swami lit a lamp onstage just before 9.30. There were two speakers, with an introductory speech by Mrs. Chetana Raju. Mrs. Sharon Sandwiess of the USA and Mrs. Harriet Tay-Agbozo of Ghana spoke of their experiences with Bhagavan. The speeches were followed by five-minute dances by children from the Sai schools of India, Indonesia, Mexico, Fiji, Thailand and South Africa. After their presentation, Swami went among the

participants and gifted them with photo frames. It was 11.15 when He came back onstage and asked for bhajans by the ladies to begin. Ten minutes later, He accepted Arati and left for His residence after blessing the giant cake placed onstage. In the evening, Swami came for darshan at 4.45 pm, led by Vedam chanting students and the Primary school bagpipes band, flanked by small girls bearing welcoming plates with lamps. The programme commenced at five o'clock with choirs by devotees from Greece and Holland. The music was followed by a 70 minute Telugu drama 'Draupadi Charitra' by devotees from Hyderabad. After the drama, Swami blessed "Draupadi" with a chain and went down for group photographs. He then called them up one by one to the stage to receive photo frames. It was past seven o'clock when Swami left for His residence after Arati. Sri Ashok Singhal of the VHP and Malayalam film star Sri Mohanlal were also among the

congregation.

 

 

Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009

 

This morning was the traditional Rathotsavam from Prasanthi Mandir to the Pedda Venkama Raju Kalyana Mantapam (Old Mandir), celebrated over the years on November 18th. Bhagavan arrived for darshan just after nine o'clock as the Vedam chanting went on, and came to the bhajan hall after His darshan round in the chair. The idols of Gopalaswami, Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman were kept there decked with jewels and flowers, ready on palanquins for the procession. Swami blessed the procession of Vedam and bhajan chanting students, and they began at a quarter-past nine. Once the procession reached the Gopuram gate where the decorated chariot (Ratham) was waiting, Swami went there and started the procession. When He came back onstage, the students chanted Vedam for a while, and later sang bhajans. The procession returned from the Kalyana Mantapam at 10.20, and Swami accepted Arati.In the evening, Swami emerged

from His residence at half-past five as the bhajans went on and went to the Poornachandra auditorium to see the dress rehearsal of the Convocation drama by the University students. After spending more than an hour there, He came to Sai Kulwant Hall and moved to the interview room after His darshan round. Moving down the verandah, Swami sat for a few minutes onstage before accepting Arati after seven o'clock. An announcement regarding tomorrow's Ladies' Day celebrations was made before Bhagavan returned to His residence in the car.

 

With love and light

Sai Ram

Deepak

http://www.ssso.net.

 

sourced:

http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Portal/pd-recent/ps20091101.htm#20091119