The Festival of Gudhi Padwa brings immense joy for many as it is the New Year for millions of Indians. Our Foundation always celebrates this pious day with great zeal & this year’s celebrations were no exception. Rather, this was one of the best celebrations of NEW YEAR by the Foundation.

The auspicious day started with Kriya Diksha Havan at our Juhu Centre. Mangalya Pratik Gudhi was hoisted at the Juhu Centre by Param Pujya Sadguru Yogiraj Sri Sri Mangeshda. Sadguruji bestowed pious Kriya Diksha to a few lucky spiritual aspirants. We welcome all the new Kriyabans in this lovely family. The morning session ended with Prasad distribution and everyone was eagerly awaiting for the evening programme.

Mahasatsang was organized in the evening, between 6 pm and 9 pm at Dr. Antonio Da Silva Trust Hall, Dadar, Mumbai. Param Pujya Sadguruji was received with lots of enthusiasm. A LEZIM PATHAK was ready to welcome Him when He arrived at the Hall. The atmosphere was full of joy and positive vibrations…. people had gathered in traditional and colourful costumes. The mood was very festive and awesome. Sadguruji then was welcomed with the traditional Arati. He performed Guru Pujan and blessed all present with his AASHIRVAAD!

Revered Sadguruji was felicitated by Kriyaban Anil Hatiskar & Kriyaban Rugmani Hariharan and then the Bhajan Sandhya started. The energy level was very high. The choice of bhajans was marvelous. The Bhajan Team consisting of Archana, Ieshwarya, Nivedita, Kanu, Chaitanya & Asavari were just fabulous. There was a lot of variety in their presentation. Each rendition was a unique one and there was spontaneous response of ‘once more’ to many performances! Everybody gave their best & the devotion and involvement of all the performers was clearly visible. Special mention of Chaitanya from Pune & Asavari from the USA is a must here. They had specially come to Mumbai for this special evening. Another artiste was Anand (who had come from Ahmedabad). His flute performance was just fantastic. The audience was overwhelmed and spell bound !! The bhajan team was ably supported by Nikhil Awasarikar on the Tabla and Ravi Lomate on the harmonium.

Much more surprises were in store & guess who, the group of our evergreen young Senior Citizens accompanied by Champion children Mahima & Shubham presented a wonderful ballet. The theme was how Yoga & fitness can overpower the evils of technology spreading its vicious web on the small children. A superlative performance by all and especially by the little wonders. So much to learn from these little champs. Fitness & flexibility personified. Kudos to Sadguruji for designing this special ballet just for all of us & it’s wonderful message of transformation, transition from the senior generation to the new generation who will carry on the mantle of spreading Kriya Yoga to the World. Do watch out for the photos & videos.

Then arrived the moment which everyone was waiting for – Param Pujya Sadguruji’s Aashirvachan! In His mesmerizing speech, He talked about the significance of Gudhi Padwa (known by different names in the various parts of India), the importance of positivity & enthusiasm. He mentioned that war has been continuously going on between good thoughts & bad thoughts… from ancient times. He cited some references in Ramayana and what we should learn from it. He further mentioned that we can’t change whatever has happened… so don’t be in the past. We can learn from it & move on. He also made a special mention of our armed forces who are doing a brilliant work at the borders, because of them we can peacefully sleep in the safety of our homes. Ever growing negativity in the form of terrorism is a cause of concern. And He just hoped that transformation will come and change the mindset of negative forces. We have to be hopeful about that and work towards it.

He also made a special mention of the recently concluded Sports Day. Various sports were arranged and people of all ages participated in the same. He applauded their enthusiasm and said that because of their great show, the prize distribution ceremony was fixed on this auspicious Gudhi Padwa day. He congratulated all the losers first and wished them luck for the next year. Sadguruji then gave the prizes to all the Sports Day winners… a very special moment for all the lucky winners who got the trophies/medals from His hands on a very auspicious day.

Sadguruji announced of his ambitious program of KRIYA YOGA GURUKUL … a camp for all the kids upto 18 years which will take care of many aspects like personality development, memory enhancement, health & fitness as also the extra-curricular activities like arts & craft, drawing, photography, etc. Two sessions of 5 days each will be conducted by the Master Himself in the month of May 2015. His announcement was greeted with thunderous applause… a sign of a very mega hit session. All parents are requested to enroll their children, inform friends, relatives of this unique program conducted during the school vacations for the all round development of children. Watch out this space for more details.

As always, the audience felt that His Aashirvachan should go on & on

Priyanka Patil’s lucid “Nivedan” was very apt and she really anchored the evening so well! Sadguruji appreciated the efforts of all the performers individually.

All in all, a wonderful evening. New Year could not have started on a better note. It was an evening to cherish for a long time.

The Mahasatsang concluded with Vote of Thanks by Sandeep Yederi, President of the Foundation.

Thanks to the untiring efforts of all the volunteers for this beautiful programme. Special mention is made of all members of our Dadar Centre. They not only sponsored the Prasadam for this evening but also took the initiative in scouting a new venue and for arranging this wonderful program.