December 31 - January 1 --
Rishikesh
Shri Lal Krishna Advaniji, the
former deputy Prime-Minister and current leader of
the opposition (head of the BJP party) came to
Parmarth Niketan ashram, Rishikesh, Himalayas, with
his entire family to spend new year's eve on the
holy banks of Mother Ganga. He was overwhelmed to
experience the divine Ganga Aarati led by H.H. Pujya
Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President and Spiritual
Head of Parmarth Niketan. He said, "This is the most
precious and inspirational moment of my life!"
Shri Advaniji and his family
perform purnahuti of the yagna with Pujya Swamiji
on the banks of Ganga at Parmarth Niketan's Ganga
Ghat
Pujya Swamiji gave a beautiful message on the
occasion, He said, "This time of the new year eve is
a very important time for all of us. This is the
time to introspect and to offer all our mistakes,
grudges and animosities to the Divine Mother Ganga
and cleanse ourselves of all impurities. Ganga
touches our hearts and cleanses our minds
irrespective of our physical distance from Her."
Shri Advaniji spoke about the
importance of Ganga and deeply appreciated Pujya
Swamiji for the divine magic He has created here at
Parmarth, through the aarti, through the gurukul and
through the ashram.
On the New Year day, just before
the sun rose, Pujya Swamiji took His daily morning
walk through the Himalayan jungles with the
rishikumars from the Parmarth Gurukul.
Respected Advaniji also joined
the beautiful procession. It was incredible to see
that, even though he is nearly 80 years old, he
hiked the entire trail and is in excellent physical
shape.
Along the walk, we had the
opportunity to listen to the beautiful stories of
his dedicated parents and family and how he came to
be filled with so much devotion and commitment to
the land, the people and the culture of Mother
India.
Following breakfast, Shri Advaniji and his family
distributed shawls to the rishikumars and acharyas
and Pujya Swamiji blessed him with a sacred rudraksh
mala.
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(left)
Lighting a candle for the New Year (right)
distribution of clothes to the rishikumars |
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Pujya Swamiji
gives Shri Advaniji a sacred rudraksh mala |
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A special puja was held on the
banks of Mother Ganga to welcome in the New Year.
Shri Advaniji and his wife, Smt. Kamalaji, their
daughter Pratibhaji, their son, Shri Jayant ji and
his wife Geetikaji and other guests and residents of
Parmarth performed sacred Ganga Aarti and puja led
by Pujya Swamiji.
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Shri Advaniji exclaimed with
tears in his eyes,
"The beginning of 2007 and the
end of 2006 were so wonderful that they are engraved
on my consciousness for ever!"
November 1 --
New Jersey
Pujya Swamiji gave satsang at the
home of Dr. Hemant Patel, President-Elect of AAPI
(American Association of Physicians from India). It
was a beautiful satsang, the audience filled with
Indian doctors living and working in USA. Dr.
Hemantbhai requested Pujya Swamiji to speak on the
opening of the AAPI convention in Philadelphia on
May 10, 2007 and Pujya Swamiji agreed.
November 2-3 --
Louisville, Kentucky
Pujya Swamiji travelled for 2
days to Louisville, KY where He gave a beautiful
lecture at the Hindu Temple of Kentucky in
Louisville, organized by Taranginiben/Chandrakantbhai
Patel and Rekhaben/Atulbhai Mashruwala
November 4-5 --
Tampa, Florida
Pujya Swamiji spent the day in
Tampa, Florida at the home of Bellaben and
Yogeshbhai Patel. A beautiful satsang was organized
at home, and the following day they took Pujya
Swamiji to see a garden of hydroponic plantation. As
we have a large rural development and organic
gardening program in Rishikesh, they thought that He
would like to see the amazing growth potential with
hydroponics.
On the garden where we went to
visit, on a mere 1/2 acre of land there were
approximately 20,000 plants, using a total of less
water per day than the average family of four!
Pujya Swamiji was very impressed
by the technology and immediately had visions of
being able to help poor farmers produce even more
crops with less water and without any use of
chemicals/pesticides, etc; when Bellaben &
Yogeshbhai came to Rishikesh in December they
brought the first trail stacker for our Veerpur
garden.
In Veerpur we have huge organic
vegetable gardens and also plans for ayurvedic
medicinal plants. Pujya Swamiji is committed to
bringing the concept of organics to the area, not
only for the health of the people but mostly for
health of Mother Ganga, into whom all the runoff
from the fields eventually goes.
November 13 --
Haridwar, India
Pujya Swamiji was a special guest
at the bhoomi puja (ground-breaking) ceremony of the
Patanjali Yog Vidyapeeth with Pujya Swami Ram Devji.
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Pujya Swamiji
with Pujya Swami Ramdevji |
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November 18 --
Rishikesh, India
Pujya Swamiji was a special guest
speaker at the Shantimandir program held in
Rishikesh. Led by Gabriella Lavorgna of Italy, a special East
Meets West program was held for 3 days with lectures
and evening musical programs. Pujya Swamiji
inaugurated the event and gave a beautiful talk on
what happens when East Meets West within ourselves -
what does the East have to offer and what does the
West have to offer, and how we can truly find the
unity and union of these two within our own beings.
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(left) Pujya
Swamiji lights the inaugural lamp with
Ravindra Jain, the famous musician. (right) Pujya Swamiji gives His
blessings on the occasion |
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(left) Pujya
Swamiji blesses Ravindra Jain (right) A
special shawl is given to the Italian
leader, Gabriella |
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November 19 --
Rishikesh, India
Ulrich Maybach, of the Maybach corporation, came to Rishikesh with his
fiance Teresa. Pujya Swamiji had met them at the
United Nations' Summit in New York (see
www.parmarth.com/updates/october2006) and they decided
to come to Rishikesh on their trip to India.
They were so happy to see the divine atmosphere and
to take part in the beautiful Ganga Aarti.
November 20 --
Rishikesh, India
Miss Earth, Niharika Singh came to Parmarth Niketan,
Rishikesh to take part in the divine, world famous
Ganga Aarti. Prior to the aarti, she met with Pujya
Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (President of Parmarth
Niketan) and had his satsang. Then, along with
Pujya Swamiji and the Honorable Former Governor of
Mizoram Shri Amolakh Rai Kohliji, she proceeded to
the holy banks of the Ganga to the sounds of Vedic
chanting by the young rishikumars at the Parmarth
Gurukul. She took part in the purnahuti of the yagna,
the Ganga Aarti as well as the sankirtan led by
Pujya Swamiji, and finally the sacred flower
offering (pushpanjali) ceremony. Pujya Swamiji also
blessed her with a special shawl for her great work
in using her role as Miss Earth to lead and guide
young people around the globe on a path of
righteousness, integrity, purity and service. She
seemed truly touched by the beautiful aarti ceremony
as she closed her eyes, prayed and sang along in the
kirtan.
After the aarti, she returned to Pujya Swamiji’s
jyopri (bamboo hut) where Pujya Swamiji gave satsang.
She was together in the satsang with the Honorable
former Governor of Mizoram, other distinguished
officials and also a group of over 100 people who
had come from Italy on an “East meets West”
pilgrimage
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(left) at
Aarti; (right) in Pujya Swamiji's jyopri in
satsang |
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November 23 --
Veerpur, Rishikesh,
Just near the location of our new
gurukul in Veerpur, there is a small school
currently existing. We sponsored a
computer center there, which was opened by Pujya
Swamiji's hands on the 23rd November. During the
visit, He also gave blessings to all the students as
well as distributed clothes.
November 24 --
Rishikesh, India
Kali Ray, the founder of the
famous Tri-Yoga system of yoga, based in Malibu,
California, USA came to Rishikesh with a group of
students as part of their yoga in India tour. They
all took part in the Ganga Yagna and Ganga Aarti and
had a beautiful satsang with Pujya Swamiji after the
aarti in which He explained so much about the deep
meaning of yoga and how we can apply it to our daily
lives, how our yoga can change the very nature of
our beings and not just the muscles and bones of our
body.
November 25 - December 15 -
Rishikesh
An
Encyclopedia of Hinduism editorial conference was
held at Rishikesh, led by Dr. Kapil Kapoorji,
Executive Editor - India and former Vice-Chancellor
JNU University, New Delhi. For nearly 3 weeks, the
team of scholars performed final review of articles
for this monumental work which is nearing
completion.
We
expect that by the end of 2007 this monumental,
Herculean task, which has involved over 1200
scholars from across the world, will be in hands of
the waiting world.
November 28 --
Rishikesh
The Government of the State of
Uttranchal hosted the first Asian Mayors Conference
attended by hundreds of mayors of large and small
cities from across Asia. To give the Mayors a
true, cultural, divine experience, the Government of
Uttranchal organized for the mayors to come to
Parmarth Niketan to take part in the divine Ganga
Aarti and yagna and to have satsang with Pujya
Swamiji, followed by a beautiful dinner in
Parmarth's garden. The Mayors were so touched by the
experience that they all pledged to come back again
soon.
Sadhvi Abhaji offers a shawl to Smt. Manorama
Sharmaji, Mayor of Dehradun
November 30 --
Delhi
Pujya Swamiji gave a special satsang program at the
home of Shri H.L. Somanyji, the Patriarch of Somany
tiles. It was the special occasion of Gita Jayanti
(the "birthday" of the Bhagavad Gita) and He gave a
beautiful talk on the meaning and message of the
Gita. Further, it also was Shri Somanyji's birthday
and Pujya Swamiji gave him special blessings.
December 1-2 -
Pondicherry
Pujya
Swamiji travelled down to the tsunami areas again to see
the progress on the work we are doing (see
www.projecthope-tsunami.com for details of the
projects). There are 2 main projects underway at
the moment. One is a home for orphans and
widowed/abandoned ladies in Cuddalore. This is nearly
complete and ready for inauguration. We have built
dormitory rooms for the orphans, school rooms, a
computer center and also a vocational training center
for the ladies. We have also built 100 new
permanent homes in village Pannithittu in Pondicherry
and are now building a community center, vocational
training center, primary medical center, and more. During
Pujya Swamiji's visit He was
invited for breakfast with the new Lt. Governor of
Pondicherry, Shri Mukut Mithi.
December
4
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Mumbai and Amby Valley
Pujya
Swamiji was
in Mumbai on the morning of December 4, and Pujya Sri
Shankaracharyaji, Kanchi Kaam Koti was also in Mumbai,
so Pujya Swamiji and Shri Ashok Hindujaji went together
to have the darshan of Pujya Sri Shankaracharyaji.
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Pujya Swamiji and Shri Ashok Hindujaji with
Pujya Sri Shankaracharyaji |
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Pujya Swamiji then
traveled to Amby Valley, he beautiful land between Mumbai and Pune, where He graced the wedding of
divine soul Aditi Shahra, daughter of the Shahra family
(National Steel, Ruchi company) with His presence.
Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Swami Pragyananandji with
the bride and groom and their families
December -
Rishikesh
So many families came from abroad
to celebrate the holidays on the holy banks of
Mother Ganga.
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Bellaben and Yogeshbhai Patel
came from
Tampa, Florida for Pujya Swamiji's
darshan and also to help start the organic hydroponic garden in Veerpur. While here, they
distributed clothes to the rishikumars and the
sevaks at the ashram as well as to those in Veerpur.
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Jay
and Susie Shah came with their children Avi and
Aryana, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
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Dawn and Clive Baillie came with their children
Paris and Paloma from Los Angeles, California, USA;
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Dr.
Ramanbhai and Shakuntalaben Patel came from
Winnipeg, Canada;
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Hikaru Hashimoto came with his family from Japan;
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Smitaben and Mahendrabhai Patel came with their son
Anuj from Louisville, Kentucky, USA
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Giridhari Whabi came with his son, daughter-in-law
and grandson from Abu Dhabi, UAE
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Pujya Swamiji
& Yogeshbhai inaugurate the new hydroponic
stacker; Pujya Swamiji distributes sweets
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Pujya Swamiji hands Bellaben the first organic
broccoli
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Distribution of clothes to sevaks and
rishikumars |
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Pujya Swamiji always tells people
to make their holidays into holy days and He was
so impressed and happy to have so many people
take this truly to heart and come and spend
their holidays here in Rishikesh, particularly
families with children who brought the children
to give them a taste of culture, heritage and
spirituality during their holidays.
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On the banks of Ganga in Veerpur;
distributing new shoes to the Veerpur
rishikumars |
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Shri Bhisham Agnihotri the former
Ambassador-at-Large for the Government of India and
an esteemed lawyer, professor, writer and thinker as
well as a member of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism's
editorial board came to Rishikesh during his time in
India to have Pujya
Swamiji's darshan.
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Pujya Swamiji with Shri B.K. Agnihotriji |
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December 5 -
Delhi
There was a special Kailash-Mansarovar Sammelan on
the 4-6 December and Pujya Swamiji graced the
occasion on December 5.
December 9 -
Haridwar
His
Excellency, the President of India came to the
convocation ceremony at Shantikunj University in
Haridwar. Pujya Swamiji was invited as a special guest
Pujya Swamiji and His Excellency the President of
India greet each other at the ceremony
Pujya Swamiji with
His Excellency the President of India, His
Excellency the Governor of Uttranchal, the Honorable
Chief Minister of Uttranchal and Pujya Dr. Pranav
Pandyaji
After the program, Pujya Swamiji sat with Pujya Dr.
Pranav Pandyaji, the head of the Gayatri Parivar and
Shantikunj ashram. They discussed so many ideas
about bringing spiritual and cultural education to
students in Uttranchal.
December 9 -
Rishikesh
Captain Gopinath, the Managing Director/owner of Air
Deccan came to Rishikesh for divine Ganga Aarti and
he brought with him Mr. John Leahy, Chief Operating
Officer of Airbus and Kiran Rao, Senior V.P. of
Airbus, as well as John's wife Mrs. Grace Leahy.
They all took part in the divine Ganga Aarti and
yagna with Pujya Swamiji and the ashram.
December 14 --
Rishikesh
On
December 14 was the special and sacred day of the
sacred thread (janeo sanskar) ceremony for the new
batch of rishikumars.
According to ancient Indian tradition, young
children (typically boys) undergo this important
rite of passage prior to the beginning of their
scriptural study.
It
is a beautiful ceremony which concludes by getting
the sacred mantra whispered into their ear by the
Guru, Pujya Swamiji.
Prior to receiving their mantra, after their puja,
they all sat together in yagna with Pujya Swamiji
and performed a special yagna, followed by the
recitation of the Gayatri Mantra eleven times.
See
www.parmarth.com/sanskaras.htm for details of
the meaning of this and other traditional rites of
passage.
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(left) Pujya
Swamiji and the rishikumars take sankalp
(vows) on the banks of Ganga;
(right) Pujya Swamiji whispers the sacred
mantra into each child's ear |
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There was also a huge bhandara on the
Ganga ghat for all the rishikumars on
the holy banks of Mother Ganga.
December 14 --
Dehradun and Rishikesh
Hon. Shri C.M. Bhandariji, the
High Commissioner of India to United Arab Emirates
came back to his home in Dehradun for the 1st
anniversary puja of the passing of his beloved and
respected Mother. Pujya Swamiji went to Dehradun to
bless the puja with His presence and words, and then
Shri C.M. Bhandariji came with his family to
Parmarth for the divine Ganga yagna and aarti, and
to spend the night on the holy banks of Mother
Ganga.
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Shri CM
Bhandariji performs Ganga Aarti and receives
a shawl and Ganga jal
as blessings from Pujya Swamiji |
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December 14 --
Rishikesh
A young girl, Indu, who had been
adopted at Parmarth many years ago was given away as
a bride today. It was the first "dharma-kanya" to
leave from the ashram into married life. She was
given in marriage to a young man named Somesh who
had come and worked as a teacher at the boys'
gurukul. Together they will continue to serve the
ashram and the dharma.
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(left) Pujya
Swamiji blesses Indu and Somesh;
(right) Sadhvi Abhaji (with whom Indu lived)
with the newlyweds |
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Parmarth Niketan
Ashram
Rishikesh (Himalayas),
India
and
present:
INTERNATIONAL
YOGA FESTIVAL
MARCH
1-7, 2007This
year’s highlights will include:
 Inspiring
lectures by
revered
saints
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H.H.
Sri Shankaracharya Swami Divyanand Teerthji
is revered for his profound and deep
commentaries on the holy scriptures, and
he travels the world spreading these
divine teachings. Sri Shankaracharyaji
achieved great levels of academic
success and accomplishment prior to
taking his vows of Sanyas. As the Adi
Shankaracharya traveled from South to
North to spread the message of unity and
dharma so has Sri Shankaracharyaji
traveled from North to South to spread
the messages of universal brotherhood,
love and righteousness. |
H.H.
Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji is the
President of Parmarth Niketan Ashram. He
left his home at eight years old and
spent his youth in seclusion, silence
and sadhana in the Himalayas. Today he
is world renowned as a great saint,
spiritual leader, visionary and divine
guide. Pujya Swamiji's religion is
unity, and he has been a leader in
numerous international, inter-faith
conferences and parliaments. He has also
been honored with innumerable a | | | | | 
