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Ashtabandhana
Mahakumbhabhishekam of
Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi Mandir
At Omkarananda
Ashram Himalayas, Rishikesh
From 1st to 4th April 2004
Sunday, 4th April 2004
In the early morning at
4.30 am, the preparations started by the priests
for the Pranapratishtha ceremony. Each Moorti
was connected to its respective Kalasha through
a Mangal-Sutra inside the Mandapa. Then all the
Moortis were tied together with a 1 cm thick
rope for the Nadi-Bandhanam ritual.
Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi-Moorti was tied to Her
Kalasha with an additional silver wire. In the
beginning, Pandit Suresh Shastriji of
Kancheepuram performed Pujas for all the
Directions, and subsequently, Pujas were offered
to the Devatas present in the Kalashas. All the
Kundas in the Mandapa were lit with fire, and
Hawanas were started for their Deities by the
team of priests. Go-Puja was also conducted in
front of the new Temple.
The Governor of Himachal Pradesh
along with Swami Vishweshwarananda,
President of Omkarananda
Ashram Himalayas, during the function |
At around 7.45 am, Justice V.S. Kokje, the
Hon’ble Governor of Himachal Pradesh, arrived at
the Ashram for the
Mahakumbhabhisheka ceremony and was welcomed by
Swami Vishweshwaranandaji, President of
Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas. He was led to the
Mandapa, where he was received by the priests in
true Indian traditional style. The Hon’ble
Governor sat through the entire ceremony along
with Swami Vishweshwaranandaji and other
Sannyasis.
Kumbhabhisheka started with the big Kalashas,
which had been filled with Ganga-water on the
very first day of the function, being brought to
the new Temple by 11 priests on their heads. The
priests first performed Pradakshina around the
whole new Temple in a procession led by temple
musicians. Then they climbed up to the top of
the temples and poured the Ganga-water on the
golden Kalashas placed on the spires. A large
number of devotees and Sannyasis also climbed
unto the roof of the new Temple to observe this
religious ceremony. In the meantime, all the
Deities were adorned with golden shields (Kavachas)
and the Moortis started glowing and shining in
the gleaming light.
Shri Kamakoti
Shastriji presenting a Pendant as
"Prasadam" to Justice V.S. Kokje |
After the completion of Kumbhabhisheka ceremony,
the Hon’ble Governor and his contingent were led
to the main Ashram building by Swami
Vishweshwaranandaji and were offered Prasadam.
At the end of the function, Sannyasis from
Omkarananda Ashram recited several
Vedic Stotras, such as Durga-Suktam,
Shanti-Mantras, Mahishasuramardini-Stotram etc.,
and earned high praise from the dignitaries and
guests, including Hon’ble Governor Shri Kokje
and Justice (Retd.) Krishnamurthy, for their
perfect pronunciation and recitation. On this
occasion, Hon’ble Governor, Shri Kokje released
a new music CD ‘Omkarananda Darshanam’ to make
this historic event memorable to the coming
generations. The ‘Omkarananda Darshanam’ Audio
CD contains Bhajans and Stotrams in honour of
Gurudev Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati and
has been prepared by the efforts of Shri M.V.
Shastriji, Trustee of Swami Omkarananda Dharma
Samsthan, Mumbai. These CDs and other
literatures of Gurudev Paramahamsa Omkarananda
Saraswati like cassettes, photos, leaflets of
Omkarananda Ashram or the specially printed
booklet ‘A Garland of Spiritual Flowers’
containing 108 Sayings of Gurudev are available
from Omkarananda Ashram.
At the end, all the construction workers, who
were involved in the building of this exquisite
Temple, were honoured on behalf of Omkarananda
Ashram. Each one of them was separately called
and his commendable work was remembered with
applause. Everyone received an Angavastram and
Dakshina.
At noon Shri Kamakoti Shastriji initiated the
final Abhisheka for Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi
and other Deities. All the Sannyasis present in
the Mandapa started reciting the whole of Rudra-Namakam,
Shri-Suktam, and several other Vedic hymns. In
this ritual the Moortis of
Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi and Sri-Yantra were
washed by the main priest with milk, Chandana-water,
herbal-water etc. continuously. Then the curtain
of the Mandir was drawn and behind the curtain
Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi was dressed by the
main priest and Shri Kamakoti Shastriji himself.
Her whole face was anointed with sandalwood
paste, and She was adorned with jewellery and
nice long flower-garlands. When the curtain was
finally withdrawn, everybody was overwhelmed
with joy and divine feeling to get the
Darshanam. Everyone felt the power and grace of
Mother Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi by seeing Her
extreme Beauty and shining Eyes. Shri Kamakoti
Shastriji confirmed this unique spiritual
feeling several times happily.
At 1 p.m., a Bhandara was arranged in which over
150 respected Mahants and Sadhus were invited to
take part. Swami Vishweshwaranandaji introduced
the Ashram Sannyasis to the invited Mahants. The
Sannyasis recited Durga-Suktam and
Shanti-Mantras in their honour.
In the evening, a special Arati was performed to
Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi in accompaniment of
conch-blowing and drum-beating, and the
beautifully adorned Deity shined, glowed and
sparkled in that divine atmosphere of religious
fervour. Each Deity got a golden arch (Prabha)
in every Mandir, and with that the initiation of
the Mandirs was completed. At the end,
Navavarana-Puja was performed by Shri Kamakoti
Shastriji. Four priests carried the
Utsava-Moorti of Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Devi on their
shoulders kept on two wooden beams, and took a
Pradakshina in a procession led by the temple
musicians playing in front. A large number of
enthusiastic devotees took part in this
procession.
A professional film team was present throughout
the 4-day function and recorded the entire Maha-Kumbhabhisheka
ceremony. It also took interviews with Swamis of
Omkarananda Ashram and filmed the recitation of
Narayana-Suktam and Shanti-Mantras by the Ashram
Sannyasis.
At around 8 p.m., Dakshinas were distributed to
all the priests. The managers of Shri
Venkataramanji of Kancheepuram were also
honoured in the same manner as the construction
workers. In the end, the visiting Sannyasis from
Omkarananda Ashram Switzerland were heartily
felicitated and thanked by Swami
Vishweshwaranandaji, President of Omkarananda
Ashram Himalayas, in a befitting ceremony.
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