Raj Sadosh
Abohar/Ahmedabad; Festival of lights, lamps Diwali was celebrated in the UAE, devotees and community members participated from the safety of their homes via social media. Many participated in the RangoliChallenge where people were asked to create a Rangoli to a short Diwali music clip and post it online. Others participated by sharing their Diwali Traditions, DiwaliMemories or their personal messages with HappyDiwali. The community posts were aggregated on the mandir website and presented for all to cherish and share.
Besides online participation, devotees were able to join webcasts of the special pujas and events. On November 14, hundreds of devotees from the region virtually joined BAPS spiritual head Mahant Swami Ji Maharaj, who was camping in Nenpur (Gujarat, for Chopda Pujan. The following evening, more than 200 households joined in to a special annakut.
Each year, we offer Bhagwan thanks with a single annakut of a thousand dishes; this year let’s celebrate with A Thousand Annakuts. This was the thought behind a unique annakut festival held in Abu Dhabi for the Middle East Satsang region. On Sunday evening, a special webcast was created in which annakut was offered to the mandir murtis, while, simultaneously, hundreds of households shared their home Annakuts online on the same webcast.
The special festival season was blessed with the online blessings of Mahant Swami Ji Maharaj, the senior sadhus of the fellowship and Brahmavihari Swami, as well as greetings and messages from Dr. Mugheer Khamis al Khaili, Chairman, Department of Community Development, and Pawan Kapoor, Indian Ambassador to the UAE.