NEWSLETTER - 1st Quarter 2022

            Sai Ram Jai Maruthi Jai Maruthi! Welcome dear Sai brothers and sisters to the first quarter newsletter of the year. Filled with exciting and fun events starting with Pongal, all the way to the splendor of Maa’s Jayanti celebrations, this quarter was busy and full of celebration and pure happiness!

            The first day of Pongal fell on January 14th this year and is essentially known as the “Happy Pongal!” day, on which people all over Tamil Nadu decorate earthen pots and prepare pongal (a South Indian kichadi) in celebration of the new year’s harvest that God has provided us with. Day 2 of the Pongal celebration fell on January 15th and is known as “Mattu Pongal.” On this day, the mattu (cows) are worshipped and celebrated, as they are essentially the sole reason for the successful new harvest and agriculture, as without the cows, we would not have milk and oxen to plow the fields for crops to grow into. The main event of course, was the outdoor cookout. Our Gurumaa sat under a tree, just outside the Goshala, and with an old fashioned pot placed atop bricks and logs for fuel, Maa cooked an irresistible, mouth-watering “Chakkarai Pongal (sweet pongal).” For the annadhanam held during the week of Pongal, the ingredients that were distributed to all, comprised of those required for all the families to make chakkarai pongal!

            February 26th was a very special day for everyone. It marked Sri Sai Darshan Trust’s 26th year in service to Baba.  A Sakala Devata Gayatri homam was performed by all devotees present,  followed by annadhanam. This day was a wonderful reminder and inspiration for us, to continue living with the purpose of serving. Congratulations to all the devotees on completing 26 years!

            Shivaratri fell on March 1st this year. We all joined together to worship Lord Shiva at our “Atma Lingam,” the shrine dedicated to Him. All those who attended, kept vigil and a fast and participated in performing a “naalu kal” pooja (pooja done four times throughout the night), at 6 PM, 9 PM, 12 AM, and 3 AM. Rudrabishekam and Pooja were performed 4 times throughout the night as well. The pooja was done with milk, curd, honey, ghee, panchamritham, pancha gavyam, lemon juice, chandan, tender coconut, vibhuti, and sugarcane juice.

            The main highlight of this quarter and this newsletter was Maa’s Jayanti celebrations which occurred on Maa’s nakshatra birthday, on March 26th, concluding on the 27th, as well as on Maa’s calendar birthday, March 31st.

On March 26th, the celebrations began with Ganapathy, Navagraha, Nakshatra, and Ayusha Homams. The Ayusha Homam is performed specifically on birthdays, to pray for the overall well-being of the individual. Later that day, Shri Radha Krishna Kalyana Mahotsavam, began. The Kalyaanam was led and performed by Bhagavatar Chennai Srikanth and his group. Radha Kalyanaam is performed to represent the Atma merging with the Paramatma. Radha is symbolic of a Jeevatma, while Krishna is symbolic of the Paramatma. This union was celebrated with all the customary rituals and festivities of a traditional wedding, in a format that includes Bhajans, Shlokams, Poems, Hymns, Ashtapadis composed by Jayadeva, and Dances. All the devotees present, took turns and participated in the festivities-such as playing games of throwing balls of flowers to one another, Muthu-Kuthal, and dancing in reverence of Lord Krishna. The Bhagavatars were so full of energy when they sang, danced, and played the mridangam, that the energy palpitated throughout the whole vicinity. Our dear Gurumaa herself, joined in, and danced with so much enthusiasm and utter love for Lord Krishna! Everyone was captivated by Maa’s contagious energy, and all joined in, with the same joy and excitement! The celebrations continued on for almost two days, and were full of music, dance, devotion, absolute joy, warmth, and love, all around!

On the 31st, Maa’s calendar birthday, Shri Shankaran and group chanted Vishnu Sahasranama and sang Bhajans, in celebration of our dear Gurumaa! The Bhagavatars performed wonderfully, and the celebration was full of music, dance, happiness and love! This was followed by Noon Aarti and Annadhanam. What was extra special this time, was that this was the first Thursday since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, that we opened the hall to the public for everyone to actually sit in the hall and attend Aarti. Maa’s birthday also marked the first day that we restarted our weekly Annadhanam with 200 people in attendance! In the evening, Prasadam (sambar rice and curd rice) was distributed to all those who visited the temple. It was such a heartwarming day to see our Annadhanam be in full swing, once again!

Lastly, on the 31st, village presidents from all the neighboring villages for which we provided dry provisions in the last two years, came to the ashram to celebrate and thank Maa out of happiness and gratitude for all the efforts SSDT put towards the dry provisions annadhanam during this pandemic period.

            The three days in March that we celebrated Maa’s birthday, was a special reminder, of who Maa is to us all of us-our teacher, our mother, and our Guru. Maa teaches us and reminds us daily, to lead our lives with a positive, confident, and kind mindset; with hearts full of love and dedicated to serving those in need. May we all, as devotees, work to imbibe these qualities and strive to spread the same love and happiness to others, as Maa does for us, each moment of every day. May Baba’s and Maa’s blessings and grace be ever-present in continuing our lives with the lessons Maa has taught us.

                        On the charity front, SSDT donated 25,000 rupees to Moksha Dwara for the last rites of Covid-19 affected children and destitute children from various government hospitals across Chennai. Dry provisions worth 35,000 rupees, for our Annadhanam distribution to surrounding villages occurred on a weekly basis.

            As always, it goes without saying that the Poornima pooja and Pradosham pooja,  are taking place without fail. From the beginning of the pandemic, until March 31st of this year, Annadhanam was being performed by distributing provisions on a weekly basis to those in surrounding villages. Now, as many restrictions have been lifted, as mentioned before, every Thursday, the temple and Annadhanam will be open to one and all, just as it was before the pandemic began. We thank you, all devotees and well-wishers, for your continuous support. Here’s to a wonderful quarter and year filled with love, happiness, and good health!

May Baba’s grace and Maa’s blessings be showered on us all.