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Rathotsavam
The 81st Birthday
celebrations of Bhagawan commenced with the traditional
Rathotsavam or Chariot Festival on the morning of the 18th
of November. At 7.30 a.m., Bhagawan granted Darshan to the
thousands seated in Sai Kulwant Hall. Then, at Bhagawan’s
command, the beautifully bedecked palanquins of Lord Sri
Krishna and Lord Sri Rama along with Sita, Lakshmana and
Hanuman were brought out of the Bhajan Mandir by the Sevadal
and taken out through the Gopuram entrance. After the idol
of Lord Sri Krishna was mounted on the chariot, Bhagawan
Himself ceremoniously initiated the procession on its way to
the Sri Pedda Venkama Raju Kalyana Mantapam, to the
accompaniment of Veda chanting and Bhajans by the students.
On this sacred Rathotsavam
day, as one sees Bhagawan Baba amidst the idols of Lord Sri
Krishna and Lord Sri Rama, one is reminded of the verse from
the Bhagavath Gita where the Lord declared – “Dharma
Samsthapanarthaya Sambhavami Yuge Yuge” (for the
re-establishment of righteousness, I incarnate from age to
age). Indeed, it is our good fortune that the Supreme One
who had earlier incarnated as Lord Sri Rama and Lord Sri
Krishna has now come again in our midst as Bhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba.
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After the morning programme,
at about 10.45 a.m., Bhagawan inaugurated the new shelter
for His pet elephant - Sai Gita, which is located adjacent
to the Planetarium. The aesthetically designed shelter,
painted with pleasing colours and lit by a chandelier hung
from its high roof, stood as a testimony to Bhagawan’s
infinite and equal love for all of His creation. After the
inauguration, as is His practice, Bhagawan lovingly fed Sai
Gita with fruits and sugarcane, before accepting Arati and
returning to His residence.
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In the evening, there was a
music programme by artistes from Russia. They rendered a
medley of devotional and folk songs in Russian language to
the accompaniment of guitar and a harp-like instrument
called Psaltery. The psaltery is an ancient instrument
dating back to almost 3 B.C. and finds a mention in the Old
Testament as ‘Nebel’. And the book of Psalms came to be
known as the Psalter or Psalterium as they hymns were
usually sung to the accompaniment of this instrument. The
music programme kept the audience enthralled with its sweet
melodies for close to an hour. Thereafter, there were
Bhajans concluding with Arati.
Ladies Day
19th of November every year is celebrated as International
Ladies Day in honour of Mother Easwaramma, the earthly
mother of Bhagawan, who was a paragon of virtues and who
embodied the ideals of womanhood and motherhood.
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At 8 a.m., led by a
procession of girl students chanting Vedic hymns, Bhagawan
arrived in Sai Kulwant Hall which was colourfully decked for
the occasion with floral decorations of many attractive
hues. Bhagawan then lit the ceremonial lamp placed next to
the big portrait of Mother Easwaramma amidst loud applause
from the thousands gathered in the hall. While some children
stood in the center of the hall holding the flags of many
nations, seven young girls dressed in costumes representing
the various cultures of the world offered bouquets to
Bhagawan on behalf of all the women of the world. Following
this, there was a talk by Ms. Chethana Raju who spoke
briefly about the significance of the occasion and the
programmes for the morning.
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Then there was a performance
by the girls’ band from the Sri Sathya Sai Primary School
who played on bagpipes while moving about in various
formations. Next, the Sai Youth from UK presented a bouquet
of songs at the Lotus Feet. Thereafter, there were two
speakers who addressed the gathering. The first speaker,
Smt. Vasumathi Bhaskara Rao, the Mahila Sevadal Convenor,
Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Andhra Pradesh, spoke in
Telugu. She recalled her association with Mother Easwaramma
when she used to visit Puttaparthy from as early as 1953. On
one occasion, when a Seva activity was going on, Mother
Easwaramma voluntarily came forward and participated in the
activity along with the others. When everyone requested her
to go and take rest, she remarked that Seva was the best way
one could progress on the spiritual path and continued with
the work. Such was her humility and helpful nature. She
concluded her talk by saying that women are not in any way
disadvantaged to render Seva, and that the energy bestowed
upon us by God should be used for serving Him.
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The second speaker was Dr.
Ronne Marantz from USA. Dr. Marantz completed her Masters
and Doctorate degrees in education from the Columbia
University. She is a member of Sri Sathya Sai World
Federation Education Committee and also on the Advisory
Board of Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values for USA.
Dr. Marantz began her talk by saying that all of us should
be grateful to two people: Mother Easwaramma for having been
instrumental in giving the world our dear Lord and our own
mother for having given birth to us and granting us the good
fortune of being a contemporary of Bhagawan Baba and
experiencing His love. Dr. Marantz recalled how when she had
attended an International Bal Vikas Conference at Prasanthi
Nilayam way back in 1981, she got introduced to the concepts
of Educare, Education in Human Values and Integral Education
directly by Bhagawan. She then narrated how she tried to
implement these concepts in her life as a mother and as a
teacher in a school at New York, and how she, her teacher
colleagues and students benefited immensely from this. In
conclusion, she observed that the concept of Education in
Human values that began in a small way years ago has now
spread to more than 95 countries across the world. And the
reason for this is nothing but the power of Love.
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The evening programme
commenced at 3.15 p.m. when Bhagawan Himself lovingly gifted
silk sarees to many lady devotees. When an old lady who was
seated in wheelchair tried to get up and walk up to Bhagawan
to receive the saree from His divine hands, Bhagawan asked
her to be seated and He Himself got up and walked all the
way to her, placed the saree in her hands and touched her
head in blessing. This scene was so moving that everyone in
the hall spontaneously applauded Bhagawan’s unbounded love
and compassion towards His devotees, and the good fortune of
that devotee.
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At 4 p.m., the girl students
of Sri Sathya Sai Primary School presented a dance depicting
scenes about Bhagawan’s birth and childhood. The programme
that lasted for the good part of an hour was marked by
colorful and shining costumes, good choreography and
pleasing music that was a feast to the eyes and ears.
Following this, there was a vocal concert by the famous
‘Priya Sisters’ – Ms. Hari Priya and Ms. Shanmukha Priya.
They had the audience agog with their mellifluous voices
while rendering classical carnatic songs interspersed with
Shlokas, Mira Bhajan and Sai Bhajan. At about 6.10 p.m., the
Ladies Day celebrations came to an auspicious end with Arati
being offered to Bhagawan.
Jai Sai Ram.
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