Westboro experiences the Celestial wedding of Shiva and Parvati

Kailash pathe Mahadeva Shambo
Kailash pathe Mahadeva Shambo o o o

The Lord of Kailash, Mahadeva Shambo
The Lord of Kailash, Mahadeva Shambo o o o

Imagine a beautifully decorated hall with an altar of God and a bhajan singer singing with his group and the entire audience following them in chorus. In this hall, the Bhajan singer brings the music to a crescendo for every bhajan. Three percussionists on their mridangams, a couple of harmoniums and a violinist are keeping the singers company. Now add to the scene men in traditional dhotis and women in nine-yard Kanchipuram saris, all in a trance as the Nama Sankirtanam (name of the Lord) fills the air.

This was the scene at the Lalitha Kalyanam event held at the BAPS Swaminarayan temple, Westboro, MA on April 19, 20 and 21 and organized jointly by the Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation USA (KKSF – http://www.kksfusa.org ), Gnanananda Seva Samajam USA (http://www.gssus.org) and Sankara Healthcare Foundation Inc. (https://www.giftofhealth.us) . KKSF, is a  well-known local charity associated with the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in India.  On these auspicious days we were transported to Chennai on our way to Mount Kailash. It is said that even a passing association with a true devotee can bring you liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Many a true devotee came to Westboro to experience the celestial wedding of Lord Shiva with Parvati Devi and swim in the flow of devotional music.

As customary, the event started with bringing the Padukas (holy footwear) of four acharyas. The first Padukas were of the two Shankaracharyas of Kanchi Peetam Jagadguru Chandrshekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal and his shishya Jagadguru Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal. The other two Padukas were of Sri Gnanananda Giri Swamigal and his shishya Sri Haridas Giri Swamigal. This was followed by Suvasini Pooja a tradition that worships married women considering them as manifestation of Goddess Durga.

Gnananada Seva Samajam (GSS) a group from Maryland came to perform the Lalitha Kalyanam and the Divya Nama Sankirtam. Sri Gurunathan, Sri Ravi and Smt Daya Ravi among many others are direct disciples of Sri Haridas Giri Swamigal and they are founding members of GSS. The group sang from 8 am in the morning till 10:30 pm taking breaks only for lunch and dinner. On the 20th evening The Lord was brought in the form of the Lamp to the center of the hall.  The singing in praise of the Lord continued while devotees danced around the lamp concentrating on the divine lord, the stories of the lord through the lyrics of the bhajans with the purpose of merging with the divine bliss.

The next day the bhajans continued starting at 9am with a sangraha paduka puja (short version) and culminated with a traditional wedding of the divine manifesting as Lord Kameshvara and the Goddess Lalitha Maha Tripura Sundari. The uniqueness of the Dakshin sampradaya (southern style) nama sankeertan type weddings is that it is performed by regular householders (laukikas). The wedding was followed by a traditional wedding lunch and wedding gifts being given to the devotees who were fortunate to attend the wedding of the Lord.

Westboro is blessed with so many temples in close vicinity and now the Lord decided to bless us with an opportunity to view his celestial wedding. We thank the organizations and their volunteers for bringing this wonderful event to Massachusetts and pray that GSS returns every year to enthrall us with their divine singing.

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