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LEMONT, Ill.
Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC) here hosted its historic three-day Mahrarudram, convoked over the weekend of June 12, to pray for universal peace, welfare and prosperity. More than 2000 devotees from the Chicago area and around the world gathered to witness these ancient Vedic ceremonies that aim to transcend boundaries of religion, nationality and gender. Hundreds of priests and scholars participated in the mass chanting, culminating June 13 in the Maharudram Yajna, where continual oblations of clarified butter, symbolic foods, cloth, and therapeutic herbs were made to the sacred fire.
With the support of Dharmarao Nellivalasa, HTGC priest Vengatesa Sivacharyar spent over a year planning one of the most complex yajnas in Vedic tradition to ensure fidelity. Maharudram drew attendance and support from an array of local, national and international spiritual, political and community leaders, including: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, U.S.-born spiritual head of Himalayan Academy, Hawaii; Swami Ishatmananda of Vivekananda Vedanta Society, Chicago; Swami Ramanaswaroopananda of Atma Vidya Mandir, Tiruvannamalai; Samaveda Shanmuka Sarma, Hyderabad; and Swami Adhyatmanandaji Maharaj, Ahmedabad. HTGC President Bhima Reddy and Chairman of Maharudram Committee (MC) Lakshman Agadi led the congregation in honoring the distinguished visitors.
Master of ceremonies Dr. Sangita Rangala explained its symbolism and significance. Over a 100 children knotted traditional flower garlands and brought them in procession to offer to the deity. The priests used them to decorate the 121 sacred jars (kalasha) displayed as Mount Meru, which was handcrafted by Vanamoorthy Achari, the expert temple architect.
However, this Maharudram Yajna, performed on a hillside in Lemont was not simply a recreation of a bygone era in a far-off land, but a living part of American Hindu spiritual life in 2015. At the start of the day’s ceremony, the priests led the congregation in Sanskrit prayers that invoked sacred sites and rivers not only in India, but also the Missouri and the Mississippi.
Friday’s events also celebrated the power of the feminine through its earthly manifestations. Nearly 1300 women and girls chanted Lalita Sahasranama, poem enumerating 1008 names of the Goddess, while seated meditatively in front of her small statues. This was preceded by a Gomata puja, or worship through cow-with-calf of nurturing Mother Nature. Volunteers prepared thousands of fresh meals that the organizers also donated to a local food pantry to feed thousands more. A quadricopter drone took aerial live streaming video and children enjoyed a 3D virtual walk through famous temples in India.
Sunday climaxed in the Nava Chandi offerings (homam) comprising 14 simultaneous fire sacrifices. Devotees chanted verses praising the feminine aspect of divinity. Seated in front of the priests’ large fire pit, in squares of 16 people around 13 smaller copper fire pits designed according to geometry prescribed in the Atharva Veda, worshippers praised the Goddess’s various qualities. Despite severe thunderstorms and flash floods, volunteers laid tarp and made emergency provisions so devotees could sit comfortably through the three-hour ceremony and meditate on the 700 verses of the Devi Mahatmyam, one of the most treasured scriptures in praise of the Goddess.
The final Sunday puja celebrated the union of Shiva and Shakti, individual soul and universal consciousness. The original intent of the Maharudra Yajna is to transform the worshipper, to help him or her transcend all limitations.
MC co-chairs Dr. Vijaya Sarma and Gopalakrishnan Kari, with the support of core committee members Subramanian Sundaram, Ananth Subramanian, Sriram Sankaran, Vishi Viswanath, Sridevi Kurella, Gurudutt Ramamurthy, Abhishek Gawasane, Sivaraman Sivasubramanian led dozens of volunteers to ensure such fidelity to tradition.
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