Sita Rama Kalyanamahotsavam held at Chinmaya Mission Chicago – Yamunotri

Chicago IL: Sita Rama Kalyanamahotsavam was held at Chinmaya Mission Chicago, Yamunotri Center on Saturday April 7, 2012 located at 30877, N. Fairfield Rd., Grayslake, IL. The event was presided by Swami Sharadananda (resident Acharya) and Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony was performed by priest Srihari Samudrala and supported by local devotees. Bala Vihar children performed a beautiful Dance/Drama “Sampoorna Ramayana”. Over 400 people attended this event.

The program started on time at 8-30 am with Shree Sita Rama Kalyanamahotsava Puja- Celestial Wedding Ceremony of Lord Rama and Sita Devi. Thereafter procession of Sita Rama was taken out in grand manner. Resident Acharya Swami Sharadananda delivered a short yet meaningful sermon. Cultural Program by the Balvihar Children depicting important episodes from Ramayana was beautifully presented. The program ended with sumptuous yet simple Lunch.

Significance of Sita Rama Kalyanam
In the Hindu religion, Lord Rama and Mother Sita are known to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi. The divine couple were born on Earth to expunge frightful enemies that cannot otherwise be overcome. The Kalyanamahotsavam of Lord Sri Rama with his consort Mother Sita is celebrated on the holy occasion of Sriramnavami which falls on ‘Chaitra Shuddha Navami ‘ the auspicious ‘Punarvasu’ -‘Janma Nakshatra’ (birth star), of Lord Sri Rama. This divine festival is celebrated in a resplendent manner amid chanting of vedic hyms by priests.

Lord Rama is the embodiment and personification of all the great sixteen virtues and a role model as a son, brother, husband, ruler etc. The companionship of Rama and Sita depicts how to lead an ideal wedded life. They stayed together in the adversity and happiness alike and lived inseparable like the word from its meaning and the water from wave. The style of their marriage (or “kalyanam”) as described in ancient Hindu writings is used as the baseline for Hindu marriages today.

Sita Rama Kalyanam is performed every year to sustain the life on the earth with the belief that Lord Rama brings spring rains and the mother Sita who is born to mother earth gives us the fertile land to cultivate for the best crops to feed the world. It is widely believed that the offering of clothes to the divine couple during the wedding ceremony represents surrendering our mortal bodies (the clothes) to the lord seeking the Moksha or the release from the cycle of life and death. Lord’s Kalyanam is performed to bring the happiness and peace around the world.

In his message, Pujya Swami Sharanananda emphasized that the Kalyanam ceremony (divine union) represents union of Mother Sita (individual jiva) and Lord Rama (Supreme Self) though devotion. Jiva can only be united with Self through devotion or unbroken love for Lord. To rediscover our Oneness is the source of all happiness and fulfillment and purpose of our human birth.

Every human being is constantly seeking a share of peace and happiness, and since one does not know the real source of these, one seeks them in the midst of sense objects. But when, in devotion, one comes to turn one’s entire attention towards the higher and the nobler, one experiences the Immortal, the Infinite—as intimately as one experienced the world and its changes before.

Swami Sharanananda: Swami Sharanananda hails from Puri in Orissa. Being inspired by Pujya Gurudev H.H. Swami Chinmayanandji, he joined the two year brahmachari training course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, in the year 1986. He was trained by H.H. Swami Tejomayanandaji. He was given Brahmachari Diksha in 1988 and became Br. Sharana Chaitanya. He has served Chinmaya Mission centers in Anugul, Rourkela and Calcutta. He has been the resident Acharya at Chinmaya Mission Chicago since March 1993. On July 9, 1995 he was initiated into Sannyasa Diksha by H.H. Swami Tejomayanandaji and became Swami Sharanananda.He conducts yogasana and other scriptural classes during Chinmaya Mission family camps in America and Canada. Swamiji likes to be with children. He places great importance on value based living. Because of Swamiji’s dedication to Pujya Gurudev and his selfless service to Chinmaya Mission Chicago, the center has not only thrived, but has expanded to serve the spiritual needs of many neighboring communities. Yamunotri in Graylake, IL and NW Indiana center in Munster, IN are prime examples of the growth that CMC has experienced within the past several years. Swamiji periodically travels to the neighboring states of Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to conduct camps for children and discourses for adults. Swamiji’s loving and humble personality is a great source of inspiration to all that come in contact with him. His joyful exuberance and enthusiasm is contagious and uplifting to all that come in contact with him.

Chinmaya Yamunotri Balavihar children presented “Sampoorna Ramayana” depicting important episodes from the Ramayana in a musical dance drama form. Children from Shree Rama (Grades 5-6), Nachiketa (Grade 1) and Hindi language classes participated in this presentation.

The Ramayana is a treasure house of values and enshrined in every incident in the Ramayana is a rich message and a deep significance. The presentation was an attempt to highlight important characters from the Ramayana, each one of them endowed with beautiful qualities and virtues. But, Lord Rama stands out as the infinite ocean of righteousness and goodness, ever prepared with His Kodanda-the divine bow, in defense of honor, truth, justice and peace.

The presentation brought out the deeper significance and symbolism behind these commonly known stories from the Ramayana. Sage Vishwamitra’s visit to the court of Ayodhya, Sita Swayamvara, Manthara’s evil Counsel, Bharata’s Resolution, Golden Deer and Sita Haran, Good Counsel of Vibheeshana and Vibheeshana Sharanagati and Ravana Vadha were few important episodes presented, amongst others.
The children also sung the “Nama Ramayana Shloka” which eulogizes the glory of Lord Rama by narrating the Sampoorna Ramayana in a nutshell.

The greatest boon given by Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda to the younger generation is Bala Vihar. Bala Vihar provides a spiritual and cultural orientation to the children of the modern age. The rationale of the Balavihars as elucidated by Pujya Gurudev in the “March of the future” talk is summarized below:

• To train the children and inculcate in them the reverence for our ancient culture, and inspire them to live up to it with correct understanding. To create self-confidence to serve and act cheerfully.
• To generate a true affection in all contacts, inculcate personal discipline and a true spirit of leadership.
• To mould their capacity to express and assert their individuality.
• To bring out their dormant faculties and detect defects; cultivate and improve their creative abilities.
• To help children to develop a healthy resistance against temptations in the atmosphere in which they grow.
• To provide an atmosphere to grow with noble ideals, healthy emotions and physical discipline.

About Chinmaya Mission
Chinmaya Mission is dedicated to educating our children, adults and families as a whole, fostering self-development through right understanding of our religious principles and practice of value-based living. Mission continues to offer weekly classes, lectures and discourses, including periodic camps and retreats to support and strengthen our families. Mission also conducts routinely blood drive, food drive, health awareness seminars, inter-faith meetings, fund raising for rural projects in India (to support CORD – Chinmaya Organization of Rural Development, India), etc. With 2 vibrant centers, Badri (in Willowbrook, IL) and Yamunotri (in Grayslake, IL) over a1000 children and hundreds of families are involved in the Mission classes held each week on Saturday and Sunday respectively. You can get details about all the Mission activities by visiting www.chinmaya-chicago.org, contacting Mrs. Rajul Bhalala at 847-302-2383 (or) Acharya. Shanker Pillai at 630-886-6442.

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