The annual Palkhi festival organized by the New England Shirdi Sai Parivaar occurs every summer. It is an opportunity for devotees to welcome their beloved Shirdi Sai Baba home. This year's Palkhi Utsav (festival) starts on Saturday, May 13^th, 2017 Sri Sainath Maharaj arrives at each home to bless it and the host family among music and celebrations. Each family prepares to welcome Him with devotion, by preparing for the worship (Puja), food offering (Naivedyam), and Prasad to serve the devotees. Some families choose to devoutedly host lavish breakfast, lunch or dinner Prasad to the devotees. The volunteers meanwhile perform devotional music (Bhajans) accompanied by musical instruments.  Some of the knowledgeable volunteers are assigned to function as priests to perform rituals during the home worships. 

The Palkhi festival cannot succeed without the dedicated service of the temple volunteers. This year about 150 families have registered to welcome Sai Baba's Palkhi to their homes. On average, volunteers cover 10-15 homes per weekend day. Over the past several years, the Palkhi procession has been across several New England states as far as New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island, in addition of course to Massachusetts. The temple has evolved clear and systematic procedures to make the festival smooth and efficient. Detailed plans are developed well in advance in coordination with each of the host families' requirements. Other logistics such as optimization of travel routes, host family convenience, and volunteer assignments/slots are used to draw up detailed schedules.  The goal is to  maintain minimization of delays between home visits. NESSP does not charge any fee for these Palkhi visits from  participating families. All donations are voluntary.

The Palkhi festival this year continues all through June, drawing to a conclusion on Saturday, July 8^th, 2017, fittingly ending with a grand Palkhi concluding ceremony in the temple. The earlier than usual date was selected in order to allow time for volunteers to prepare for the inauguration ceremony of the upcoming Shirdi Sai Temple in Groton, MA.

NESSP 12^th Annual SAI Palkhi event : Palkhi initiation Day May 13^th 10 AM followed by Palkhi procession to homes.

Update on  Largest Sai Temple construction project :   

As updated in the past, temple construction made phenomenal progress and reached near completion and plans for a grand inauguration during summer of this year 2017.  The major work pending is Shikhar (Gopuram).  We seek the help of our all Sai Devotees and the community to donate generously to help us build the Shikhar (Gopuram) of the new temple which will be a replica of the Shirdi temple's Shikhar.  

NESSP would like to have every ones contribution and blessings for the temple Shikhar (Gopuram).  Any amount big or small .. use the following donation link

http://nessp.org/donate#!/Shikhar-Gopuram/p/81116318/category=20174143

11 years dream, Hundreds of volunteers, Many more hundreds of helping hands, thousands of hours dedication and Infinite blessings of Shri Sai Baba. We want you to be part of this history in making...  A unique temple in north America where

NO fee or charge for any pooja services in our temple….ever !

NO payment for any Prasadam or Bhandara….ever !

All Aartis performed, all festivals celebrated, numerous community services. Come, join our Parivaar….A home for Shirdi Sai in North America. New England Shirdi Sai Temple (www.nessp.org)  was formed by devotees who share their love for Shri Shirdi Sai Baba and are inspired by his teachings.

NESSP is an independent local organization that has been serving the devotee needs for last ten years. In addition to temple related activities, NESSP also believes in helping the community that its part of. The organization has an active Charitable and Philanthropy charter. The different charitable activities NESSP has undertaken in the past are: Disaster Relief, Annadaan (food donation) to the homeless, Winter Clothes drive – Collection and distribution of warm winter clothes to the needy. Red Cross Blood donation drives, Lowell General hospital cancer center walks. NESSP Conducts Free health camp and Dental camps, Meditation and Yoga sessions. For kids, NESSP Conducts chess classes, Annual Academic competitions. NESSP is run by a dedicated team of volunteers.

NESSP is building a SAI temple at Groton-MA on the principles of Faith and Patience. With SAI blessings it happens to be the largest Sai temple of North America with the abode of Hindu Deities.

Please follow the below link for temple project updates.

http://nessp.org/page/menu_5/19090.html

To contribute towards the temple project, please click on below link: http://nessp.org/donate#!/TempleConstructionFund/c/20174143/offset=0&sort=normal

Sri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

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