The Shivalaya Temple of Greater Boston, hosted Maha Shivratri, one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals which was celebrated in reverence of Lord Shiva on 04 Mar 2019. Temple remained open from 6:00am to 11:00pm for devotees’ visit and special Lord Shiva Abhishekams. The main Shivaratri program stated in the evening from 7:00pm to 10:30pm with hundreds of devotees with utmost enthusiasm and religious fervor.

The Shivalaya temple committee organized a week-long (Feb 26 to Mar04) Pravachan (religious discourse) by Swami Nalinanand Giri ji on Shri Mahamrityunjaya from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. On 04 March, for visiting devotees, the temple arranged every hour Shiv Abhishekam sessions from 6:00AM to 6:00PM. In the evening, Maha Rudra Abhishekam of Lord Shiva Lingam was performed by Pt. Govind ji and Swami Nalinanand Giri ji with all the Vedic rituals and mantras and Swami ji presented the magnificent appearance of beautifully decorated Shiva Lingam with flowers, and several Deeyas to the devotees from 7:00PM to 8:30PM. Temple provided LED tea lights to all the devotees to perform Shiva Arati. All the devotees, chanted Lord Shiva hymns, Ashtottara Shatanamavali of Lord Shiva, and ‘Om Namah Shivay’ with Swami ji to seek the Lord Shiva’s blessings. Har Har Mahadev chanting created a positive devotional atmosphere in the temple.

Beautiful Bhajans were sung in the by many devotees throughout the evening celebrations. Before Lord Shiva’s Arati, young adults and children together presented a grand Bhole ki baraat or Shiva’s baraat procession and the performance of the wedding anniversary of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati in front of the audiences.

Nirvana the Taste of India’ restaurant served very delicious Maha Prasadam to all the devotees. Shri Sudarshan Ji and Shri. Vijay Kumar Selhi Ji, along with other team members controlled the evening huge crowd very amicably. Temple President, Shri. Vijay Kumar Selhi Ji and Shri Chirag Selhi thanked generously all the devotees and children for making this event a grand success. They also thanked all the volunteers for their dedication and services to the temple.

One of the devotees said to the reporter, “I experience a great blessing for being able to come to Shivalaya Temple every year. I am really privileged to participate in the program.”

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