His Holiness the 1008 Acharya Shri Koshalendraprasadji Maharaj blessed and performed the ceremonies at the Murthi Prathishta Utsav held at the new 35,000 square foot Shree Swaminarayan (ISSO) temple in Lowell, MA.Aug 13 - Aug 24 many uniques ceremonies were performed at the temple.

The central deity Shre Rang Mahal Ghanshyam Maharaj  was established in the main temple. The temple has a galaxy of other deities including Balaji, Durga , Ganesha and others. The entire temple is based on a traditional design featuring marble flooring, five Gumbats and gold covered altars.

“To have such a temple is a dream come true” said the organizers.”This has happened due to the efforts all our volunteers. The gold in the altar has been collected exclusively from the donation of personal gold jewelry by our women devotees” said the organizers. The temple is situated on the banks of the Merrimack River and features a 600 seating banquet hall. There is a children’s playground nearby.

The event which lasted for nearly ten days was a grand celebration that attracted many  from all over New England..  Through the week Cultural Programs, Bhagwat Katha, processions and other events for devotees were held. Tents were set up outside for Havan, which was performed by 10 priests. The grand finale was the Shobha Yatra, where the deities were taken in a procession through the streets of Lowell. The Mahaabhishek was the culmination of the event where the Acharya bathed the deities  holy water and formally installed the Diety in the temple.
 
Every day Mahaprasad was distributed to the attendees. Volunteers succeeded in providing free food to the thousands who gathered to witness the grand event. The distribution of the  Mahaprasad was a treat to watch as volunteers served an entire elaborate meal in less than an hour to at least a 1000 devotees.

The devotees are the followers of Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan who was born in the Koshal region of India, in a village called Chhapaiya (near Ayodhya, UP). Having served His parents until their demise, the Almighty took to a pilgrimage of India, adopting the life of a nomadic hermit.

On completion of the 7 years’ sojourn of India, the Lord met up with Ramanand Swami, and established the purest and unadulterated form of religion, based on ultimate devotion to God only, with total observance of non-violent dharma. Shreeji Maharaj re-introduced the non-violent yagnas, on a grand scale. He instructed numerous acts of social welfare; alms-houses, digging of village wells / lakes, explained in detail why it is important to worship Satvic deities. Shreeji Maharaj discredited the act of enforced Sati & female infanticide. He established centers in Vadtal and Ahemedabad

His Holiness Shree Koshalendraprasadji Maharaj has worked hard to bring the message of Swami Narayan to the youth in the UK and USA by translating many of the writings into English and creating a variety of activities


“We are honoured that we could be part of this grand event. We consider it an auspicious beginning for things to come”  was the general opinion of the organizers.

To learn more about the temple please visit their website at http://www.swaminarayan.info/
 

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