The Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation of Virginia (KKSF) will host a grand 3-day long Maharudram event, a rare and unique Hindu Vedic ritual being organized at the national level, for the welfare of all devotees, their families and friends, all humanity and for global peace & prosperity, from Friday, 21st September, 2007 through Sunday, 23rd September 2007, right in your vicinity at the Swaminarayan Mandir ISSO at Lowell, MA. Complete details at http://www.maharudram.org)

Presentation

This event holds an extra special significance as it is being organized with the Blessings of the Kanchi Acharyas Their Holiness Shri Jayendra Saraswati and Shri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswati, to mark the completion of the centenary year of Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati's ascension as the 68th Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in 1907.

"The Maharudram is a unique form of worship of Lord Shiva performed to establish an environment supremely conducive for spiritual growth and for the atonement of one's sins. This holy ritual is also a prayer for world peace and the prosperity of mankind (Loka Kshemam and Loka Kalyanam), while being a great vehicle to satisfy material desires to be further utilized towards the attainment of spiritual awakening", said Mr. Venkat Gopalan, President of the Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation (KKSF) of Virginia, who's lending the Boston based team his expertise from a previous similar highly successful Maharudram event he helped organize in Virginia last year.

A 25 member strong committee comprising of volunteers from all over the USA is working tirelessly to make this program a grand success.

The Vedic hymn Sri Rudram is the oldest listing of various names of Lord Shiva.  Through the chanting of Sri Rudram, Lord Shiva's various attributes and aspects are invoked and worshipped.  Chanting the Rudram and listening to the chanting are considered to be of great benefit to devotees.  When the chanting is accompanied with the Vedic fire ritual, it is called Rudra Homam or the Rudra Yegnam.  Eleven recitations of the Sri Rudram followed by one recitation of the chamakam is called Ekadasa Rudram.  This also constitutes one unit of the Rudra Homam.  Eleven Ekadasa Rudram recitations make one Laghu Rudram.  Eleven Laghu Rudram recitations make a Maharudram.

"Having created men along with yagya, the Lord of Creation (Prajapati) said: 'By yagya you will prosper and its performance will bring forth the fulfillment of your desires. Through yagya you nourish and sustain the gods and those gods will, in turn, sustain you. By sustaining one another, you will attain the highest good. Nourished by the sacrifice, the gods will bestow on you the enjoyments you desire.", declares Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

"We are expecting a record participation from about 5000 devotees. The program also includes a public chanting of the Lalitha Sahasranamam on Friday evening at the Swaminarayan Mandir, where ladies who are interested can participate in reciting the sacred hymn in a collective setting. We are also planning meticulously for the Anna Danam (a free public lunch/dinner involving great tasting sattvic traditional Indian food) over the course of the three days," said Vishwanathan Krishnamoorthy (Vishwam), a volunteer leading the event coordination efforts in the Greater Boston area.

R. Ananth Krishnan, the chief Rithvik co-ordinator in Boston adds that the event will start with the Ganapathy Homam on Friday (09/21) morning, followed by a collective Lalitha Sahasranama Parayanam in the evening. The program on Saturday starts Mahanyasam and Ekadasa Rudram starting at 7AM until 2 PM and will continue with Rudra Krama Parayanam from 6PM. A Dasamsa Rudra Homam will be performed starting at 7AM on Sunday (09/23) and the ritual concludes with Vasordhara and a grand finale of Purnahuti at 12 noon on 09/23. The rituals will be interspersed with educational and entertaining discourses by learned Pundits from all over the USA.

People interested in volunteering for this godly cause requiring a huge amount of logistics planning can please contact Arun Rajhesh - arun_rajhesh@yahoo.com (425-301-7010) or Rajesh Kaul - kaulrajesh@gmail.com (617-413-9825). For Rithwik opportunities please contact R. Ananth Krishnan (508-801-8792)

Personal and Corporate Tax-Deductible sponsorship opportunities to sponsor the Homam or place an ad in the event brochure Souvenir are available. Interested parties can please contact Balaji Rajamani over email at balajiraj@hotmail.com or over phone at (617) 791-9768. More details about the event program and the various tax-deductible sponsorship levels are also available at http://www.maharudram.org

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