Akhand Ramayan Pat, a mammoth effort to read the entire Ramcharitra Manas in 24 hours was held at the Chinmaya Maruti in Andover, MA on May 3 and 4, 2012.  The event, organized by the group that does the monthly Sunderkhand Pat, was spiritual in content and magnificent in execution.

The event opened with an Aarti by Sangeeta Saxena, Mallika Narayan and Kumkum Dilwali.  That set the tone for the twenty-four hour non stop reading of the Tulasi Ramayan.  This is a tradition that has been continued for centuries from the world over. Lord Rama, who is the incarnation of Vishnu took a human form to teach mortals the ways of Dharma and exemplified the adherence to Dharma even under very difficult circumstances.

The original Ramayana, (travels of Rama) was written in Sanskrit by Adi Kavi Valmiki.  Mahakavi Kamban rewrote the Ramayana in Tamil as Ramavataram  (Rama Incarnation).  Later Sant Tulasidas wrote the Ramcharitramanas in Avadhi.

The beauty of the Ramayana is attributable not such to the tale and the deep spirituality embedded in the content but also to the high literary value and poetic brilliance of each creation.

The constant reading of the Ramayana each month has inspired so many people not that familiar with Hindi to learn and read the Ramayana.  For the Akhand pat, the altar of Ramchandra Murthy was magnificently decorated with items donated by Shobha Shastry of Alankar decors.  Volunteers brought huge amounts of food that was used for Prasad.   Sai Mandali,  a group devoted to the reading of Ramayana  read the last section in a grand musical fashion and brought the event to a conclusion.  

With such prayers to Lord Rama, Lord Hanuman must surely have been pleased.

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