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The 157th Birth Anniversary of Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi was celebrated with great solemnity and spiritual fervor on 8th December 2009 from 5.30am to 8.15pm. About 3500 devotees participated in the day-long celebrations.
The day began with meditation, mangalarati, suprabhatam and bhajans at 5.30am. At 6.30am a chariot with floral decorations carrying the Mother's picture was taken in a pradakshina around the temple; devotees danced and sang with great zeal while going around the temple with the chariot. The melody purified the early morning atmosphere and everyone felt the Mother's divine presence in their hearts and around them.
The special worship of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother began in the main temple at 7.15am and homa was performed here at 10.30am. A close-circuit TV helped devotees to see the puja and homa even if they could not find place to sit in the main temple.
At 11.00am Revered Jnanadanandaji, president of the Hyderabad Ramakrishna Math spoke about The Life and Message of the Holy Mother in English. He highlighted that Mother is the center of all of our endeavors. This was followed by a talk in Telugu by Swami Shitikantanandaji.
The morning puja concluded at 12noon with arati being offered to Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi. Prasad lunch was distributed at 12.30pm.
The programme was resumed at 4.30pm with melodious devotional music by Smt. Marty Vasantha Subbalakshmi. This was followed by the prize distribution of Interschool Competitions where Revered Jnanadananadaji gave away 122 prizes. The competitions (Elocution, Bhajan, Quiz, Painting and Skit) were organized by Sri Ramakrishna Sarada Satsang Samiti on the Life and Message of Sri Sarada Devi on 5th December in which about 600 students participated.
At 6.45pm the special evening arati was performed in the main temple and then there was a moving programme of special bhajans which took place in the Pooja Mandapam. The entire day was a sacred feast and everyone who participated went home with a heart filled with peace and joy
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