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Guru Purnima

Dhuni after the offering

25 July 2010

The previous day preparations have been feverish and many people have been working till late in the night to make everything ready and decorated for the event.

Kala Baba gives vibhuti out

Even if weather forecast was bad the sky was not so cloudy and conditions seemed to be favourable.

Baba Surya Dev Ramji uncoils mala in Ganga Puja

Anil Baba, Gurubaba, Maurizio, Happy (Anand Bhairav) and Bablu (Trishul Tufan) performed the offering to the fire in Shri Aghoreshwar’s honour with an oblation to Mahakala, and then they did Dighbandan (protection of the directions) and offered flowers and fruits to Ganga Mother (Ganga Puja). To perform this Puja we rented a motor barge we used to cross the river till Adi Keshava, the most ancient ghat of Varanasi on the opposite bank. On the way Anil Baba uncoiled a long mala prepared for this occasion while Gurubaba was offering flowers and fruits to the river. On the boat with us there were many friends and kids, who didn’t want to miss the rite and who accompanied it with chants and exclamations of joy.

Anil Baba, Maurizio and Gurubaba on the boat

When we got back we started to receive the many people who had come and gave to them a halva (sweet semolina of wheat) and chana (chickpeas) breakfast. Our cooks, an experienced group who comes on every feast, installed a field kitchen the previous day and early in the morning they were already overloaded with the preparation of the daily menu which included, in addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner for an amount of more than three thousand places all day. Our oldest boys, ashram residents and school teachers have served everybody untiringly.

Prashad distribution: first women …

Rain didn’t spoil the day that have been going on giving Prashad (consecrated food) out to the guests. In the afternoon we gathered in the schoolyard where a covered stage, provided with audio and light system, was prepared for shows and where we sat down to welcome the guests and start off the evening. This year the programme has been enriched with the presence of a company of young actors from Varanasi who staged no less than ten episodes taken from the Hindu mythology.

…and kids

After our girls gave the welcome to everybody singing some classical airs accompanied by the music teachers and their students, the associates and the doctors spoke to the people present for a short introduction of the association. In the end Gurubaba and Anil Baba closed it giving their words for Guru Purnima occasion.

The stage in the open

Then our school kids launched into dances and funny sketches alternating with the theatre company, enchanting and absorbing the audience in a long artistic marathon till almost midnight. Many people wanted to stay not to lose even one of the shows and so about five hundred people remained to sleep at the ashram.