Arya Samaj Houston Honored As Model Arya Samaj of the World

Arya Samaj Houston honored as Model Arya Samaj of the World

HOUSTON: Arya Samaj Houston is in jubilation mood, having won another feather in its cap. The worldwide movement of Arya Samaj founded by Maharshi Dayanand, to raise intellectual, moral and spiritual stature of humankind is well coordinated by its apex body in Delhi, called Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha. The apex leadership began to organize a large-scale annual gathering from the year 2006 in Delhi, shifting to a different country every year but returning to Delhi every 6 years in the age-old tradition of Kumbh Mela (Fair). So, 2012 also saw a huge gathering in Delhi, followed by the recent one during October 25 to 28, 2018.

Indian President Kovind inaugurates International Arya Mahasammelan-2018 at New Delhi

Arya Samaj Houston was recognized as the Model Arya Samaj among thousands of units worldwide for immaculate functioning and wide-ranging contribution, principally through:

·  Vedic education via Sunday morning assemblies

·  DAV Montessori School, a regular elementary school

·  DAV Sanskriti School, the Sunday school

Mass Havan by 10,000 People

The contingent from Arya Samaj Houston attended the Delhi gathering with great enthusiasm led by Dev & Sushma Mahajan who pioneered its continuous rise since inception. One afternoon session in the main hall began with the handover of an illuminating shield to Dev Mahajan witnessed by the cheering crowd of about 100,000. Yes, you read it right – the figure is one hundred thousand from all over the globe. The statistics of the gathering are mind blowing:

·  Two hundred thousand people attended the 4-day event, ferried from airports and train stations at no cost, provided room and food at no cost

· 3.3 million square foot of covered area in the main hall and other 19 halls holding parallel events to every taste

· 35,000 people stayed in the makeshift tents in the public ground with individual beds

· About 2000 people from 32 countries were accommodated in star hotels for free

· 10,000 individuals performed Havan in unison, a spectacular site at dusk, a new world record, witnessed by the Guinness Book team

· A large-scale event without a single untoward incident

Arya Samaj Houston made its presence felt in more ways than the above recognition. The event was inaugurated by the president of India and we were told that the president attended for the first time an event in the public ground; what an exception he made to Arya Samaj to express his gratitude that it was Arya Samaj and its premier educational institute in Kanpur (DAV College) that provided his education when he hailed from a family with meager means. And, the icing on the cake was the only song that was presented in presence of the president; its lyrics by our own, director of the Sanskriti School, Acharya Kavitaji, dedicated to Rishi Dayanand. Another noteworthy event was a specialist 4-day workshop on Vedic Unified Theory of Matter & Consciousness for the foreign delegates, conceived and designed by our own Acharya Harish-Chandraji that ran parallel, in a separate nearby venue.

ASGH can be reached at http://aryasamajhouston.org or https://davss.aryasamajhouston.org/ or director.davss@aryasamaj.org

– Acharya Dr. Harish Chandra Ved-Ratna