Arya Samaj of Greater Houston Celebrates its 18th Sthapana Divas

DAV Montessori & Sanskirti School Cultural Song Performance on April 7.

BY MAHI TOMAR

HOUSTON: Over the weekend of April 6-7, Arya Samaj of Greater Houston celebrated its 28th Sthapana Divas. Arya Samaj was found by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati on April 10, 1875, in Mumbai. Arya Samaj Greater Houston was founded in by Shri Ram Chand Mahajan to establish a center where families could meet to perform Yajna and pass on their beliefs and practices to their American-born children.

Along with celebrating Sthapana Divas, the 3rd annual community-wide Public Health Fair was held on Saturday. The fair began early in the morning, with a choice between a 3K and a 5K walk. Then, there was a yoga class to teach attendees how yoga can help their health and strength.

April 6th, 7 AM Peace Walk & Health fair kickoff from ASGH DAV campus.

At the same time, various tests were being conducted on those that signed up to assess their overall health and well-being. This was done through blood-testing and an electrocardiogram (EKG).
The blood test assessed the person’s complete blood count (CBC), comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), lipid panel, and the hemoglobin A1C. The EKG came with a cardiologist consultation to look over the patient’s results. People could also register as a bone marrow donor or an organ donor. There were also public health awareness lectures from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. Dr. Randeep

Suneja discussed the Science of Meditation, Dr. Ramesh Patel spoke about Diabetes and Nutrition, and Dr. Manish Wani gave a lecture on Allergy and Sleep Apnea.
On Sunday, Arya Samaj celebrated its Sthapana Divas. At 9:45 AM, there was the OM flag hoisting to begin the day’s celebrations. The children of DAVM and DAVSS presented cultural performances to celebrate Arya Samaj and Swami Dayanand.

The children of DAVM, who were in preschool, performed a few Hindi poems led by their Hindi teacher. A child speaker gave a speech on the history and beliefs of Arya Samaj, as well as his positive experience there. The music teacher, Smriti Srivastava, prepared several pieces with both the DAVM students and the DAVSS students with students of all ages, from children to adults. The DAVSS students in kindergarten sang “Dadi Amma” as part of their performance, while the 5th grade students sang “Rang de Basanti”.

Health fair lectures on Science of Mediation, Nutrition & Diabetes, April 6.

The children in 7th and 8th grade performed a humorous skit about Good and Bad Karma, how it works, and what impact it has on our everyday lives, while the 1st grade children performed a speech and song about the founder of Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand. However, none of this would have been possible without adult volunteers and AYM volunteers, who worked in the weeks leading up to and during Sthapana Divas and the Public Health Fair to ensure everything ran smoothly.

Arya Samaj of Greater Houston would like to thank all of the teachers, parents, students, and other volunteers for organizing and attending this celebration of a 28-year journey to follow the principles of Arya Samaj found Maharishi Dayanand and “Make the Whole Universe Noble”.