Festival Season Starts at Sri Meenakshi Temple
PEARLAND: As the summer ends and the fall season begins in September the season of Hindu festivals commences each year in full swing. Ganesh Chathurthi traditionally marks as one of the events that heralds the very early start of the thanksgiving in the year for the Indian community here in the United States, as early as August sometimes; and the focus is giving thanks to the gods, starting with Lord Ganesha followed by Navarathri, Deepavali through to Sankaranthi.
Sri Meenakshi Temple celebrated Lord Ganesha’s birthday on September 17t with a grand Ganesh Chathurthi. Lord Ganesha is celebrated with great devotion for the blessings He unconditionally bestows us. Homam and Kalasa Puja invoking the Lord Ganesha were conducted in the magnificent Ganesh temple where hundreds of devotees had gathered to witness the offering and to have a glimpse of the remover of obstacles, Sri Ganesha’s blessings. Following the Puja, the deity was taken in a procession around the Temple followed by Prasadam. A popular fixture in the Ganesh Chathurthi is the 2nd day of celebration conducted on September 20 that involved in addition to the Pujas, Rathotsavam and Visarjan (immersion of the clay Ganesha by devotees in the lake). As hundreds of devotees gathered to witness this popular day MTS was transported to Western and South India.
The auspicious month of Purattasi (6th month in Tamil calendar) is considered very important for Lord Venkateswara. On September 26 Sri Meenakshi temple celebrated the Maha Kalyanam (celestial wedding) of Sri Venkateswara in the main temple. As the lord of the seven hills was awaken with the chanting of the Suprabhadam on this Holy Saturday, the seervarisai and the Vishvakshena Puja (for Lord Ganesha) heralded the auspicious start of the ceremony. Despite the peak activities in the MTS construction the Temple Priests and staff had worked hard to prepare the precincts for this day and the hunders of gathered devotees were to witness the celestial wedding in combination with the special Purattasi Saturday Abhishekam simultaneously performed for the Moolavar and Utsavar. Devotees were enthralled with the blessings received in witnessing the holy ceremony with the Navakalasa abhishekam, alankaram, followed by Maha Kalyanam with the Homam. Rathotsavam followed by Keertanam (songs in praise of the Lord) reverberated through the afternoon followed by Prasadam. The day turned out to be fulfilling for the Spirit and mind. We thank all the Priests, staff and volunteers of Sri Meenakshi temple for the start of the fall season’s twin festivals.