By Bhakta Sandeep
Hare Krsna Dear Devotees
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It was the glorious celebration of one of the most auspicious of the days when Lord Ramachandra appeared to free the inhabitants of this universe from the tyrannies of the evil demon Ravana. In Singapore, the devotees celebrated the advent of the Lord at the Centre on Sunday 1st April 2012.
The stage was set with devotees gloriously decorating the Centre to welcome the Lord into their hearts on the fortunate occasion of Ram Navami. The discourse on Lord Rama, by an exalted and senior devotee, took the 700 plus devotees gathered on an enthralling ride through the life and times of Lord Rama. Starting with the details of the life of Dasharatha, the crowd heard in absorption Dasaratha’s performance of the Ashvamedha yagna, followed by the putrakamesthi yagna on advice of saints, as a result of which his three queens gave birth to 4 brilliantly effulgent sons – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.
In spite of the hall being filled to its maximum capacity and rather overflowing (always a happy problem), there was hardly any sound as devotees, thoroughly immersed in Rama katha, drank the nectarean drops of Ram’s childhood pastimes as Vishwamitra Muni took Rama and Lakshmana along with him to begin the process of demon demolition starting with demoness Tarakaa, which was the beginning of the end of the race of Ravana the demon King who tormented the earth with his exploits.
So absorbed were the devotees in hearing that even when time had exceeded, they requested for more katha and seemed relentless in absorbing the nectar!
The programme culminated in the sweet kirtan “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Pati tapavan Sita Ram “. The glorious Sunday program ended with a sumptous and delicious feast prepared by the devotees and darshan of Their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev and Subadra.
If this festival was anything to go by, the Singapore yatra definitely needs a bigger temple!
Bhakta Sandeep