"We arrived in Bangalore on October 1st. At the Ashram, the celebrations of Navarathri, one of the most significant Indian festivals lasting 10 days, were culminating. During this ten-day period, a different aspect of the Mother Goddess is daily worshiped.
During this time, the Festival's events were on pause, as the days were filled with the functions of the traditional celebrations. From dawn until early afternoon, the Athi Rudra Maha Yagna and the Durga Puja took place; ancient rituals, with their origins to be covered by the mist of Time and with the former one being a Vedic ceremony of great scale, splendour and significance."
The results of performing all these worship rituals, in order to express their gratitude to Gods, to appease them and reconcile with them, are many and various gifts from the heavens, often quite strange; for instance, while the Ashram is located in an extremely arid region, for the last 15 years that these services have been performed without fail, the rains have been unprecedentedly many, so much so that in Sathya Sai Grama they need to construct more and more tanks for storing the rainwater."
On October 2nd, the celebrations culminated in Dushera, the victory of the good and righteous over the malicious and corrupt. On the same day, the inauguration of the Uma Maheswara Temple took place, a small but most sacred and beautiful, jewel-like temple, within Sai Grama.
The following day, the 100-day World Cultural Festival was set to restart.
A Festival for the anniversary of Swami's 100th Birthday. One hundred countries participated in these celebrations, each presenting its culture, music, theatre, cuisine, humanitarian work, and its people, as well as the challenges it faces and the ways it struggles against them.
The magnitude of the event is inconceivable, concerning the speed, the huge number of artists who participated, with many of these countries finding it difficult to even secure visas to travel to India and for their delegations to attend, mainly due to difficult political situations. Not a single event was postponed or cancelled.
Notably, all of this was run by a small team of people.
As for how all these individuals were hosted, as well as others, ordinary people who found themselves there because of their love for Swami, for all that long period of time—something I have personal experience with—I don't think I will easily find the words to describe it. It is the kind of hospitality that comes from people with true passion and style!
From the provided accommodation to the food and the transportation with vehicles that were available to people for free all day, sometimes until late at night.
The Festival as an event was exactly as they jokingly described it, "Like organizing a huge wedding every day!"
For the team working day and night, the coordination teams, the media teams, the organizing committee and others, it was exactly as an Australian cameraman described it, "It's like running a marathon, but at a 100-meter race pace."
.., To be continued
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Baba’s blessings! 😊