Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: Pramukh Swami Nagar has been abuzz with activities for a fortnight, as lakhs of people from across the world are visiting the venue to participate in the ongoing centenary celebrations of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Over 10 lakh visitors have made a stop in the town in the last 10 days.
Among the visitors have been Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, HDFC Bank chairman Deepak Parekh, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. About 80,000 volunteers, comprising businessmen, homemakers and medical, IT and teaching professionals, have been the backbone of the event, ensuring smooth operations.
Raju Patel, who runs a motel business in the United States, took a break for three months to volunteer at the event as a liaison officer. “I have been running a motel business in America for 22 years, and also built a temple there in 1998. I came here two months before the festival started,” Patel said.
“I shall return after it gets over. This is my religious service to my sect.” Pramukh Swami Maharaj, spiritual guru and head of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) of Swaminarayan sect, passed away at Sarangpur in Botad district of Gujarat on August 13, 2016 at an age of 95 years. Talking about his association with BAPS, Adani said, “When I see what BAPS has created, I am astounded.
As many of you know the Adani Group has built some of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation, yet it is humbling for me to see the power of volunteerism here spread over 600 acres of festival grounds of breath-taking colour and beauty, acres and acres of glowing gardens, the towering statue of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, all built by 80,000 volunteers, completed in less than six months.
This is unmatchable and there is so much here for even the best global corporations to learn.” Parekh highlighted that Pramukh Swami Maharaj was a person “closely connected and aware of the workings of the world.” He added: “To my mind, BAPS’s philosophy is ultimately about building better societies. This is the need of the hour. This is important because, as they say, the future does not happen; the future is made.”
Bhagwat too spoke about the inspiring force of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and said he had “the great power to identify the smallest positive quality in a person and encouraged that positive trait to develop to enable a person to grow”. The month-long festival, which will be on till January 15, is being held at a 600-acre venue on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The venue features grand gates, exhibitions, a giant replica of Akshardham Mandir, a children’s cultural adventureland, assembly arenas hosting cultural and spiritual programmes, and 28 huge statues of great spiritual luminaries of India, such as Adi Shankaracharya, Tulsidas, Buddha, Mahavira Swami, and Swami Vivekanand.
AHMEDABAD: Pramukh Swami Nagar has been abuzz with activities for a fortnight, as lakhs of people from across the world are visiting the venue to participate in the ongoing centenary celebrations of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Over 10 lakh visitors have made a stop in the town in the last 10 days.
Among the visitors have been Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, HDFC Bank chairman Deepak Parekh, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. About 80,000 volunteers, comprising businessmen, homemakers and medical, IT and teaching professionals, have been the backbone of the event, ensuring smooth operations.
Raju Patel, who runs a motel business in the United States, took a break for three months to volunteer at the event as a liaison officer. “I have been running a motel business in America for 22 years, and also built a temple there in 1998. I came here two months before the festival started,” Patel said.
“I shall return after it gets over. This is my religious service to my sect.” Pramukh Swami Maharaj, spiritual guru and head of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) of Swaminarayan sect, passed away at Sarangpur in Botad district of Gujarat on August 13, 2016 at an age of 95 years. Talking about his association with BAPS, Adani said, “When I see what BAPS has created, I am astounded.
As many of you know the Adani Group has built some of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation, yet it is humbling for me to see the power of volunteerism here spread over 600 acres of festival grounds of breath-taking colour and beauty, acres and acres of glowing gardens, the towering statue of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, all built by 80,000 volunteers, completed in less than six months.
This is unmatchable and there is so much here for even the best global corporations to learn.” Parekh highlighted that Pramukh Swami Maharaj was a person “closely connected and aware of the workings of the world.” He added: “To my mind, BAPS’s philosophy is ultimately about building better societies. This is the need of the hour. This is important because, as they say, the future does not happen; the future is made.”
Bhagwat too spoke about the inspiring force of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and said he had “the great power to identify the smallest positive quality in a person and encouraged that positive trait to develop to enable a person to grow”. The month-long festival, which will be on till January 15, is being held at a 600-acre venue on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The venue features grand gates, exhibitions, a giant replica of Akshardham Mandir, a children’s cultural adventureland, assembly arenas hosting cultural and spiritual programmes, and 28 huge statues of great spiritual luminaries of India, such as Adi Shankaracharya, Tulsidas, Buddha, Mahavira Swami, and Swami Vivekanand.
