The much-awaited Radha Krishna Temple in Allen, TX finally opened
its doors this month. In addition to the local Dallas-Ft. Worth area
devotees, more than a hundred devotees flew in from all over the US to
participate in and to contribute to these festivities.
Pran Pratishtha
is the main ceremony which invokes the presence of God in the deities
and helps establish concurrent sentiments in the hearts of the
congregation of devotees as well. The Vedas prescribe a series of
pooja's leading up to the
Pran Pratishtha that were followed
with utmost sincerity, love, and reverence by all participating in them.
The ever-merciful Radha Krishna let it be known that the prayers were
heard via the abundant divine grace that was continuously flowing for
the duration of the festivities. No heart was left untouched as everyone
attending these events experienced the grace in a multitude of ways
making it an event of a lifetime. Although the entire ceremony was
divine and cannot be expressed in words, yet a few of the steps involved
are described here for the devotional pleasure of readers.
The festivities kicked off with the
Tan Man Shuddi Pooja on July 4th. The aim
of this pooja was to cleanse the hearts and minds of the devotees so
that they could perform the ceremonies coming up over the next week with
sincerity and purity. All the
yajmans felt particularly grateful for the opportunity to be able to participate in these ceremonies.
July 5th was the
Pushpa Divas
which initiated a series of pooja's over the next five days to appease
all the celestial gods. This was done because later in the ceremonies,
the celestial gods and goddess would be invited to reside
in
the deities. Just like the water of all rivers flows into the ocean,
the talents, strengths, and virtues of all the celestial gods and
goddesses would come to reside in the deities. The devotees performed
this
pooja with utmost sincerity so that all the celestial gods
and goddesses would be appeased by their heartfelt prayers and agree to
this humble request.
On
July 6th Radha Krishna were woken up from their bed of flowers with
Suprabhatham. The
Radhey Radhey,
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya chants, and
kirtans of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj reverberated throughout the temple, as the
Parikrama (circumambulation) was done with Radha Krishna. Now the d
evotees
started to sense the excitement in the air; they could see this dream
becoming a reality. Once again, all the celestial gods were appeased
with the
Sarva Devata Havan as the devotees performed the pooja with deep devotional sentiments.
July 7th was celebrated as
Grihapravesh as the deities were brought into the temple. The
Kalash Yatra
was the first of the ceremonies conducted on this day. It started with a
pooja to invite all the rivers so that their water could be combined in
the
Kalash. The
yatra involved the devotees
walking around the block to chantings of Radhey Govind which evoked sentiments of love and peace. Following the
yatra,
Radha Krishna were bathed with a combination of this holy water, milk,
yogurt, honey, and sugar to make them ready for the entry into the
temple.
Swamiji then conducted the
Dwar Pooja, which he
started by creating two swastikas at the doorway for auspiciousness.
Just as a new bride is given keys to the house which she ties in the
pallu
of her sari, Swamiji tied the keys of the temple to Radha Rani's sari
indicating Her rightful place as the owner of this temple. Following
this, the
shilpis and
yajmans lovingly carried the deities to the altar. With th
e loving sentiments reaching such a high fervor, everyone present was so moved that there was not a dry eye left in the hall.
July 8th saw the
Angnyas Pooja
where all the limbs of the deities were worshipped. Since only a rishi
is qualified to place life into each limb, Swamiji agreed to our humble
request to do so. After this, the devotees were given the opportunity to
submit their offerings at the lotus-shaped base that would hold the
deities. The throng of people who stepped up was tremendous. People
offered silver coins, gold chains, diamond rings, and anything and
everything that was most precious to them as their token of love,
invitation,
and acceptance for Radha Krishna. The entire hall was energized
as the excitement was building up for the grand finale the next day.
The grand climax arrived on
July 9th,
the day of Guru Purnima. The anticipation and excitement in the air was
palpable as the crowds were growing restless to see their beloved Radha
Krishna. The day started with a pooja and then the deities' clothes
were lovingly carried up by the
yajmans. Another pooja was conducted where Radha Krishna were asked to reside in the deities. The
deities were unveiled after this but with blindfolds. By now, the anticipation was clearly building up in the audience.
The story goes that Radha Rani first opened her eyes when Krishna was standing in front of her. To honor this tradition, the
shilpis
came in with mirrors and behind a closed curtain made sure that as
Radha Rani's blindfold was removed, the first entity she saw was
Krishna. Then the deities were dressed and they were ready for the first
darshan. By now the crowd was getting restless and everyone's
heart was fluttering. How much longer would they have to wait to see
their beloved Radha Krishna?
Panditji made everyone close their
eyes so that they could do Roop Dhyan on the image of Radha Krishna. And
when everyone opened their eyes next, the most beautiful and enchanting
Radha Krishna wer
e
standing before them.
Devotees were riding the wave of sentiments from the past few days and
the unveiling brought tears to their eyes. Everyone felt the divine
grace just like water flowing smoothly in a creek.
The flow of the visitors was non-stop this day and the deities were the talk of the town!
Since it was Guru Poornima, the evening session started with
abhishek of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. All the devotees performed this
abhishek with much love and reverence in honor of the fifth original Jagadguru.
July 10th started with a short pooja with the highlight being the
Dwajarohan or the Flag Hoisting Ceremony. It is believed that once the flags are hoisted, just driving by the temple and looking at the
shikharas has the same effect as actually entering the temple and getting
darshan
of the deities. Since the city did not allow the flag to stay in place
due to certain regulations, Swamiji went up the crane and touched the
flag at the tallest
shikhara to signify the same. Riding the
wave of sentiments from these past few days, devotees started dancing
even before Swamiji stepped into the crane!
The afternoon brought the
Maha Annakoot where the
chappan bhog or 56 different delicacies were laid out
for Radha Krishna. The story goes that Krishna would eat eight times
during the day. While he held the Govardhan hill on his little finger
for seven days, He did not eat a morsel of food let alone a meal. At the
end of this incident, a lavish feast was prepared for Him with 56
different varieties of foodstuffs. Everyone attending this
bhog
and feast made sure they bought something for their beloved Radha
Krishna. Some offered simple fruits as a token of their love while
others stayed up until 2 am to make delicious
gulab jamuns and yet others woke up at 4 am to bring in fresh
halwa for the Lord!
The evening session started with the first
abhishek
of Radha Krishna. The ceremony was performed with much love by everyone
as no one could deny the divine grace that was flowing through
non-stop. Everyone's heart was overflowing with love for their Guru and
God.
July 11th was the last day of these festivities. After seven days of non-stop seva, the 12 hour non-stop
Akhand Kirtan was an opportunity for all the devotees to
sing the glories of their beloved Radha Krishna and engage in Roop Dhyan.
Everyone who helped with the temple construction was honored in different ways
during the entire celebration. The mayor of Allen, Stephen Terrell, was so impressed that he announced July 9th 2017 as
Radha Krishna Temple Day!
Congratulatory messages came in from the local US Senator, John Cornyn.
His representative Kamal Fulani attended the event and was very
impressed by th
e
temple. The temple architect stated that this temple was built in
record time of three years whereas most other temples take an average of
7-10 years to build. Swamiji also honored the
shilpis who made
tremendous sacrifices by leaving their families in India to come here
and provide such exquisite artistry to the temple. And lastly, this was a
culmination of the effort of all the devotees who contributed with
tan,
man,
dhan to make this temple come to fruition.
Everyone
was sad to these festivities come to an end and no one wanted to leave.
While they physically left, the devotees left their hearts in the Radha
Krishna Temple of Allen, TX.