Atlanta, GA, May 25, 2023: April 30 was a lovely day in Lilburn at the premises of the Greater Atlanta Vedic Temple. It did not quite start that way, however. Despite forethought by volunteers, nature decided to play mischief and sneaked rain under the immaculately prepared tent grounds. However, she was no match for the zealous volunteers who deepened trenches around the tent in the wee morning hours, rerouting rivulets and draining the water off.
While the drizzle continued, the invitees were routed into the smaller temple where rousing bhajans were sung by the yajmans who broke into ecstatic song and dance to dhol beats. Maybe that is what roused the sun to come out of hiding..and before long holy fires crackled spiritedly at over 80 havankunds as the yajmans.. from 90 years old to 9, male and female, represented lndian, Nepalese and Guyanese diaspora , performed the yajna with devotion.
“Yajna” in sanatan dharma is considered a noble act, not merely for its symbolic value but for the fact the medicinal herbs put in the fire are disseminated far and wide and have a beneficial effect on the environment.
The atmosphere was divine and surreal as the vibration of Samavedic chants led by Acharya Amol Kumar filled the air.
The yajmans were rejuvenated with tea and snacks followed by thought provoking lectures by the chief guest Pandit Jagmahadeo from New York, then a showcasing of the youth of the vedic sanskriti school and finally a display of the spiritual and charitable activities of the temple.
Panditji exhorted invitees to live a life of integrity as though one were living in a glasshouse, so life in public and private is the same, a life of integrity.
It concluded with a delicious lunch and a resolve by the participants to return next year in larger numbers.
