Festivals bring joy to our lives and strengthen our sense of community. They are a perfect way to celebrate heritage, culture, and traditions. Festivals at Chinmaya Haridwar are occasions for us to not only pray together with friends and family but also to enjoy a sumptuous feast prepared lovingly by our Shadras volunteers.
We celebrate various Festivals all throughout the year. Here is a recap of our 2023-24 festivals:
We started our school year with the auspicious Ganesha puja. This year over a span of 3 weekends kids spent time creating various Ganesha from mud, invoked his presence via a simple puja they performed themselves, and took him on a procession that was complete with Visarjan.
Navarathri, this popular festival that brings out the glories of all the Devi is also a much-awaited event here at our center. From decking up the Golu steps to Dandiya this is a very family-friendly festival that brings joy to everyone in our community.
Diwali, this festival of lights brings together more than just our Chinmaya families for a wonderful Laksmi puja followed by sparkling fireworks.
New Year’s Day Ganesha puja, just as we start our school year with prayers to Lord Ganesh, we always welcome the next wonderful year with a Ganesh puja performed by all new mothers-to-be.
Mahashivarathri, each year this festival is our chance to chant Sri Rudram and shower Lord Shiva with his favorite milk abhishekam. It is always heartwarming to see each kid and parent so focused and patient as they pour the milk over a Shiv Linga and pray for his blessings.
Holi, without a doubt, this festival celebration organized by our center is the most awaited, and most well-attended outdoor event of the year. All of the Portland Community turns up to fill the atmosphere and each other with colors. This year there were more than 3,000 people who participated in the fun.
Sri Rama Navami with Sunderkand Parayananam is a favorite with adults. Their chanting fills our center and our hearts with pure bliss and devotion.
Throughout the year we take multiple opportunities to perform Paduka puja to seek the blessings of our Guru. These pujas are done to celebrate the auspicious days of Tapovan Jayanthi, Gurudev Jayanti, Guruji’s birthday, Guru Purnima, and Gurudev’s Maha Samadhi.
We end the school year with Krishna Janmashtami – by far all our kid’s favorite since on this day the puja is followed by bhajans and a fun-filled candy handi.
– Festival Team
