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July
11, 2006
The entire Kulwant hall was bursting at its seams right from 5:30 am
itself this Gurupoornima morning. Swami came out from the Yajur Mandiram
at about 7:15 am. Heralding our dear Lord on this holy day were the
Panchavadyam and Naadaswaram which were both playing rhythmically. Swami
blessed the thousands of devotees who had gathered to have a glimpse of
their beloved Master. He took a complete round granting Darshan to
devotees assembled everywhere. He got down from the car near the
interview room and came walking to the stage. Seeing Him walk towards
them, the entire gathering broke out into spontaneous applause. The Veda
chanting continued as Swami sat on the sofa and swayed to the chants.
After a short while Swami called and asked Sri Chakravarthi, the
Secretary of the Central Trust about the morning programme. Then He told
the students to begin the group songs and stotrams. The session began
with "Anantha Samsara Samudra Taara" and also had two Telugu songs that
had been composed by Swami Himself. There was applause after each song.
After four songs, Swami asked as to whether the programme was over.
Ashwath Narayan and Om Prasad went up to Him and told Him that there
were two more songs. Swami consented for them to be sung too. After the
songs, Swami had tricycles distributed for the physically challenged
people from various places in Anantapur district. As their names were
read out, they were wheeled in front of Swami before the tricycles were
presented to them. Swami blessed each and every recipient with His
Abhayahastha. He also asked for Vibhuti packets and clothes (cloth
pieces and saris) to be brought from the interview room and had them
distributed to the recipients.
By now, it was about 8:15 am - Swami told the students to start Bhajans.
It was a nice feeling to have bhajans outside where everyone could see
Him to their heart's content. The bhajans were charged and many pacy
bhajans were sung. As the bhajans went on, Swami asked for prasadam to
be distributed. Bhajans went on till 9:15 am. After bhajans, He received
Aarthi and retired to Yajur Mandiram. It was announced that the
afternoon programme would begin at 2:45 pm.
At exactly 2:35 pm Swami came out of Yajur Mandiram and went for a
complete round of Darshan. He came out from the car and walked upto the
sofa. The Sai Symphony orchestra, consisting of more than 65 artistes
from 22 countries had their programme scheduled. Swami asked for the
programme to begin immediately. The conductor sought Swami's blessings
and the concert began in right earnest. There was a plethora of musical
instruments - violins, violas, cellos, double basses, oboes, bassoons,
clarinets, flutes, piccolos, trumpets, trombones, the French horn, the
English horn, keyboard harps, timpani, cymbals and other percussion
instruments. They played nine pieces and each of those conveyed a
variety of emotions and feelings. These pieces were picked from famous
composers like Weber, Lehar and Verdi and also some others like Elgar,
Korsakov and Handel. The whole hall came alive as the rich notes
resonated throughout. The fact that all the artistes had practised
together for only 7 days made the entire performance absolutely
remarkable. In fact the commentator (Mr. Paul Erhard) remarked, "I don't
know that it happens anywhere else in the world... but there are many
things that happen here that don't happen anywhere else in the world!"
At about 3:45pm, the programme concluded and Swami, when asked for group
photos, said, "I am ready". Swami spent the next 15 minutes with the
various artistes and blessed all of them profusely as He granted them
group photos. It was more of a replication of the interview room rather
than a group photo session. Each artiste spoke and interacted with Swami
to his/her hearts content. Some of the artistes were coming to Swami for
the first time and greeted Him, "Hi Swami!" They were all thrilled that
Swami interacted with them. Swami then went into the interview room.
After about 15 minutes or so, He came out again. He walked upto the lion
on the stage and then sat on the portable chair. We all thought that
Swami would sit out for some more time. But to our pleasant surprise,
Swami went down amidst the artistes (who were still seated on their
chairs.) When the Lord's grace rains, it pours! He moved among them for
the next 15 minutes or so showering His love, care and personal
attention on the members. He also materialised vibhuti for some of the
ladies. After that He went into the interview room. Bhajans began at
4:30pm itself. At 5:00 pm Swami received Aarthi and retired to the Yajur
Mandiram.
Photos & Report: Guru
poornima 2006, News & Pictures from Prasanthi Nilayam:
"...Today morning swami came out for
darshans at 7.15 am. Kulwant hall was jam packed and devotees lined
up even outside. Television sets were put at different locations...."Read more
Also included Guru
Poornima edition high resolution wallpaper - "Sai Guru"
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Source: radiosai.org |