14 members from our Centre made a pilgrimage to Puttaparthi on 29th January and took part in the Chinese New Year celebrations there. The theme for the celebration this year was "Filial Piety". The two day programme included the recitation of Buddhist mantras, cultural and musical performances, inspiring talks by devotees, bhajans and a drama on filial piety. Devotees from Indonesia, Hongkong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia took part. Our senior devotee, Sis. Mrs. Loh was given the honour to perform Arathi on the second day of the celebrations.
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| Sis. Loh (2nd from right) performing Arathi |
The "Pai Ti Kong" prayers were held on 2nd February attended by a large number of devotees.
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| Our devotees at the "Pai Ti Kong" prayers |
Some of us also attended the "Laughter Yoga" session conducted by Sis. Gui Pooi Nooi. It was much enjoyed by all as it gave us a chance to "unwind" and get rid of some of our stress and tension.
During our stay, we also joined a group of Malaysian devotees for Grama Seva at a small village near Puttaparthi. We distributed oranges and dry rations to the village folk and their families and had a round of Laughter Yoga with the children.
We also fitted in a short trip to see the Thimmamme Marrimanu banyan tree reputed to be the largest tree in the world with its connected trunks spreading over a large diameter.
We left for home on the morning of Wednesday, 5 February after an enjoyable and spiritually rewarding stay at Prashanti Nilayam.
Our humble and grateful thanks to Bhagawan for making this trip possible.
Jai Sai Ram.
(Some pictures by courtesy of Radio Sai)
