PUTTAPARTHI WELCOMES THE DINDI YATRA 2014 DEVOTEES JULY 8, 2014
Om Sairam dearest Sai Family, Puttaparthi today accorded a grand welcome to the 1200 plus devotees who walked all the way from Dharmavaram Railway station (about 50 kilometers from Parthi) carrying the Lord's palki, singing, dancing and immersing in the ocean of " naama smarana" the only way to cross the ocean of Life especially for those of us who are born in this " deadly" kali yuga The legend says that two saints from the state of Maharashtra, Saint Gnaneswar and Saint Tukaram set for a pilgrimage to the Pandarpur, Lord VIthala's abode on the auspicious day of Ashadi Ekadashi. Ever since, this tradition of walking to the Abode of Lord Vithala has been practiced in the length and breadth of Maharashtra. It was some where in the year 1996, few Sai devotees from Maharashtra prayed to Swami to bless them with a similar " pilgrimage" to " Sai Vithala"'s abode Prasanthi Nilayam. This " Pilgrimage is called "DINDI YATRA"" . The Dindi Yatra which started off with just 40 devotees, today is one of the most fascinating festivals that is being celebrated in Prasanthi Nilayam. This year (2014) Dindi yatra is one of the biggest yatras ever conducted with 1200 plus devotees from a 2 year old to 85 year old participating in the long walk. On the contrary, there are quite a few of us, giving some catchy names for the walks, do it very superficially even if it is less than a 3 kilometer walk but there is lot to be learnt from these devotees who give their heart and soul for this " walk" to the holy abode singing the holy name.. Devotees started arriving by trains to Dharmavaram by July 5th and they were given accommodation in a Rama temple in Dharmavaram. Around 9 am on July 6th, the Dindi Yatra started off from Dharmavaram with prayers and arathi to Swami. As a sign of blessing, the rain Gods started showering rains and the devotees set off to Parthi drenching in the love of Swami. i had a chance to interact with many members of the group. Traditionally, Dindi yatra is planned at such a time when the farmers would have just sown the seeds in their fields but unfortunately, all over India, the monsoon is playing the hide and seek game. It is indeed a tense moment for poor farmers as their livelihood is completely depended on the monsoon. Coming to Parthi as part of Dindi Yatra means a week long off and incase it rains in their native places, they would be losing on the sowing of seeds. Yet all the devotees from farming background came with one pointed devotion that Swam will never fail them and at the end of the day every thing is going to be alright which speaks high of their devotion and spirit of surrender. This year's Dindi Yatra is organised by the Sai Organisation of Pune headed by District President Mr.Vasudev. He was all praise for the excellent teamwork by all the volunteers. Maximum number of devotees in the group are youths which indeed is a good sign for the future prospects of Sai Mission. Apart from walking, the devotees. as they pass by number of small and big villages, spread the message of Sai, His love for mankind and also do lot of grama seva. This year 1 ton of specially prepared protein powder , " Sai Protein" was distributed in various villages. The Dindi group usually halts for lunch in big villages with big school premises. It is indeed so touching to see how they share the food with the villagers and school children. Arrival of these devotees is like a festival for the villagers for sumptuous food they are served with along with the pure and unsullied love of Bhagawan. Many elders in the group say they don't feel even an iota of pain while they walk as they always have the Lord's name in their heart. Infact many elderly devotees dance all the way immersed in the glory of Bhagawan. The group also has first timers who are completely taken back with the amount of spiritual upliftment they experience during this walk. Young boys and girls have left their parents at home and are accompanied by their respective Balvikas gurus in the yatra. Apart from singing the glory of our Lord, the Balvikas Gurus were seen instilling faith and courage into those children which speaks very high of Swami's prestigious Balvikas programme. Right through the 50 kilometer path, these devotees inspired, instilled faith in many which in itself is a great accomplishment.. May Swami bless us all with such opportunities. May He bring thousands of such 'devoted" devotees to His abode so that our devotion is strengthened and we will be in a position to call ourselves " devotees" PLease click the following link to see the photos of the Dindi Yatra. The video of the yatra will be uploaded and notified very soon. http://goo.gl/Q9TUzA With Pranams at the Lotus feet of our beloved Lord, R.Satish Naik -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "saimsg" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
