Pujya Swamiji in Washington DC - Ragamaya Raga Sagara - Concert in Kennedy Center
Raga Maya Raga Sagara: Sri Swamiji in Washington D.C. – July 3rd-7th, 2019
Pujya Sri Swamiji arrived in Washington D.C. from Baton Rouge on July 3rd, 2019, for the much anticipated Raga Maya Raga Sagara.
In the evening on July 4th, American Independence Day, Pujya Swamiji and devotees and volunteers of DYC DC group went on a boat on Potomac river at 7 PM.
Padmini with Pragna Nidumolu and Tarika Chittajalu performed Kuchipudi dance.
offered Bharata Natyam dance. Bhajans were sung. Smt.Lalita Marella warmly welcomed Pujya Swamiji to Washington DC area and said it was a dream come true for the members and volunteers of DYC DC, Bala Datta and Bhagavad Gita learning groups.
From the boat, Pujya Swamiji watched the fire works held in honor of Independence day.
At 6:30 p.m. on July 5th, a welcome function for Pujya Gurudeva was arranged at the Gaithersburg High School. DYC DC Bala Datta Children chanted shlokas such as Lingashtakam, Lakshmi Ashtakam, and Venkateshwara Ashtottaram on the occasion as a part of their Annual Day Celebration. Sri Srikanth Challa, emcee for the evening, wonderfully introduced Sri Swamiji to the gathering, citing examples from the puranas and Bhagavad Gita in his rich description of Sri Swamiji and His mission. Drs. Nandini and Prakasa Rao Velagapudi offered the welcome garland to Pujya Swamiji. The real treat and immense blessing of the night was Sri Swamiji’s engaging and sublime bhajan session. Washington D.C. devotees experienced Sri Swamiji’s bhajans after a long wait of 14 years. Sri Swamiji first gave the audience an opportunity to shout out their favorite and most intensely desired bhajans to be added to a list that Sri Swamiji then chose select bhajans from to sing. Those devotees whose desire Sri Swamiji answered by singing were asked to arise and stay standing for the entirety of their bhajan. A true blessing indeed! Pujya Swamiji elucidated which bhajans like “Aghanasana Anaghapriya” are composed with ragas are frequently implemented in Sri Swamiji’s healing concerts. The bhajan “Krishna Devane” was composed by Sri Swamiji 45 years ago - said Sri Swamiji. Smt. Aparna Santoor and Smt. Lakshmi Koneru offered the evening’s annadana to Sri Swamiji. Afterwards, Smt. and Sri Vishnu Datta offered the article published by “India Abroad” newspaper about Sri Swamiji, His healing music, and Raga Maya Raga Sagara. South Asian Times, Unites News Network also published articles leading up to the concert event. Sri Ravi Chittajallu and family offered the concert souvenir booklet to Sri Swamiji. The official Raga Maya Raga Sagara t-shirt and SGS Posts tote bag were also offered for release.
July 6th was the date of Raga Maya Raga Sagara. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was the magnificent and most fortunate venue. The concert hall was seated to capacity as Yogini Kaliji welcomed Pujya Swamiji, special guest artist Dr. L Subramaniam, and the Celestial Message Troupe consisting of Vid. Jaitra Varanasi on violin, Vid. Mani Narasimham on keyboard, Vid. Shankar Ramesh on mridangam, Vid. Mahesh Bhatt on tabla, and Sri Jaya Datta on drumpad. Sri Paula Kamala Kyle, emcee, invited Smt. and Sri Krishnarao Kodeboyina to offere a garland to Sri Swamiji. Swami Chidatmananda of Chinmaya Mission offered a garland to Sri Swamiji, which Sri Swamiji blessed on Sri L. Subramaniam. Former Ambassador Sri Pradeep Kumar Kapur, visiting professor at the University of Maryland, offered a vastram to Sri Swamiji. Dr. Rajan Natarajan, Commissioner of Transportation, Maryland offered a memento to Sri Swamiji on behalf of the state of Maryland. Sri Shambhu Hakki, representative of the Indian Ambassador to the United States, honored Dr. L Subramaniam with a bouquet.
Upon ascending the stage, Sri Swamiji held healing crystals in his hands and gazed at the 2000-odd audience seated in the packed concert hall. Sri Swamiji expressed happiness at the nakshatra, tithi, and lagna combination of the day, and encouraged the assemblage to listen to healing sounds before going to bed, in conjunction with their daily medicine to experience the most benefit. The most relaxed one is during the concert, the various benefits of meditative ability, healing of the nervous system, increase in memory power, and relaxation will better transmit. Swamiji began the concert with Pranava Swarupam (Rushyaketupriya Raga), followed by Jaya Jaya Vani (Raga Kapi). Raga Maya Raga Sagara’s main ragas of the day consisted of Mohana Raga (Isha Patisha), Chandika Raga (Jadachara Jagatam), and Raga Kamavardhini Raga (Suvarchalamba Pranadeva). Throughout the concert, huge visuals of nature in association with the element of the raga & Raga details & their benefit on parts of human body were projected in the background of the stage. During Kamavardhini Raga and tani avarthana, Sri Swamiji arose, moved through the audience impromptu for almost fifteen minutes, and blessed those from the first all the way to the last row of the lengthy hall. Members of the audience, so many of whom who were attending a concert for the first time, were in awe of this tremendous, spontaneous blessing. The glorious finale consisted of happy tune (Raga Dheera Shankarabharanam), and Raga Ragini Devi Mangalam (Raga Sama). In honor of Independence day, both the American and Indian flags were displayed across the screen as the mangalam was concluding. Sri Ganesh Maddipati offered a garland of gratitude to Sri Swamiji. Smt. and Sri Sushmita and Sundar Chintauri offered a vastram to Sri Swamiji. Smt. and Sri Lalitha and Raj Marella offered a memento to Pujya Swamiji. Smt. Nandini and Sri Vishnu Datta honored Dr. Sri L. Subramaniam. Sri Anil Anumarlapudi honored Vid. Shankar Ramesh. Sri Dan Balroop honored Vid. Jaitra Varanasi. Smt. and Sri Divya and Gautam honored Vid. Mani Narasimham. Sri Vikram Prasad honored Vid. Mahesh Bhatt. Sri Vaibhav Chavali honored Sri Jaya Datta. There concluded another yet historic concert by Pujya Swamiji, this time in the Capital of the United States, in one of its most prestigious concert arenas, the Kennedy Center.
In the morning on July 7th, Sri Chakra Puja was arranged at JSS Spiritual Mission in Gaithersburg, MD. Pujya Swamiji was received with temple honors by temple management and priests. His Holiness first took darshan of Lord Venkateshwara and other temple deities, before proceeding for purnahuti of Ganapathy Homa. Sangeeta seva during Sri Chakra Puja was offered by Chi. Sasanka (vocal), accompanied by Samapriya Dandibhotla on violin and Somanath Dandibhotla on mridangam, followed by Sri Raghavendra Batni and Sri Ananth Venkatesh Batni on veena. Dr. Prakasa Rao Velagapudi comprehensively introduced Sri Swamiji and described Mysuru ashrama to the gathering, many of whom were attending Sri Swamiji’s programs for the first time. Pujya Swamiji blessed devotees with a discourse, highlighting that it was a powerful day, namely Skanda Shashti. Lord Subrahmanya is the sena nayaka of the devatas, He is the energy that drives the angels and is their leader, just as the Lord leads humans. Sri Swamiji explained how Lord Subrahmanya in some puranas is known even as Lord Shiva’s Guru and our Parama Guru, and the types of different Gurus that one has in life. Once one goes to a Sadguru, he becomes the all-encompassing guide that one should follow. Sri Swamiji spurred audience members to speak their mother tongue at home and to wear bindi always, as it is not a symbol of religion, but a tradition of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. The tour to Washington D.C. came to a close with cake-cutting by Sri Swamiji and darshan queue.
Pujya Sri Swamiji and entourage drove to Jesus Datta Retreat Center in the evening.
