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BAPS celebrates Rath Yatra festival in Brisbane
The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Brisbane celebrated Rath Yatra festival in Brisbane with great pomp and devotion on June 18. Rath Yatra is a festival suffused with devotional sentiments for the Lord Jagannath. For thousands of years, Hindus have celebrated this spectacular festival. Gathering together, they earnestly pray to the Lord to steer the chariots of their lives on the path of devotion and faith.
Following a traditional Vedic ceremony, two beautifully decorated chariots, one bearing the murti of Harikrishna Maharaj, Jagannathji, Baldevji & Subhadraji and the other bearing the murti of Bhagwan Swaminarayan & his disciple Gunatitanand Swami were ceremoniously pulled by hand to the singing of devotional songs by the devotees.
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The procession was a 1.2km walk from BAPS Temple in Kingston. Present amongst the crowd of around 1100 devotees, Pujya Arshpurush Swami, PujyaBhaktinidhi Swami and well-wishers were the invited delegates, David Crisafulli, Leader of opposition; James Martin, MP Stratton, representing Minister for Environment and Minister for Multicultural affairs; Teresa Lane and Jon Rovan, councillors Logan City Council, Mr Palani Thevar and Mr Parsram Punj and various other community leaders.
Logan City Council and QLD police provided their generous support to enable a hugely successful event. The event concluded with Arti and prasad. The celebrations invoked cherished memories of the Rath Yatra celebrations.
BAPS
Established in 1907, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a global non-governmental Hindu socio-spiritual organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. BAPS has representative centres (Mandirs) in some of the major Australian cities, including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane.
BAPS is dedicated to the collective spiritual and social progress of society by promoting harmony between individuals, within families and amongst diverse communities.
In Brisbane, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Kingston, which was inaugurated in 2014 promotes harmony, inspires values of co-existence and selfless service to the community, nurtures spirituality, Hindu culture and heritage, and encourages integration and social cohesion.
