Bengaluru: RVM Foundation Shiv Temple on Old Airport Road, celebrated “Maha Shivarathri 2015 – A Day of Gratitude” on Tuesday, 17th, February 2015 with great excitement and enthusiasm. Lakhs of devotees from all walks of life thronged the Shiva Temple to get a glimpse of “The Most Powerful Shiv Statue in the World” and performed the “MahaYagna of MahaShivratri” for the very first time in the temple.
The theme of this year’s MahaShivarathri was “God gives us everything! Happy Life, Good Health & Success. Dedicate 1 Day out of 365 Days to God and show your Devotion.”
The main and biggest highlight of this year was, “MAHA YAGNA OF MAHA SHIVRATRI”. The 24 hours MahaYagna, was performed for the very first time in the Shiv temple. The YagnaKund standing at 6 feet is one of the tallest yagna structures in the world. A 24-hour auspicious Yagna ritual was performed by lakhs of devotees, which inspired them to surrender themselves to God through Arpanam and got the divine blessings of Lord Shiv. The Devotees experienced a sense of liberation as the flames from holy Yagna soared to the heavens.
On this occasion, musical CD of “RVM Shiv Bhajans Golden Collection”, sung by RVM and India’s 15 best singers, including Javed Ali, Shaan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Roop Kumar, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, S.P. Balasubramaniam, Sadhna Sargam, Harshdeep Kaur and many more was released and was being played in the background which created a sense of Bhakthi to all devotees present at the Celebrations.
“Like every year, lakhs and lakhs of Shiv devotees thronged the Shiv temple. It looked like a miracle! We don’t know from where these people have come but every year they land up waiting for hours together in the queue to come and get the Darshan. God lives in every devotee and it is this joint power of God that comes to the temple and creates the miraculous energy that the Shiv Statue radiates to become the most powerful statue in the world, said RVM, Visionary & founder of the RVM Foundation & temple. “MahaYagna was perfomed to make devotees experience the magical feeling that rishis and maharajas used to get thousands of years ago. It was spirituality at its peak.” said RVM.
The Temple’s unique spiritual place, ‘Shiv Gufa’, took devotees to a multi-phased spiritual journey where they got a glimpse of the 12 Jyothirlings at one place. A Unique mindboggling Light and Sound show which was a combination of colourful lights, mellow music & thought provoking dialogues. This time, the special MahaShivarathri Light and Sound show was based on the theme “Believe in God and stay connected to God”. An Aarthi was organized at an interval of every two hours where devotees got to perform Aarti to Lord Shiva.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS OF MAHA SHIVRATRI 2015 WERE:
108 ASHTOTHRA YATRA
Each devotee was given 108 “Om NamahShivaya” coins. With every coin the devotee droped in a brass pot while chanting “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”, they drew a special energy within.
ABHISHEK
Abhishek is an act of symbolically cleansing and purifying one’s inner self with‑Water to cleanse, Milk to purify, Curd to transform, Sugar to sweeten, Honey to connect with God and Ghee to seek God’s blessing.
NAVAHGRAH
The Navahgrahpooja is a prayer to the creator of the entire universe and the nine planets. By performing the pooja, a devotee symbolically and humbly submitted himself to God.
SPECIAL PROGRAMMES
· Special Aarti at an interval of every 2 hours started from 6 A.M. on 17th February and went on till 4 A.M. on 18th February.
· Midnight competitions like Shiv SA RE GA MA, Shiv Anatakshari, Shiv Idol, Shiv Dhuni Sangam were organised specially for the devotees and attractive prizes were given out.
· A Jagran program was held, wherein all the devotees stayed awake for the night, singing praises for the lord.
RVM FOUNDATION at a Glance
RVM Foundation is a non-profit organization thatfocuses on making a difference and making life fulfilling. The RVM Foundation Shiv Temple, situated on Old Airport Road, Bangalore, was built by RVM and his father in 1995. The temple is the holy abode of Lord Shiva, where the gigantic 65-feet-tall idol of Lord Shiva stands as a symbol of towering faith. Lakhs and lakhs of devotees from different parts of India and around the world visit the temple every month, making it a favoured spiritual spot.
To achieve its vision, the foundation also has three key initiatives:Humanitarian, Inspirational & Spiritual Initiatives.
All the proceedings from the temple go towards serving the destitute sheltered at the RVM Foundation Hospital and Home.
For more details, please visit www.rvmfoundation.org
