Navapoojitam Celebrations - Press Release issued from Santhigiri Ashram

Gurucharanam Saranam

PRESS RELEASE

PRANAB MUKHERJEE TO INAUGURATE NAVAPOOJITAM CELEBRATIONS OF SANTHIGIRI ASHRAM

Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 21: Union Finance Minister, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee, will inaugurate on August 23rd, Sunday, the month-long ‘Navapoojitham’ celebrations, marking the 83rd birthday of Navajyothisree Karunakaraguru, the founder of Santhigiri Ashram.

The function, to be held at the A J Hall at Ernakulam, at 6.30 p.m. will be presided over by Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Prof. K V Thomas. The keynote address will be delivered by KPCC President, Sh. Ramesh Chennithala. The release of a book containing ‘1001 Guruvanis’ will also be done on that day. Kochi Corporation Deputy Mayor, Sh. C K Manishankar, CPI district secretary, Mundakkayam Sadasivan, BJP district president, Nedumbaserry Ravi, Santhigiri Ashram Director, Swami Navananma Jnana Thapaswi, actor-director, Sh. Madhupal and Santhigiri N N Communications AGM, Sh. G Jayakumar, will also speak on the occasion.

The main programmes connected with ‘Navapoojitham’ will be held at the Santhigiri branch ashrams at Ernakulam, the birthplace of Guru at Chandiroor, Alappuzha, and at New Delhi besides the main ashram premises at Pothencode, Thiruvananthapuram.

A function to formally declare the ‘Navapoojitham’ programmes and to mark the 9th anniversary of the consecration of the ‘parnasala’ at the Ernakulam branch ashram will be held on August 22nd, Saturday. Kerala High Court Justice Haroun Al-Rashid will inaugurate the function at 10 a.m. at the Ernakulam ashram premises. Kochi Mayor, Prof. Mercy Williams, will preside over the function. The programme declaration will be made by Swami Satyaprakasha Jnana Thapaswi, President, Santhigiri Ashram. The keynote address will be delivered by the Ernakulam District Collector, Dr. M Beena. Santhigiri Ashram General Secretary, Swami Chaithanya Jnana Thapaswi, Kochi Corporation Councillor, Sh. P J Vinod, Ernakulam Santhigiri Ashram Advisory Board President, Sh. C K Venugopal, Santhigiri Vishwa Samskarika Navothana Kendram (VSNK) president, Sh. D Pradeep Kumar, regional manager, Sh. Subhash Chandra Bose, Santhigiri Mathrumandalam secretary Girija Chandran and Advisory Board secretary R Satheesan will also speak on the occasion.

At 11.30 a.m. on August 23rd, Sunday, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Prof. K V Thomas, will inaugurate a public meeting at Chandiroor Santhigiri Ashram, following a ‘Janmagriham Teerthyathra’ (procession around the Guru’s birthplace) at 8 a.m. Kerala Agriculture Minister, Sh. Mullakara Ratnakaran, will preside over the function. Advocate A. M. Arif, MLA, will felicitate local agricultural families who have been tirelessly working for the development of agriculture in and around Chandiroor. Chandiroor Santhigiri Ashram ‘karyadarshi’, Swami Gurumithran Jnana Thapaswi, Aroor grama panchayat president, Smt. Leela Thanjan, district cooperative bank president, Sh. C V Chandrababu, Janata Dal state committee vice-president, Sh. Varghese George, Aroor grama panchayat member, Sh. P P Sabu, BJP district committee member, Advocate V Padmanabhan and VSNK secretary, Sh. V Ajithkumar, will speak on the occasion.

The Navajpoojitham function at the New Delhi Santhigiri Ashram will be inaugurated by Delhi Legislative Assembly Speaker, Dr. Yogananda Shastri, on August 23rd. Delhi Health and Family Welfare Minister, Prof. Kiran Walia, will preside over the function. Dr. Syed Zafar Mehmood, President, Inter-faith Coalition for Peace, and Ms. Annie Raja, general secretary, National Federation of Indian Women, will also participate in the function.

The ‘Navapoojitham’ celebrations at Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram, will commence at 3 a.m. on August 25th, Tuesday. ‘Pushpanjali’ will be held at 5 a.m. followed by prayers and flag hoisting at 6 a.m. ‘Gurupadavandanam’ and floral offerings at the Guru’s feet will take place from 6.30 to 9 a.m. The ‘Navapoojitham’ public meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Prayers and ‘Gurupooja’ will be held at 12 noon and ‘Deepapradakshina’ at 7 p.m. The functions will conclude at 11.30 p.m. with floral offerings and ‘pushpanjali’ at Guru’s feet.

The ‘Navapoojitham’ public meeting will be inaugurated by Kerala Food Minister, Sh. C Divakaran, and presided over by Devaswom Minister Kadanapally Ramachandran. Sh. A Sampat, MP, will release the ‘Navapoojitham Souvenir’ on the occasion. Former MP, Sh. Varkala Radhakrishnan, will deliver the keynote address. Felicitations will be offered by Smt. J Arundhati, Advocate M A Wahid, and Sh. Thomas Chandy, MLAs, Sh. J Alexander, former Karnataka Tourism Minister, Sh. Srinivasalu, IAS, Labour Commissioner, Andhra Pradesh, Sh. G Vamadevan, president Pothencode grama panchayat, Dr Kiran, zonal manager, Santhigiri Ashram, New Delhi, and Dr. P A Hemalatha, secretary, Mathrumandalam. Sh. K Satheesan, secretary, VSNK, will give the vote of thanks.

On September 20th, Sunday, the concluding day of the ‘Navapoojitham’ celebrations, Guru Mahima, the young women’s organization of Santhigiri Ashram, is organising a youth meet at 10 a.m. This will be inaugurated by union Food Processing Minister, Sh. Subodh Kant Sahay and presided over by Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, Sh. Oommen Chandy. The keynote address will be delivered by Sh. N Peetambara Kurup, MP. Sh. Kadakampally Surendran, secretary, CPM district committee, will release a special edition of ‘Umminithankam', an ashram publication. Felicitations will be offered by Sh. Koliyakode Krishnan Nair, president, State Cooperative Bank, Sh. P K Krishnadas, president, BJP Kerala unit, Advocate B Balachandran, president, Manickal gram panchayat, Dr T S Somanathan, treasurer, VSNK, Sh. V Subhash Chandra Bose, Project Chief, DISA, Santhigiri Ashram, and Brahmacharini Dr. Anu, secretary, Guru Mahima. Sh. T K Unnikrishnaprasad, DGM, Operations, Santhigiri Ashram, will offer the vote of thanks.

The month-long ‘Navapoojitham’ celebrations will conclude with a ‘Poorna Kumbhamela’ procession around the ashram complex, commencing at 4 p.m.

Swami Gururethnam Jnana Thapaswi
Organising Secretary, Santhigiri Ashram