BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 6th January 2024: The residents of Dakshin Kalamchoura village in Sonamura sub-division are celebrating the 53rd Sri Sri Harinam Sankirtan and Mahotsav, a five-day long festival of devotional music and spiritual discourse, with fervor and enthusiasm.
The festival, which is organized by the South Club District Gram Panchayat under Boxanagar RD Block, began on Thursday night, January 4, 2024, with a 32-hour long Naam yagna, a ritual of chanting the holy names of God. The auspicious abode and ghat of Mahanam Yagna were set up at the village, and the idols of Shri Krishna and Radha were decorated and taken out in a grand procession with Ganga Nimantra and Ganga Anon, the invocation and offering of the sacred river Ganga. The procession followed the Sanatan rituals as prescribed in the scriptures.
The festival committee decided to observe Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan this year instead of the usual Kirtan, to commemorate the teachings and legacy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the 16th-century saint and founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. The Sankirtan is a form of congregational singing and dancing that glorifies the Lord and invokes His presence. The festival committee invited famous Kirtaniya groups from the state and outside, such as Naba Nityananda Community from Udaipur, Shiv Shakti Community from Dharmanagar, Shrimat Bhagwat Community from Assam, Manjushree Community from Silchar, and Gaur Vishnupriya Community from Chandrapur, to perform the Sankirtan.
The festival, which will continue till January 8, also features Bhagavata lessons, the recitation and explanation of the Bhagavata Purana, one of the sacred texts of Hinduism. The Bhagavata lessons are held for two days, and are attended by hundreds of devotees who seek to learn the divine wisdom and stories of the Lord and his devotees.
Sameer Roy, the secretary of the festival committee, told the newspersons that the Dakshin Kalamchoura Mahanam Sankirtan Harinam has entered its 23rd year this year, and has become a place of pilgrimage and a symbol of communal harmony. He said that people from all walks of life and faiths come and listen to the Sankirtan and feel the joy and peace of mind. He said that the festival also inspires the future generations to advance the society with faith in all religions.
The festival also provides an opportunity for the villagers to showcase their hospitality and generosity, as they work with sincere efforts for five days to serve the guests and the participants with rice and other delicacies. The festival also transforms into a fair, where shopkeepers set up stalls to sell their goods and services. The festival culminates with the distribution of Mahaprasad, the sanctified food offered to the Lord, from 3 pm on Monday. The president of the festival committee, Chitta Ranjan Sarkar, invited everyone to take part in the festival and accept the Prasad in a peaceful manner. He also quoted from the Gita summary, the essence of the Bhagavad Gita, the holy scripture of Hinduism, and said that there is no need to waste time thinking about what happened in the past and what will happen in the future, but to do one’s duty properly.
