Date : 08 Jul 2015
Thamaraipakkam truly celebrated the arrival of Gurudev with great pomp and joy. The CHYKS escorted Gurudev in a motorbike rally for about 20 kms up to the Koot road junction. Gurudev was taken from the junction till the temple (fondly known as ‘Sivan Kovil’) in a ‘pallaku’ (palakhi / palanquin). It was as though every house in the little town was welcoming one of their dear family members home after a long time. Such is the love and connect of the people to the ashram that has been serving them and enriching their lives for more than 25 years through a free school, a free medical centre, a Shiva temple, CORD and much more. One old amma came and gave a gift wrapped box to Priya ji saying, ‘This is a ‘vilakku’ (lamp) for my Gurudev.’
The students of Harihara Vidyalaya enthralled and touched the hearts of all present by showcasing 6 different types of performances such as Silambattam, Puliyattam( dressed as tiger), Mayilattam(dressed as peacock), Oyilattam, karagattam(balancing water pots on their heads)and kolattam(with sticks). A few children dressed up as different National leaders, Gods and Goddesses posed all through the procession. About 50 children from Vivekananda Vidyalaya performed a march-past with orchestra. One could see people from all age groups participate; children, women, youth, adults, elderly, CHYK’s, YuvaVeers… everyone was busy doing something or the other to make sure Gurudev gets the grandest reception that Thamaraipakkam has seen. The entire temple pathway was decorated with colorful rangolis and thoranam. Firecrackers resounded in the sky.
From the gates of the Chinmaya Sarveshvara, His Escorts escorted Him to the temple and then to the auditorium where paduka puja was performed. More than one thousand people took part in this grand procession and about 300 participated in the Guru paduka puja. After the puja the village folks entered CSV with great devotion to have Gurudev’s darshan. Prior to the procession and puja, a quiz was conducted based on Gurdev’s life and work and prizes were distributed. About 75 participated in the quiz.
The next day, 13th June, CSV visited 2 schools R.M Jain in Thiruvallur and Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Sri perumbatur educating about 2000 children and 250 teachers on Gurudev’s life and services. Again the students of Harihara Vidyalaya performed a 40 minute show on Gurudev’s life in Sriperumbatur. Over 1000 people watched and enjoyed the inspiring performance.