Some call us crazy, others look at us in admiration but we at Sri Raam Dhaam are fuelled by love for the divine and commitment to Dharma! Sri Raam Dhaam’s calendar is punctuated by a schedule of events that is at best described as “extremely packed” during this time of year and carries on in this way till well after Divali. Our halls are continuously abuzz with activity, our members are apace with excitement, we race with divine adrenaline, we settle our hearts in the recesses of our temple – the majestic towering four-story Hindu centre at St. Lucien Road, Diego Martin – the largest of its kind in the Caribbean!
Sri Raam celebrates seven religious observances over a five-month period (August to December), five of which are celebrated with multiple-day programmes each year. August features Sri Krishna Janam Ashtami – the celebration of the Avatar of Bhagwan Sri Krishna; September brings Prathma Puja Devta – Sri Ganeshji and the eleven-day yagna culminating with the eagerly anticipated and now flourishing visarjan ceremony at Chaguaramas. Things settle a bit during the more solemn observance of Pitra Paksha with the worship of our ancestors. Then with joy, in October an air of tapasya again fills our hearts during the auspicious period of Devi Navraatri which brings nine nights of Devi Yagna followed by the visarjan of the Durga Devi Murti worshipped during the yagna; this precedes Ramleela celebrations, where the golden pages of Sri Raamcharitramanasa come alive with the youth of Sri Raam Dhaam leaping into their respective roles in full costume with vigour and zeal. As Ramleela ends we observe Maha Lakshmi Puja and Grand Divali celebrations. While the Hindu calendar settles itself through the holy month of Kartik culminated by the Kartik Nahan pooja in November, Sri Raam Dhaam boldly forges forward into December with the newly initiated three-day International Gita Conference in observance of Gita Jayanti.
During this time, there is an air of unexplained energy and indescribable fervour amongst devotees who themselves are absorbed in the anticipation of devotion, that even their natural states of fatigue and exhaustion are overcome with the busyness of their temple duties. As one can surely expect, these activities call for immense effort in planning and co-ordination. Ours is a spiritual journey which allows us to develop and improve on management, negotiation, public relations, budgeting and many other skills, so critically needed to achieve these tasks and make each event a success.
Preparations begin in the first quarter of the year, where under the direction and guidance of our Spiritual Leader Pundit Maniedeo Persad, we engage in strategy and planning meetings where heads of committees are appointed, who will manage each of the events from conception to completion. This method has proven very effective, ensuring that the true essence of each observance is achieved. Each committee head is a leader in his/her own right, being responsible for planning and management of each aspect of the celebration. One’s own true potential is realized as this indeed is an exercise in team-building and personal and professional development.
It is a true labour of love, each year, a continuous personal journey as an organisation and as individuals to achieve more, commit ourselves more, do more, all in the name of Paramatma.
By Ronald Chuckaree
