By the grace of the Lord and the divine guidance of Shri Sadgurudeva Ji Maharaj, the devotees of Bradford, U.K. worked very hard in preparing their Mandir for the arrival of the Lord. In 2007, Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, together with HRH Prince Phillip, inaugurated the prayer hall and community centre of the Bradford Hindu Temple.
Bradford, the Queen and Shri Sadgurudev Ji maharaj
Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj with HRM the Queen, HRH Prince Phillip, and the Chairman of the Bradford Hindu Cultural Society Aksharpal Dharani Ji.
This year, from the 16th to the 20th of April, 2008, the grand Consecration Ceremony was held and celebrated as the Prabhu Pran Pratishtha Mahotsava.
The first day consisted of Jala Yatra to the river in the Yorkshire Dales beside the famous Bolton Abbey to collect water and cleanse the deities before the commencement of the celebrations proper.
On the 17th morning, the Pujas started with invocation of the deities of the Mandalas, installation of Kalashes, and beginning of the first of the Adhivasas (immersions). The deities were immersed in water, grains, ghee, panchamrita, fruit and flowers before being requested to sleep in preparation for Prana Pratishtha (invocation of the life-forces of the Lord into the deities). The festivities also included many lectures, bhajans and Keertanas; with Aarti and bountiful Prasadam.
Click on any image below to enlarge.
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- Bolton Abbey
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- the Lord chose the river beside the Bolton Abbey for His first rituals
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- The Lord’s vigrahas immersed in the river. Sri Bal Gopal Ji is having a swim :)
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- Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj, the light to us all, and the guide for these ceremonies.
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- Devotees ready for Puja on the cold morning of the 16th, lead by Acharya Pandit Hari Prasad Shastri, of Vrindavan Dham.
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- Devotees – in the left, Bradford Temple priest Shri Shaktidhar Sharma, Sectretary Shri Kamaljit Sharma, Shri Subhash Dharani and Shri Baldev Krishan, trustees from the Hindu Cultural Society of Bradford.
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- Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj, with Acharya Pandit Shri Hariprasad Shastri, and Shivashri Subrahmaniam Shivacharya who was present to guide the installation of Murugan Bhagavan (Kartikeya)
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- Devotees standing for Aarti after the first day of rituals on the 17th with the deities covered in orange after the Annadhivasa
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- The numbers of devotees grew steadily over the days to a whopping 1000 on Sunday
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- Mangala Aarati to Shri Venkateshvara’s Utsava Vigraha
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- Maha Snapanam of Shri Rama Parivar by Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj on the 19th, the day of Consecration.
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- Maha Snapanam continued…
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- Maha Snapanam of the Mandirs Main Deities – Shri Lakshmi Narayan Bhagavan
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- Maha Snapanam of the deities of the Supreme Lord Shri Radha Golokavihari – the deities were worshipped for the past 25 years in the Old Mandir before moving across to the new one.
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- Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj and Shivashri Subrahmaniam Shivacharya performing Kalashabhishekam of Shri Venkateshvara Bhagavan
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- Maha Snapanam of Shri Manakameshvara Mahadeva in the Shivalayam
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- Shivashri Shashikumar Shivacharya, who came from London to help install Shri Venkateshvara and Shri Murugan
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- Keertan carried on intermittently, aided with dholak from Sanjiv Ji (BBC Asian Network) and Dr. Shukla Ji.
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- The talented and humble Pandit Shri Vishnudatta Sharma of Newcastle Hindu Mandir was there to delight the Panjabi part of the audience with lovely Mata Ji’s Bhents, and then the rest of us with stimulating Harinam Sankirtan
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- Pt. Vishnudatta Sharma, Nimbarki Shri Ghanshyam Sharan (Visiting Katha-Vachaka) from Gujerat, and Vallabhacharya’s Pushti Margeeya Pt. Shri Puranchand Shastri from Vrindavan – all three excellent at singing the name of the Lord.
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- Maha Devata Aavahana Homam in the purposely built Yagya Shala
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- Phaladhivasa – immersion of deities in fruit by Pt. Shri Krishna Sharan Shastri of Golok Dham, Delhi and Pt. Shri Shaktidhar Sharma of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple, Bradford.
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- Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj unveils the Souvenir Publication
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- Jam-packed crowd for Sunday – awaiting Darshan of the Lord, who at that time was consuming His 56-bhog offerings (Chhappan Bhog)
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- The curtains parted for the first Darshan and Maha Aarati led by Shri Sadgurudev Ji Maharaj
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- Maha Aarati to Shri Manakameshvara Shiva Parvati and Ganeshji in the Shivalayam
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- First deity – Shri Ganesh Ji
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- Second deity – Shri Yogamaya Durga Bhavani
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- 3rd deity, Shri Ram Parivar with Hanuman Ji on the first darshan day – 20th of April, which was Hanuman Jayanti!
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- Main Deities of Shri Shri Lakshmi Narayan Bhagavan
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- The very much loved and worshipped deities of Thakur Shri Shri Radha Krishna Bhagavan
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- Shri Hanuman Ji Maharaj on His Hanuman Jayanti Day!
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- Shri Padmavati Sameta Shri Venkateshvara Bhagavan Tirupati Balaji
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- Shri Manakameshvara Shiva Parivar
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- Shri Murugan (Kartikeya Bhagavan)
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- Shri Shri Manakameshvara Mahadeva with Shri Murugans utsava Vigrahas in the background
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- Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple from the outside
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- Bradford, the Queen and Shri Sadgurudev Ji maharaj
I was privileged to be present at the consecration ceremony in Bradford on the final Sunday and on the Thursday evening. Seeing these pictures reminded me of what a special event this was.
Thanks to Shri Sadgurudeva Ji Maharaj for his hard work in helping the people of Bradford in this. Also thanks to the blogger for putting this page together!
By: Chris on May 5, 2008
at 4:08 PM
[...] is a nice entry detailing the inaugeration of the mandir on the blog of Shri Sadgurudeva Ji Maharaj, which has many [...]
By: We have a new Mandir « Westerner Interested in Hinduism on May 5, 2008
at 6:09 PM
Very nice pics
By: Krish on September 13, 2009
at 1:51 PM