Third World Agnihotra Day celebration Reports

12^th March, is celebrated as ‘WORLD AGNIHOTRA DAY’ , the day of deliverance of humanity from Dark Age of ignorance and evil to the path of light and liberation by Shree. On this auspicious day of 12^th March in the year 1942 Lord Parshuram appeared in physical form before ‘Shree’ (Paramsadguru Shree Gajanan Maharaj of Shivapuri, Akkalkot) and initiated ‘HIM’ with the mystic Tripuri Mantra, also referred to as Shrividya in ancient scriptures. Following this on Vijayadashami day on 27.9.44 HE took the vow  ‘ I WILL REJUVENATE THE VEDAS’. On the very same day the Sapta Shloki (Seven Verses) were revealed unto HIM. These seven verses give SHREE’s message or the code of conduct of Vedas in the form of Five-Fold Path.

Agnihotra is proving to be solution to all the problems created by this era. Be it the atmospheric pollution or mental strain, addiction or ecological imbalance. People are eager to hear this message. Keeping this need of the people in mind it was felt necessary to make a concerted effort with a mass movement, at least once in a year, to spread the message of Agnihotra to as many as we can. 12th March is the day chosen for this annual event.

This year the  WORLD AGNIHOTRA DAY was celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm through out India. By Shree’s Grace the ‘Agnihotra Program’ was telecast on the same day on ETV (a national TV channel )

Agnihotra Exhibitions, Group meetings, Public rallies, Free Blood Donation and Medical relief camps, door to door propagation, Stalls for Agnihotra material and literature in public places, Cleanliness Drives in cities, were some of the several activities undertaken by Agnihotris to celebrate WAD in different cities.  Since it was Mahashivaratri day (an important festival in India) many Agnihotra teachers had put up Agnihotra stalls in temples and performed Tryambakam Havana and Ganesh Yagas there.

Renowned public figures and social workers from the respective towns and cities were invited to Public meetings held on the evening of 12^th March. These were also advertised. Agnihotra exhibitions were arranged and ‘Mass Agnihotra’ was performed in the evening at all such meetings held at several cities throughout India. We are receiving hundreds of reports from different centers. Here are some of the reports of activities arranged to share the message of Agnihotra by people in different places.

Mumbai: The program was arranged at the Ganesh Udyan Mandir, Shivaji Park. The celebrations started with morning Agnihotra. Agnihotra exhibition stall was put up in the Temple from 8 AM to 8 PM. About 1500 visitors visited the stall and collected literature. The evening Agnihotra was performed by Smt. Rangnekar in the temple and was attended by about 100 persons. The news about this event was also published in the local news papers.

Ratnagiri: The program began with the 10' O clock Vyahruti followed by a meeting of all the Agnihotris in Ratnagiri. Shri Kane and Shri M D Patwardhan then explained Shree's mission to the new Agnihotris who had come for the meeting. Following this, the groups went for meetings arranged at Utkarshanagar, Kharvi. Several people bought Agnihotra kits for commencing Agnihotra after the meetings A 12 hour Tryambakam Havan was arranged at the place of Agnihotri Shri Porsudkar from Sangameshwar taluk.

Aurangabad: About 50 to 55 Agnihotra teachers had gathered at the Ulkanagri Agnihotra House for morning Agnihotra. After Agnihotra they  separated out for door to door propagation. A Blood donation camp was also held on this occasion which got good response. Ganeshh Yaga was performed at Urjanagar where some of the renowned public figures from Aurangabad were invited. A 12 hour Tryambakam Havana was performed at the residence of Sau Pratibha Kulkarni.  To take advantage of the Mahashivaratri festival an Agnihotra exhibition was arranged at the Khadkeshwar temple in Aurangabad.

Coimbtore: A public meeting was held on the occasion of WAD in the Perks School in Coimbtore which was attended by about 200 Agnihotris. Shri Ramaranganathan addressed the meeting stressing the scientific background as also explaining how Agnihotra helps improve confidence to face day to day problems. It was also decided to print a small message saying " Purify the atmosphere. Perform Agnihotra." at the bottom of every question paper.

Delhi: The program was organized at the residence of Shri Subir Mulchandani. This was attended by old and new Agnihotris. Gayatri Havana was performed in the evening for half an hour. The problem of supply of Cow Dung Cakes was discussed. Shri Narang who had some spare distributed the same amongst new Agnihotris.

Talegaon: Here about 30 Agnihotra teachers had planned the program a month in advance.  An auto rickshaw was hired to announce the program throughout the city.

On 12th of March Agnihotra Exhibitions were arranged at 3 different public places. Through these exhibitions the message was shared with more than 5000 people and about 20 new Agnihotra were started! Overall it was a big success. Families of Shri Rao, Borkar, Mahadik, Sonawane, Pawar and Chikne actively did propagation work on the stalls.  

Hyderabad: As usual the strong team of Agnihotra teachers  from Hyderabad did commendable work on this WAD too. Two exhibitions were arranged one at the Kukkatpalli Shiva temple in Hyderabad and other at Maheshwaram Shiva temple which is about 35 km from Hyderabad. The response was overwhelming. Particularly the exhibition at Maheshwaram temple attracted very good crowd. By evening the temple authorities had also allowed the use of their public-addresal system for sharing the message of Agnihotra. Thrust was on the theme ' You are taking Lord Shiva's darshan, now get to know His message of Agnihotra which is dear to all Gods and Goddesses" Fire worship is the worship of all worships- the basic worship. Scores of devotees of Lord Shiva got to know about Agnihotra, many bought Agnihotra material and literature to commence practice.

Tirthahalli: Here too Shri Krishna Shetty had done meticulous planning well in advance. On 12th March, all Agnihotris gathered at the Akshay Holistic center before the 10 'O clock Vyharuti following which . Tryambakam Havana was performed for half an hour. Shri Krishna Shetty who himself has done Agnihotra farming explained its various benefits and also gave a demonstration. An exhibition with photographs and scientific study reports was arranged in the evening.

Mahabaleshwar: As per a request from a local institution Shri V S Zore of Mahabaleshwar had decided to perform Havana at a Shiva temple near the town. It was on the outskirts and did not have any lighting arrangement. Since crowds were expected towards late evening he was worried about this. Surprisingly however a day prior to the WAD the wire-men of the State Electricity Board arrived at the site and fitted Street lamps near the temple. On inquiring  it was found that, none, not even the Trustees of the temple  had ever made any request to the State board for this! It was Shree's grace. His assurance that He is always behind us was experienced by Shri Zore as many others have experienced it. The program was a big success.

Mahad: Mrs Aruna Joshi of Mahad had arranged a meeting in the morning and in the evening. The morning meeting was attended by 25 ladies and the evening meeting by 40 ladies. The message of Agnihotra was shared with all of them.

Gaya: Shri Shashikumar Chourasia of Gaya had planned a public meeting on the ocassion.It was attended by many renowned people from the town, The message of Agnihotra was shared with all these new people. This also got coverage in the leading local daily 'Jagran'

Latur: Agnihotra exhibitions were arranged in two temples in the town. Copies of an informative article by Shri M S Parkhe bringing out the relevance of Fire worship as the true form of 'Shiva worship' were distributed to the devotees coming for darshan to the temple of lord Shiva. The same were also published in the local news papers. Tryambakam Havana and mass Agnihotra was performed in the evening session in the Gauri Shankar temple. More than 500 people visited the exhibitions and collected literature.