With the divine blessings of His Holiness Pujyashri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal, the 31st Aradhana Mahotsavam of HH Pujyashri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamigal – the 68th Shankaracharya of Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was performed by devotees in Washington DC at residence of Smt. Lakshmi and Sri Venkat Gopalan. This is the 31st instance the function is being held in the DC area.
The aradhana celebration, attended by 40 priests, was led by Brahmasri Venkatrama Sastrigal and Bhaskar Sastrigsl ( both had adhyayanam at Sri Matam patasalas) was conducted in a traditional manner with abhisekham to the holy Padukaas with 11 draviams , chanting SriRudram, pancha sookthams, chants of different rigveda and Krishna yajurveda mantras for every ones well being . This was followed by upachara mantras and TotakaAshtakam.
The main aspect of the event was the offering of traditional samaradhana to the 40 priests from different temples in DC, Maryland and Virginia. After the ritual samaradhana the priests blessed devotees with akshadai aseerwadham, followed by annadhanam to devotees.
Srimatam Prasadam and prasadam from respective temples were offered as ashirvadam to all devotees . Children sang bhajans that was taught to them by teachers of Sri Vidya Kamakshi Samithi . In the evening, devotees had darshan and ashtottara archana was performed. About 100 devotees attended the function. Some pictures of the function are in the link below.
Hara Hara Sankara! Jaya Jaya Sankara!
