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On the occasion of Annakut Mahotsav, Swaminarayan Akshardham temples in India and abroad on Monday offered different types of sweets and delicacies along with prayers to the deity.
Annakut Mahotsav is one of the most important festivals, as it commemorates the day Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan Parvat to safeguard the people of Vraj against Lord Indra''s vengeful rains. Celebrated on the 4th day of Diwali, "Annakut" literally translates to "Mountain of Food". Radhika Shukla, a spokesperson of Delhi''s Akshardham Temple, told ANI, like every year, they did the Govardhan ritual at the temple premises. "As we know Lord Krishna, on the tip of his finger, lifted Govardhan hill to save his devotees. We have been maintaining that ritual... The soil for the Govardhan parvat that we installed here today has been brought down from the actual Govardhan parvat (in Mathura district)," Shukla said. "We also worshipped cows, which are considered to be sacred in Hindu texts and are a symbol of motherhood. As we know, Lord Krishna is also known as Gobinda...We prepared about 1,200 vegetarian dishes for offerings, which is called Annkut Utsav. In Hindu texts, it is said all humans are festival lovers. If we talk about the Swaminarayan community, this festival has been celebrated since Bhagwan Swaminarayan''s days...Today, we are celebrating the festival in all our 1,400 BAPS Swaminarayan temples globally in a grand manner," she said. The Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a socio-spiritual Hindu faith committed to the service of God and society. Based on the Vedic teachings propagated by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE), it was formally established in 1907 CE by Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj. Commonly known as BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha or just ''BAPS'', its global network of mandirs and centres host many moral, social, cultural and spiritual activities. (ANI)
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