It is sad to announce that Valiben Jivabhai Savabhai Odedra from Leicester, UK (Fatana – India) has passed away. She passed away peacefully on Wednesday 28th November 2012, 5:05am at Glenfields Hospital, Leicester.
Sitting and Bhajan at Mr Balubhai Jivabhai Odedra’s resident at 5 The Approach, Leicester, LE5 5GE. Friday – Bhajan from 7:30pm, Saturday – Bhagvat Gita Paath from 8pm, Sunday – Bhajan from 7:30pm
Funeral has been arranged for Monday 3rd December 2012 at 9:30am from 5 The Approach, Leicester, LE5 5GE Tel: 0116 2733421 or 07985296314
Funeral ceremony will take place from 10:30am at:
Gilroes Cemetery and Crematorium
“The festivals are like a map charting our spiritual progress in God”
Jai Shree Krishna ॐJai Durga Mataji
26th September 2012 Ref. Cultural Celebrations
Dearest Gnati Brothers and Sisters
We hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. The LMCA have been very busy preparing for the forthcoming celebrations. Please find details of the festivities:
This year’s music will be presented by renowned singers and musicians of Gujarat and is being led by Jeet Keshwala from Porbandar. Please note we are privileged to be able to invite the music group as they are very much in demand.
Navratri 2012àTuesday 16th October – Wednesday 24th October 2012
Timescales: 7pm to 11.30pm prompt – Garba for ladies will begin at 7pm
(During less busy period’s of Navratri, should any Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Family wish to play mix Raas, with consideration to our traditions and respect to our Elders they are most welcome to. Announcements shall be made and we request for everyone to be prompt as the music team will be limited by time.)
** Please make sure to organise your share holder passes or tickets before Navratri**
Fancy Dress àFriday 19th October @ 8pm promptly (Entry numbers to be collected on Thursday)
Competition is open to boys and girls 14 years of age and under. Further information and entry numbers can be obtained from Tamuben Sida and Deviben Khunti. We strongly request participants to be in proper costumes. Judges will be looking for unique concepts and effort.
Arti Design àFriday 19th October @ 8pm promptly (Entry numbers to be collected on Thursday)
Arti plate decoration competition is open to children and adults. We would like to request our Elders to especially encourage children and take part in decorating an Arti plate. Further information and entry numbers can be obtained from Bhanuben Sida and Pushpaben Odedra.
Dress Code àSaturday 20th October
We encourage everyone to wear Maher Traditional Clothes on this day during which our Gnati Baheno’s can perform a customary Raasado and the Gents will have an opportunity to play Dandia-Raas to the dhol. (Optional).
Dance/Dress Competition àSaturday 20th October
Following last year’s success, there will be an opportunity for everyone to take part in a healthy competition. Please note, winners will be selected providing the participants are in costume as stated above ‘Maher Traditional Clothes’.
Raffle àWednesday 24th October
Raffle draw with 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be held at 10pm.
Dassera Havan àSaturday 27th October at 12pm
Our Gnati brothers and sisters are invited to attend Havan and Bhajan Celebrations during the day at 12pm. Should anyone wish to take part in the Havan, please register your name with Pratapbhai Lakhabhai Odedra or Geetaben Maheshbhai Karavadra who will be able to provide further information.
Important Information
àShare Holder Passes / Tickets: First of all, we give you our heartfelt thanks for being supportive of our decision to introduce a system of Shareholder Passes and Tickets (for non shareholders). We ask that this support continues to ensure a smooth and enjoyable Navratri festival. To those of you who have not already applied for Shareholder Passes or 9- day family/single Tickets please do so as a matter of urgency. The cut off date for applications to be submitted in order for you to have guaranteed passes or tickets in time for Navratri is Monday 8th October 2012. You can still apply after this date, but there is no guarantee that your Shareholder Passes or Tickets will be ready in time. Furthermore, you will not be able to make these applications on the day at the door. We are sure that you would rather be celebrating Navratri than be involved in lengthy queues to gain entry! For this reason, only single night tickets (£5.00 per person) will be available for purchase at the door.
àDonations/Shares: We would like to sincerely thank our Gnati members for generous donations last year, through which we are able to achieve such projects. There is a request to everyone who has not yet purchased the available shares to do so. Upon the purchase of the £300 membership share, discounted venue bookings will be offered as well as community events such as Navratri being free. Membership will also become restrictive in the near future. Further information and applications are available at our centre.
àSecurity and Parking: For your own safety, please be advised to follow instructions carefully in the car park. Children should be supervised at all times and warned not to leave the premises while attending the events. The security staff will not hesitate to remove anyone from the premises under the influence of alcohol or any intoxicating substances. Please be aware, these events are cultural and we should avoid generating any negative impression in front of children.
àSponsorship: There are many local businesses that are supporting this year’s Navratri and we will very much appreciate if you can take an interest in finding out more information about their products and services. Please find enclosed some literature and also look out for informative banners, with contact details of the sponsors in our centre. Should you wish to sponsor the event and/or include information about your business/trade then contact Vivekbhai Khistariya (Centre Manager).
àChange of Name/Address: Please update the centre with any changes to personal information or address as soon as possible.
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Please note that our community website http://www.maheronline.org as well as centre website http://www.mahercentre.com will be updated with information on the celebrations and should you require further information or have any queries, do not hesitate to contact our centre or approach any of the volunteers.
Sincere thanks and we look forward to seeing you very soon!
|| Jai Shree Krishna || Jai Mataji ||
Dilip Rambhai Karavadra
Geetaben Maheshbhai Karavadra
On behalf of The Leicester Maher Community Association
1st official Singles only event 2012
Dear Singles!
Our Maher Community is widely recognised as one of the most progressive and close-knit around the world. However, our proud community faces many challenges to maintain its identity and rich heritage in modern era.
Marriage is a significant part of our culture and religion. Finding a suitable partner is becoming ever more difficult and community has realised that there is a need to organise Singles Events, hence we have organised the 1st official Singles only event at our new Maher Centre, Leicester on 1st December 2012.
We encourage all singles to register online at www.maheronline.org/events/register-for-singles-event-2012 to attend this event which will be completely free of charge. To register you must be aged between 21 to 39 years old. Parents and community members are requested to support this event by encouraging their sons and daughters to attend the event.
Once registered online you will receive two e-tickets for the event via email, one for the single person taking part and another for a friend or family member that may wish to come.
If you have any further questions regarding this event then please email them to events@maheronline.org or write to Maher Centre, Ravensbridge Drive, Leicester, LE4 0BZ
Dilipbhai Karavadra presenting award to Devraj Gadhvi
Beej Bhajan were held at the Maher Centre Mandir (Temple) on Monday 17th September 2012 from 7pm til 11pm.
Special guest Devraj Gadhvi from India, who has been invited by the Centre to perform several Lok Dairo & Kathiyavadi Lok Sahitiya.
Food & Drink (maha prasadi) was kindly provided by Dilip Ram Karavadra & Family, presently residing in Leicester, originally from Sodhana gam (village) of Porbandar District, Gujarat, India.
Hitesh keshwala from Los Angeles, California, USA has produced a short video and song on India called “India Meri Jaan” meaning India is my life. This is great achievement for Hitesh, who is a student.
This just show that no matter how far away you are from your motherland weather you call it India or Bharat or simply “desh” it’s always in your heart and mind.
We should be proud of our country, culture, heritage and above all religion. {youtube}0wjQoAwZG5Q{/youtube}
The Amarnath Goofa, a place where your mind and soul feel pure, your bond with god strengthens and miracles occur.
Within the beauty of Kashmir, lies the sacred temple, the Amarnath Goofa, a goofa were Shankar bhagwans ling forms naturally, and melts down naturally.
Early morning on the 19th of July 2012, we set out on my first ever yatra, with my dad, mum, Jiva mama and Simran mami and from the moment I woke up I knew it would be a memorable one. I had decided that the only way I would get to the top, to the goofa, would be by walking and I knew this was the hardest challenge I had set myself so far. As we started our journey walking from Panjtarni, the weather was hot, but bearable, and I knew walking up hill would be a mission! We began walking with Jiva mama at front, my dad and I in the middle and my mum and Simran mami at the end. Keeping up with Jivamama and his speed walking was impossible, so I persuaded my dad to walk slower!
Walking on the narrow path on the mountains was scary, especially with horses, palkis and people walking, all both ways, the dangers were high, but the only thing in mind was our destination. I repeatedly chanted only one mantra in my head: “Jai Shankar Bhagwan” and moved forward. As we got higher, the road more dangerous in some places rather than others, the traffic got bigger. As we walked up, our eyes caught sight of two to four people walking on a smaller, short cut pathway; it was then a woman coming down on a horse shouted, “take that short cut, you’ll cut past all the traffic.” Without giving it a second thought we took the “short cut” that ended up to be the most dangerous route ever. The small pathway soon disappeared and we were climbing up the mountain, holding onto the stones to ensure we didn’t fall down, straight into the Amar Ganga. Thankfully we slowly and safely reached the top.
The higher we got, the lower the oxygen levels went, and I was finding it hard to walk, I would be out of breath within seconds. Finally we reached Sangam, the point where all the paths and yatris met together, at that point Jivamama shouted, “we’re here!” he went forward, leaving us behind to find Simranmami, who had left us behind and gone up on a horse, and that was the last time we saw him that day. It was at this point the hardest part of our journey began. There were three paths leading up to the goofa, knowing our luck at the time, we took the hardest route up. The oxygen was so low, I would walk a few steps at be out of breath, slowly we were walking up, stopping to take a break every five steps. It felt like we had been walking for hours on end but the goofa was getting further and further away.
amarnath map Location in Jammu and Kashmir
Slowly, painfully the three of us, my dad, mum and I, were getting closer to the goofa. Energy less and breathless I sat down for the 10,000th time, my eyes became heavy and I was feeling extremely sleepy, but I knew not to sleep, my destination was not far, I kept chanting “Jai Shankar Bhagwan” in my mind. My dad suddenly got up and walked forward to find Jivamama, leaving my mum and me behind, but not going too far ahead. After walking some more I was out of breath again, so I sat down on the ice. As I was taking a rest a man, in his late forties, smiled at me and asked where I had come from. Not revealing too much to this stranger, I replied by saying “Gujarat” he smiled at me, I smiled back, got up and began to walk again. Within seconds I sat down again, I could hardly breathe. I sat for about five minutes, my mum sitting further away from me, the same stranger came to talk to me, he asked if I was okay, I nodded as I was unable to breathe, he then took my hand and began to walk with me. I stammered, “m-m-mum” and glanced over at my mum; she had got up and was walking with us. He looked over at my mum, again at me and said in Hindi “don’t worry I’m your mama.”
My heart panicked a bit at first, but seeing my mum at my side I was okay and I walk hand in hand with this stranger, who open heartedly called himself my mama. After walking for some time I was again out of breathe and I sat down again. My new mama saw me struggling to breathe, he took out two oxygen pumps from his pocket and gave me two puffs of each and I was able to breathe again. I was still confused on whether to trust this man or not, but meeting him in such a holy place I did finally trust him.
After walking some more with this man, I found out he was a doctor and ran his own Bhandara, which had space for 300 people to sleep in, they catered food for all yatris, free of charge. A few more minutes of walking and we caught up with my dad, who had not been too far ahead. The three of us were together again and with my mama, who was slowly taking us to the top. We had soon left the path, all the other yatris were going up, and my mama was taking us up a VIP route. Suddenly out of nowhere we heard our name being shouted out, it was Simranmami, and she had found us, the four of us where together.
Finally after what seemed like forever, we had reached the goofa, it was in front of us. As we stood outside, my mama showed such beauties in the mountains, that we would never have seen if he was not with us. In the mountain opposite the goofa, we saw Sheshnag sitting at the top, his face clearly visible. Further along were two pinds in the mountain, next to each other, representing Radha Krishna. On the far left of the same mountain were five more pinds also next to each other, these representing the five Pandavas, it was amazing how they were the only pinds in the mountains, and how they still existed. On the right had side of the goofa, high up in the mountain, Ganesh bhangwans face was visible, it felt as if he was watching down on us, welcoming the yatris to the goofa. On the left hand side of the goofa, again high in the mountain sat Nandi. Being able to actually see these gods’ faces in the mountains was amazing; this extraordinary creation in such a place could only have been made by God himself. It was after we saw all the gods, we had darshan of the two white doves, the only living creatures up there, the birds that are reborn again and agai
n from when Shankar bhagwan himself was there, making our yatra even more special.
After seeing the amazing creations in the mountains, we headed inside the goofa, thanks to my mama we did not have to be searched, nor did we have to remove any luggage. Once we were at the top, where the old helipad landing was, we removed our shoes, and sat on chairs bought specially for us. It was amazing how every army officer saluted my mama, the respect he was getting proved he was a good man, and we were extremely lucky to have met him. Once everyone had taken off their shoes and put plastic bags on their feet (walking on ice barefooted is impossible, we needed the plastic bags on top of our sock!) we made our way to the front of the gate to do darshan. Thanks to my mama, we stood in the VIP corner, our eyes fixed on the shivling, it was beautiful, and it felt as if Shankar bhagwan himself was standing in front of us. Looking at it, standing there brought tears to my eyes, it was unbelievable, I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to be standing there, I felt like the luckiest person alive. A sense of energy and happiness rushed through my body, my mind and soul felt pure, the tiredness and ache in my body had gone and I felt alive again. I couldn’t take my eyes off the shivling, it was beautiful.
Ice Lingam at Amarnath Cave
The shivling was as tall as 8 foot, and next to it a smaller ling, the ling of Mata Parvati. After doing darshan for around 20 minutes, which still did not seem long enough, we moved to the opposite corner, where the pundits stood. Thanks to my mama again, we were given lotas, naryars, parshad, Amarganga water, all from where the shivling was and were made to do pooja. It was an amazing experience; I felt blessed as if Shankar bhagwan himself was around us and had happily accepted our prayers. I was finally there, after all the struggle I had made it and it was unbelievable, all thanks to my mama. On his saying we stayed longer in the goofa, in order to complete the arti, and we decided to stay the night at the top, with my mama. As we stood in front of the ling, waiting for the arti, my mama made a very true statement to my mum, “I have called you my sister and you have called me brother, in this pure and holy place, in front of Bhole Nath himself, it is because of his will we have met, this proves our brother sister bond was meant to be and will last forever.” A man, who was a stranger a few hours ago, was now so close to our heart and had done so much for us, made this an experience we will never forget.
The experience we had truly was a miracle, we had a magical experience, and for me God himself came in the form of my mama to help me reach the top. One thing’s for sure, dedication, belief and a will can help you accomplish any goal in life. This experience made me more of a Hindu seeing what was in the goofa was amazing and only god can create such a beauty, so high up in the mountains. There is only one thing a fit and healthy Hindu should accomplish in their lifetime, an Amarnath Yatra this is a place where the world’s beauty lies. I’ve been there once and with god’s grace I’ll go there again.
