2025 Spring (Chaitra) Navratri Festival

Nawan Nagar, March 2025

The sacred devotional festival of Navratri is dedicated to Maa, the Divine Cosmic Mother, and her nine forms. Each year, Vishav Manav Ruhani Kendra (VMRK) exuberantly celebrates Spring and Autumn Navratri at its Nawan Nagar center. Continuing the tradition, VMRK celebrated the entire spring Navratri festival (Chaitra Navratri) from March 30 to April 6, 2025.

A large crowd joined the celebration, honoring Maa in the presence of Sant Baljit Singh Ji. During the eight-day-long festival, many attendees stayed at the center throughout the festival or on selected days. Many locals traveled to and from the center to attend the evening festivities.

Preparations

This celebration was preceded by a spiritual discourse organized on March 28. To learn more about the common preparations VMRK undertook and the transportation services it provided during both these events, read the blog post: Spiritual Discourse, March 2025, Nawan Nagar, Haryana. That blog post described how VMRK dispatched volunteers to patrol the surrounding hilly terrain at night to assist in vehicle-related emergencies in the network blackspots. VMRK extended that transport safety service throughout the festival.

Throughout the entire festival, VMRK offered different meal options. Each day, VMRK provided freshly prepared wholesome vegetarian food. Knowing that many attendees were fasting right through the festival, VMRK also prepared and served them special fasting meals. In addition, VMRK provided a food takeaway facility for the attendees who traveled daily or on selected days. A separate menu of travel-friendly meals that remained fresh for longer periods was offered, which also worked well for those on lengthy journeys.

Evening Programs

Every evening, the entire pathway to the dais was beautifully adorned with freshly drawn rangoli. Inside the main event tent, this pathway was further decorated with colorful floral strings along its borders. The dais for Sant Baljit Singh Ji was also decorated with vibrant, flower strings and bouquets, which were refreshed daily. On this dais hung three portraits: one of Maa and her nine forms, another of Shiv Parivar (Lord Shiva’s Family), and the third of Goddess Parvati worshipping Lord Shiva.

Well before the evening program began each day, many attendees started taking their seats early in the main event tents. The evening program began at 8 pm with professional singers singing devotional songs. The professional singers included Feroz Khan, Master Saleem, Sardar Ali, Masha Ali, Mani Ladla, Gagan Mehra, Vivek Mahajan, Roshan Prince, and Hasmat Sultana. Eight LED screens and audio equipment had already been installed at different points in the tents so that attendees seated at a distance from the dais could enjoy the festivities comfortably.

Each day, Sant Baljit Singh Ji arrived shortly after the singing began and the attendees enjoyed devotional songs in his presence. Some clapped enthusiastically with their hands raised, while others stood and danced with heartfelt exuberance. Sant Baljit Singh Ji, too, sometimes clapped along to the devotional songs. The ambiance created each day was truly mesmerizing.

Towards the end of each evening, Sant Baljit Singh Ji walked among the attendees. By that time, the seating area had extended beyond the main tent, with carpets laid out adjacent to it to accommodate everyone. During this time, little children eagerly stood up with beaming smiles. Some offered flowers to Sant Baljit Singh Ji, which he happily touched as a gesture of acceptance. Others greeted Sant Baljit Singh Ji with folded hands, to which he often reciprocated by bowing his head with folded hands. While the children had a memorable experience, the other attendees also cherished the opportunity to watch Sant Baljit Singh Ji up close.

The devotional songs continued past midnight each day and concluded with an Aarti dedicated to Maa, the Divine Cosmic Mother. Before the beginning and after the conclusion of the Aarti, attendees chanted praises of the various forms of Goddess Durga, raising their hands high in reverence as they did so.

After the evening program ended, as Sant Baljit Singh Ji walked back along the pathway, the attendees chanted together, “Jai Mata Di” (which means “Praise to the Mother Goddess”). Sant Baljit Singh Ji, with a smiling face, often responded with a nod or by repeating the chant. Every night, attendees left the venue filled with the joy experienced that day, and eager anticipation for the remaining days of the Navratri celebration.

Celebrating kanya pujan

In Indian culture, little girls, below the age of 10 years, are called kanya and are respected as a sign of the Divine Cosmic Mother. On April 6, all VMRK centers celebrated kanya pujan to worship the Divine Cosmic Mother, through the worship of these little girls. There is a brief description of kanya pujan in our blog post, 2024 Autumn (Ashvin) Navratri Festival – Kanya Pujan.

Charitable services at Chaitra Navratri 2025

VMRK regularly carries out charitable activities during major events to support those in need. In keeping with this practice, VMRK organized medical camps, blood donation drives, and distributed hygiene kits and educational materials from March 30 to April 7, during the Chaitra Navratri celebration. These activities were held at its center in Nawan Nagar and surrounding regions that extended further to the slums in Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, as well as to the hilly and remote areas of Himachal Pradesh.

The charitable activities VMRK organized during the Chaitra Navratri celebration served:

Medical and hygiene camps

From March 30 to April 7, VMRK continued providing medical services that began during the spiritual discourse a few days prior. See Charitable Services at Nawan Nagar, March 2025. A team of 13 doctors, 8 nurses, 11 pharmacists, and 30 volunteers provided 24-hour medical care at the Nawan Nagar center. The 9-day medical camp served thousands of patients who received medical attention, with more than 100 patients treated in-house at the 24-bed clinical treatment center.

VMRK also organized free medical and hygiene camps in villages and slum areas located within 60 kilometers of the Nawan Nagar center. Each day, a pickup truck was loaded with boxes of medicines, hygiene kits and other essential materials for the charitable activities. In the afternoon, the pickup truck and an SUV left the center with a team of 10 medical professionals and VMRK volunteers.

Upon reaching the location, volunteers first arranged three tables for the medical camp: one for patient registration and first aid, another for patient consultations, and a third for dispensing free medicines. They also arranged chairs for patients in the waiting area. Each camp served patients in the order of arrival whilst giving priority to senior citizens and individuals with special needs. When treating the many patients with hygiene-related issues such as skin allergies, the medical staff also taught them how to prevent such health issues. More than 670 patients received medical assistance.

VMRK prepared hygiene kits to distribute to the slum residents who are often prone to infections and skin allergies due to unhygienic conditions. Each camp was also an opportunity to educate the slum inhabitants on basic hygiene and emphasize that prevention is better than cure. The residents were first organized into a queue, and then the kits were distributed to them one by one. At one location, residents informed the volunteers that a senior citizen was unable to collect the hygiene kit at the distribution site. In response, VMRK volunteers personally visited the individual’s hut to deliver the kit. Throughout these locations, over 1,840 individuals received hygiene kits.

Blood donation camp

VMRK organized a blood donation camp in collaboration with the Civil Hospital, Rupnagar, and the Indian Red Cross Society, Punjab. Held at the event grounds, the camp commenced in the afternoon on the first and last day of the Navratri celebration. On March 30, it concluded as scheduled in the evening, while on April 6, an overwhelming response from prospective donors extended the camp until the night. 261 people who came to donate their blood were first assessed by doctors. After screening, 193 people donated a total of 193 units, i.e., 77.2 liters of blood.

Educational material distribution

Once again, VMRK organized a drive to provide educational items to support school children from poor backgrounds as well as those living in remote areas.

VMRK collaborated with the school management teams at 31 schools and distributed educational materials to more than 1,130 students. These schools were situated in the hilly terrain of Himachal Pradesh within a radius of 160 kilometers from the Nawan Nagar center. Often, the drive to these schools went through narrow and unpaved roads. When the paths became too narrow for our vehicles, our volunteers completed the journey to the school on foot while carrying the school supplies on their backs. One route was so narrow and strewn with boulders that made it impassable by the pickup truck. In response, VMRK volunteers unloaded the materials and trekked half a kilometer to the school, crossing a stream along the way. The school staff were pleasantly surprised at the effort made by VMRK to help these students in need.

Principal, Government Utkrisht Senior Secondary School, Saryanj, Solan, Himachal Pradesh