Guru Purnima 2023

Nawan Nagar, July 2023

On the full-moon day of July 3, 2023 Vishav Manav Ruhani Kendra (VMRK) celebrated Guru Purnima at its center in Nawan Nagar in the state of Haryana in India. With permission from the authorities and help from volunteers who came from many parts of India, VMRK organized the event on 16 hectares of land adjacent to the center. The event was spread across two large areas on either side of the main road. One area was used for the event and langar where VMRK provided free food and accommodation to all who participated in the event. On the other side of the road, VMRK arranged parking facilities with huge parking lots for vehicles and a separate parking lot for motorcycles. VMRK also organized free transportation to and from the train and bus terminals for those who needed it.

The day of the event dawned with an atmosphere of celebration and anticipation. The whole center and event grounds were decorated with lights, flowers, rangoli, and balloons. All paths leading to the stage were decorated with colorful rangoli and flower petal designs. 

Inside the huge main tent, the evening program began at 6:00 pm where professional singers sang bhajans (devotional songs) praising the virtues of the Guru. Sant Baljit Singh Ji arrived just after 8:00 pm and took his seat on the dais. After addressing the audience, Sant Baljit Singh Ji explained that Guru Purnima is a very special day for disciples to commemorate their Guru. God designed this memorable day to benefit disciples so that disciples may express their gratitude towards their Guru and receive their Guru’s blessings.

Darshan program

The Guru Purnima program offered every attendee the opportunity to walk past the dais to have darshan of Sant Baljit Singh Ji. With many thousands in attendance, careful planning was needed to streamline the flow of attendees walking to the dais and back to their seating positions. Therefore, the event tents had been systematically laid out into sections. The darshan program started around 8:30 pm and was managed in an orderly manner. Section by section, each group was invited to form a single line. Then, they walked towards the dais. One by one, each attendee walked past Sant Baljit Singh Ji to have darshan. The darshan continued until the early morning hours of the next day. Throughout this time, the professional singers continued to sing bhajans.

After the darshan program concluded, Sant Baljit Singh Ji spoke for another hour encouraging everyone to firmly tread the path of spirituality, with love and devotion to the omnipresent God.

Charitable services at Guru Purnima 2023

To coincide with the Guru Purnima celebration, VMRK organized a wide range of charitable activities from June 27 to July 3, 2023. This time the activities covered an area of 80 kilometers around the Nawan Nagar center. The activities were also extended to two new locations, Noorpur Bedi and Kiratpur in Ropar, Punjab.

A summary of these charitable services is presented in this blog post. For detailed descriptions of how these programmes are usually run, please read the following blog posts:

• Charitable services at VMRK Pimpalner, February 2023
• Serving communities around Pimpalner in February 2023
• Charitable services at Ashvin Navratri 2022
• Serving villages and slums during Ashvin Navratri 2022.

Medical and hygiene camps

VMRK organized a four-day medical camp at the center in Nawan Nagar that offered free medical consultation, patient care, and medicines around the clock.

Additionally, free medical and hygiene camps were organized in slum areas of Marranwala in the state of Haryana, and Kiratpur Sahib and Noorpur Bedi in the state of Punjab. The hygiene camps were very popular with the slum dwellers who were very excited to receive the much needed hygiene items to help them maintain their health and wellness.

Blood donation camp

On July 3, 2023, VMRK organized a blood donation camp at its Nawan Nagar center in collaboration with the blood bank teams from Command Hospital in Chandimandir, Haryana and Civil Hospital in Roop Nagar, Punjab. 

Donating educational materials to students

VMRK donated educational materials to schools situated in remote areas in the Solan district in Himachal Pradesh. These schools don’t have proper road access and many students walk up to 8 km to school every day.

VMRK charity vehicles often got stuck in the unpaved roads and VMRK volunteers had to push the vehicles to free them. The last miles were covered on foot, with the local volunteers hiking on narrow mountain footpaths and trails while carrying the heavy charitable materials and banners on their back. The schools were pleasantly surprised at the effort made by the VMRK volunteers to help these students in need.