Hanumanji on Tour is a Bhakti event where every Hindu Society in London Zone and South Zone sing the Hanuman Chalisa 11 times. In London, a murti makes its way around the Hindu societies and arrives at the finale event where the community and students sing 51 Hanuman Chalisa. NHSF Hertfordshire was fortunate enough to kick-start the event on Wednesday 1st February 2017.
Hanumanji on Tour is one of our best events and we had a great turn out! Preparation had started well in advance and consisted of everything from booking a room in our very own Multi-Faith Centre, ‘The Key’, sending out E-mails and reminders to preparing and organising a presentation as an introduction to the event.
In order for this event to be a success, the delegation was key and it was a great way to get all the committee members involved. We needed to ensure our table for Hanumanji was elegantly decorated so we had used multiple drapes with traditional designs alongside colourful flowers and we even attempted to make our very own clay diva!
The event started with an Aarti and a short opening prayer conducted by Jai Bhadresa, who was also one of our vocalists for the evening. Subsequently, Akshay Patel, our Learning Co-ordinator had delivered a short but sweet presentation explaining a bit about the event and what the Chalisa is all about. We were able to learn about Hanumanji’s background and why he truly is the ideal sevak. We were able to can take many teachings from his life. He serves Shree Ram with no desire for himself and he understands what Sewa really is. Afterwards, I introduced the brilliant musicians who dedicated their time to be at the event and worship Hanumanji. Straight after we were able to start our 11 Hanuman Chalisas.
11 Hanuman Chalisas and final Ram Dhun were sung by some of our very own university students as well as students from other universities; not only was this a great way to pray to Hanumanji but it was a fabulous opportunity for people to showcase their talents by playing instruments and singing! People sang fast and slow and learnt a lot about Hanumanji’s life. It was great to see students coming together through Bhakti and Sewa. Everyone who attended received prashad at the end too.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who made an effort to come to our event
–Naiya Kotecha, NHSF Hertfordshire Events & Sewa Coordinator
