Maa Jagdambe Chowki in Radhe Maa's sannidhya

For the tenth year, thousands of devotees of Hindu guru cheer as she makes a grand entry from the ‘heavens’ on her birthday; devotees plan various social service initiatives across India in the year ahead

By a correspondent

Mumbai: 4 March, 2013: Mamtamai Shri Radhe Guru Maa’s devotees organised a Maa Jagdambe Chowki for the 10th year in Mumbai to commemorate her birthday. This time, Mamtamai Shri Radhe Guru Maa appeared from the cosmic world (Brahmand) to give divine darshan to her devotees at Kora Kendra, Borivali (west) on 3rd March. The Brahmand was a specially designed cubicle shaped like the crescent moon inside a lotus that was lowered with the help of a crane to the ground. 

The crane was ordered so devotees would not have to rush to the podium to catch a glimpse of the guru as she came on stage. "The idea was to avoid a stampede like situation as Guru Maa entered the venue. The 'Brahmand' concept was put in place so that devotees, especially women devotees with children, those with disabilities and senior citizens would not have to compete in the crowd to catch a glimpse of Guru Maa. The idea worked beautifully and all were able to have darshan from the convenience of their seats," said Sevadar Sanjeev Gupta, a devotee of Shri Radhe Maa.        

 Thousands of the guru’s followers flew in from UK, America, Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai, Hong-Kong and Australia to attend the event. Bhajan samrat Padamshree Anup Jalota, bhajan singer Ram Shankar, bhangra king Sardool Sikander and popular singing star Jaspinder Narula were among the impressive lineup of performers who shone on stage on the memorable evening.

Special arrangements were made at the venue for seating senior citizens, sadhus, sants, gurus and those with disabilities. Water dispensers and toilets were placed across the ground for easy access by the thousands of devotees who assembled for the event. A fire brigade truck and ambulance were also kept on standby at the venue.        

The 10th edition of Maa Jagdambe chowki also kick started several social service campaigns by devotees of Shri Radhe Maa across India like free dental, eye, heart and blood check-ups that have been a part of the group's social service programmes for over 20 years now. The first event in the series after the chowki is a blood donation camp scheduled for the last week of March at the Shri Ram Trade Centre in Borivali (West), Mumbai, in association with Dr RN Cooper Hospital in the same city.

The fortnight-long celebrations also included a massive sadhu bhoj programme across India, which involved feeding of thousands of sadhus, sants and gurus of various lineages. The Guru's devotees have also organised a vastra daan event, which encourages members of the public to donate old clothes to orphanages, old age homes and NGOs for the disabled.

The annual 'Mata ki Chowki’ organised by devotees of Mamtamai Shri Radhe Guru Maa is one of the largest spiritual events in Mumbai supported by the trader community, political leaders and members of outdoor advertising associations. The event is free and open to all irrespective of caste, creed, religion and social status.

As it has been for the past 10 years, the event was managed by Shri Radhe Guru Maa's sevadars who had also organized a free langar for all attending devotees.