It was indeed a blissful five-turned-six-day online ‘bhajan yatra’ titled Jagadodharini Maa conducted by Smt. Pramodini Rao, Director of Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth’s Chinmaya Naada Bindu Gurukula, in Pune. The five-day bhajan workshop on Devi bhajans was held online from Monday, 5 October to Saturday, 10 October.
The 45-minute sessions were attended by over 400 enthusiastic participants from all over the world waiting for the unravelling of the beautiful songs to be taught and woven into a garland for our Divine Mother! The five songs, written and composed by Smt. Susheela Acharya, mother of Smt. Pramodini, were like meticulously picked out precious gems.
Starting with the fresh Amritavarshini Raag (Karatala Veenadharini) to the soul-stirring Janasammohini (Jagadoddharini Maa), followed by the pathos-filled Ranjini (Rajarajeshwari) to the meditative Chandrakauns (Vishnupriye Varalakshmi) and finally to the colourful and happy Hamsadhvani (Sangeeta Sahitya), it was like appealing to the Divine Mother to take us into her lap and fold.
Smt. Pramodini ensured that all participants got to learn the aaroha and avaroha of each raga before beginning the bhajan. The nuances of each line were taught until one could get the subtlety of the swaras in the song. Watching her exuberance, ever-smiling and patient way of teaching such difficult songs was a treat to each one attending this workshop!
In the end, she helped in connecting the ardent bhajan enthusiasts in the group with the dedicated teachers of Chinmaya Swaranjali. The information of the various on-going classes was shared, thus encouraging the participants to either join existing groups or begin their own Swaranjali groups.
Indeed, a wonderful beginning to the festive season of Navaratri, to bring home blessings from the Divine Mother.
(As reported by participants Rashmi Rao from Bengaluru and Vijaya Rao from Pune)
