Navarathri festival or Sakthi worship

THE Nawarathri festival or Sakthi worship will be held at Modera Sri Venkadeswara Maha Vishnu temple. The Chief Trustee of the Temple Thuraisamy Chettiar and Chairman of the Ranjana Group of Companies has made elaborate arrangements for the benefit of the devotees.

This is a festival which is observed by Hindus in temples and houses to invoke the blessings of the Divine Mother. The cosmic order depends upon the spiritual and moral order.

If there is a decline in the spiritual order the cosmic order gets disturbed. It is the Sakthi which moves the whole universe. Without Sakthi everything will come to a standstill.

Further, to a man's success in life three things are essential. They are health, wealth and knowledge or wisdom. To denote these three things Goddesses Durgai, Luckshmi and Saraswathy are worshipped for nine days.

Modern man in spite of his ability to increase his wealth is faced with a crisis of identity. The confusion and conflict that we witness today have been the consequence of erosion in the moral and spiritual values.

Hinduism emphasises that life is a battle against the spirit of evil. When we shatter the ideas enshrined in Vedas and Upanishads and disturb the social equilibrium we only bring chaos into the world.

The cosmic order depends upon the moral order. When man violate Dharma they would invite destruction on themselves.

Thus, to a world lost in error and beset by illusions of time, weighed down by perplexities Divine is the pillar of light that shows the path to progress.

The traditional observances, customs and ceremonies of the Hindus reflect the profound yearnings of the community for peace and harmony.

The repeated observances down the corridors of time give a vision of the glorious ancient culture. The Hindus calendar abounds in a number of facts and festivals and most of them are of a religious significance.

Nawarathri festival or Sakthi worship in honour of Goddesses Durgai, Luckshmi and Saraswathy will be celebrated for nine nights. In Hinduism the Supreme Lord is represented by Maheswara and His power is represented by His Consort Sakthi.

Just as the husband and wife take care of the family, so also does Shiva and Sakthi look after the affairs of the universe. Sakthi is the embodiment of power. She is the supreme power by which the world is made to function. As such, Navarathri is also called Sakthi worship.

In one of the poems T. S. Eliot has described the predicament of man who with all the progress and success he has made in science and technology finds that "Endless inventions and endless experiments bring us knowledge of motion, but not of stillness, knowledge of words and not of the word. Lord Shivac without Sakthi is all stillness. it is Sakthi which stirs Him to motion and speech.

Shiva is the word, it is Sakthi which moves Him to words. The union between them is represented by the image of Shiva as Arthanariswara, half man and half woman. Sakthi herself takes different forms. She is stern and formidable. Of the many Gods in the Hindu pantheon none is revered more than Mother Goddess.

The mother aspect of the Godhead is worshipped during Navarathri in three phases namely Durgai on the first three days, Goddess Luckshmi on the next three days, Saraswathy on the last three days and Vijayadasami on the 10th day.

Durgai is worshipped for three nights in order that the evil nature in man could be destroyed. Durgai fought the demon Mahishasha and killed him and is referred to as Mahashasiva Mardini. She is the Samhara Shakthi. Durgai astride a lion, is the symbolic annihilation of evil.

The next three nights are dedicated to Maha Luckshmi for material and spiritual welfare. She is portrayed on a red lotus draped in a red saree. She is the protective and sustaining power of Lord Vishnu and the Goddess of Wealth.

During the final three nights Maha Saraswathy is worshipped. She is the creative power of God Brahma and is worshipped as the Goddess of learning.

Goddess Saraswathy is depicted seated on a white lotus draped in a white saree playing the Veena, indicating that she sings the melody of life inviting devotees to merge into the Brahman.

Goddess Saraswathy's appearance connotes purity and transcendence. The White Swan is a symbol of spiritual transcendence and perfection.

She is worshipped for knowledge - the wisdom which will guide one on the onward march to the final goal of liberation.

The worship of Durgai, Luckshmi and Saraswathy in the Navarathri Pooja conveys a significant truth, (ie) the return journey of the embodied soul to merge with Paramaatma.

As such on this Navarathri festival let us pray to mother Goddess for eternal prosperity and everlasting peace in Sri Lanka.

- N. M.

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State Literary Awards ceremony

THE State Literary Awards ceremony 2005 jointly organised by the Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Ministry, the Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Literature Sub Committee of the Sri Lanka Arts Council was held at the BMICH, Colombo on September 28 with the usual cultural pomp and pageantry. Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene was the chief guest.

Thirteen Sinhala writers, 8 Tamil writers and 6 English writers received awards in respect of 29 selected literary works while awards were also presented to the artiste who produced the best cover in respect of books published in 2004, the printer who put out the book with the best finish and the publisher of the most number of literary and the subject related works in 2004.

Another highlight was the presentation of the 'Sahityaratna' honorary title and a cash award of Rs. 50,000 each to three veteran literary personalities in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

This festival is considered as a leading state festival reflecting the country's cultural unity and integrity.

'Sahityaratna' award winners were Sahitya Suri Gunadasa Amerasekara, Sahitya Suri Domini Jeeva and Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

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Face to face with fame at Clinton Global Initiative in New York City

BY PRASAD Abu Bakr

WORLD leaders in business, politics, religion and media got together to develop and implement solutions to existing problems globally.

Glenda Parthipan in her capacity as the Managing Director of her public relations and events management company 'Emphasis' attended the event and grasped the opportunity to pose for photographs with some of the current movie idols from Hollywood and top personalities in American politics.

Much was not anticipated when she joined her husband Mathi Parthipan to attend 'The World Business Forum' which happens annually around this time, simultaneously along with the United Nations Annual General Assembly where all world leaders meet in New York.

Mathi who attended the businessmen's forum along with his BT Options and Business Today team is the main promoters of the event in Sri Lanka.

The Clinton Global Initiative which is spearheaded by former President Bill Clinton is an organisation founded and functioned under the same lines as other charitable institutions UNICEF, UNESCO etc that come under the United Nations.

This year the institution organised a meeting where world leaders met up with other personalities from different fields based globally. This enabled them to exchange ideas and views how existing problems such as poverty and other issues effecting poor nations.

Glenda was invited to the event to interact on how media and public relations can serve in areas connected to these issues along with other organisations and NGOs. Her meeting with Dr. Mohamed Yunus founder of the Grameen Banking system in Bangladesh was a memorable one.

"I first met him while I was working at Ceylinco Savings" said Glenda, explaining that she was a part of a team that visited Bangladesh at the time to study Dr. Yunus' project which led up to the setting up of Ceylinco Grameen Credit Company based on similar principals, initiating to empower women to be independent and financially sound.

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Singalong with Sam the Man

ITS sing-a-long time once again and the evergreen Sam the Man will bring back the Golden Oldies of yesteryear on Sunday October 16 at the auditorium of the Holy Family Convent, Dehiwela.

This concert is organised by the Past Pupils' Association of the Holy Family Convent Dehiwela and will commence at 7 p.m.

Along with the entrance ticket you will receive a book of songs that will be sung at the concert - so you can rehearse them before you come.

You will be able to sing your heart out as Sam the Man leads you from one song to another.

Dalreen, Ronnie Leitch and Radhika are also billed to perform at this concert.

Sam the Man who started this singalong concept together with the Y's Men International of Sri Lanka in 1998 has now produced almost 50 sing-a-long concerts both here and abroad.

There's going to be yet another singalong with Sam the Man on Sunday November 6 at the BMICH organised by the Resource Development Committee of The Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind.

Sam will be accompanied at these concerts by Thushara on keyboards with Sumith on lead guitar, Ranga on bass guitar and Chummy on drums.

Sam the Man is also the featured guest artiste at the California Grill of the Galadari Hotel every Friday and Saturday and he is accompanied by the Ernest Francis Combo.

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Sell-out crowd at 'Pun Sanda Paaya'

THE 'Pun Sanda Paaya' variety show presented by the Moratuwa Arts Forum (MAF) held on August 7 at Buddhist Hall, Moratuwa attracted a capacity crowd of 700 music lovers.

The show generated great entertainment with a wide assortment of vocal, instrumental, dancing and comedy acts performed by both professional and premising youthful artistes of the forum.

Among the 50 MAF performers were well-known personalities such as Christopher Paul, Lincoln de Silva, Chanaka and Lankika Perera, Chandral Fonseka, Sunil Sri and Don Guy, Saman de Silva, Nihal Nelson, Somasiri Fernando, Paul Fernando and Sunil and Piyal Perera.

Varuni Cooray with her troupe of dancing belles provided choreography to most of the vocal items adorned in a colourful array of costumes while the stage backdrop of the sea on a moonlit night with a 'live' fishing boat provided the idyllic scenario depicting true meaning to the program aptly titled 'Pun Sanda Paaya'.

'Saman and the Clan' was the main back up band ably led by the dynamic project chairman Nalaka de Soysa.

The show came to an end with the full complement of MAF artistes coming on stage to sing an animated and gripping version of 'Pun Sanda Paaya Moratuwa Dilenna....' much to the delight of the crowd present.

Among those present at the show were chief guest and well known architect Prasanga de Silva, Shirley de Silva, former Rotary President and DGTM Seylan Bank, Vice Patron of MAF Dr. Prashantha Mendis and founding President of MAF and award winning film/tele actor Asoka Peiris.

The program was effectively compered by Lakma Salgado, Hemaka Fernando and Lalith Kalubowila.

Proceeds of the show will be channelled to MAF's 'Kala Sarana' and 'Kala Diriya' programs directed at helping needy elderly artistes and uplifting youthful talented artistes of Moratuwa. - P.R.