ANDOVER, MA–Greater Boston witnessed one of the biggest Car Rallies by Hindu American Community on Saturday. It had about 250 plus cars and over 500 attendees. Rally had a total distance of 70+ miles, stopping at five temples enroute. It was also one of the longest such rallies in the United States, according to organizers.
Drivers braved frigid 16-degree F (minus 10 Celsius) temperatures and chili winds to participate in the rally to celebrate the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya (Birth place of Lord Rama).
The rally started at 7:30 AM after Puja from Sri Chinmaya Maruti mandir in Andover, Massachusetts. It then continued to ISSO Swaminarayan Mandir at the riverfront in Lowell, Shri Radha Damodar Mandir in Shrewsbury, Sri Radha Krishna Mandir in Northborough and concluded at Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland.
Devotees from several other mandirs: BAPS in Lowell, Satsang in Woburn, Dwarkamai temple in Billerica, Sarv Dev Mandir in Oxford and Sri Raghavendra Swami Matha, Shri Gita Mandir in Shrewsbury joined the main rally at one of the stopping points which added to the enthusiasm of the rally participants.
At each stopping point, several youths representing the rally read out an invitation to the mandir to participate in the festivities related to the inauguration of the Ram Mandir. Temples and every Hindu American is suggested to do puja-archana to the temple deity, light five diyas (Diwali), kirtan-bhajan, recitation of Hanuman Chalisa, ringing of bells and watching the online broadcast of the Pran Pratishta (consecration) at the newly built Ram Mandir in Ayodhya at 12:30 PM IST on January 22nd, 2024.
This story was originally published in indianewengland.com. Read the full story here .