Followers of the Haridham Sokhada Swaminarayan sect celebrated Diwali and “Annakut” (food offering) at the Miramar Community Hall in Wellington on October 15.
The event was attended by devotees and their families, as well as guests, drawn mostly from the Wellington-based Gujarati diaspora, who gathered to chant hymns and offer food to the sect’s pantheon of patron saints.
The food, prepared by the community’s households, was placed in containers stacked on a rack around the portraits of the saints, before being distributed as “prasad.”
The food offerings comprised 126 different dishes.
The assembly heard a discourse, via video presentation, delivered by the Gujarat-based spiritual head, Prem Swaroopdas Swamiji Maharaj, anointed as the sixth successor to Swaminarayan, who expounded on the sect’s spiritual texts, Sikshapatri and Vachanamrut.
Addressing the audience, Ashokbhai Rohit, a devotee, recounted the deeds of his guru, the late Hariprasad Swamiji Maharaj (the fifth successor), and urged followers to draw inspiration from the guru’s life.
Dhaval Patel, another devotee, recapped for the audience the legend behind Annakut and traced the origin of the practice of offering food to the saints.
This was followed by the performing of “aarthi,” with audience members participating in the ritual.
The devotees partook of prasad before dispersing.