The 11th day of the passing for mortals is normally celebrated as a Shraddha (Faith) Ceremony. However, in Prasanthi Nilayam, the day was sanctified with a prayer for the the descent of the Avatar yet again in our midst. The programme commenced at the scheduled hour, at 0630 am, with "Punya Vachana", which is a prayer to Beloved Bhagawan for the proper conduct of the programme. Activities were then allocated to the various Ritwiks. Then, as one set of Ritwikds performed Havanam (sacrifice), a second set of Ritwiks did Parayana (study) of Rudra Krama followed by Upanishads.

At the conclusion, there was a worship of water from holy rivers, which was then sprinkled on the gathering by the Ritwiks as an assurance of Divine Benediction. Sri R.J.Ratnakar, the nephew of Bhagawan's physical frame took part in the proceedings. The programme concluded with Mangala Arathi at 0930 hrs. Thereafter bhajans continued for the next half an hour to conclude at 1000 hrs. with Arathi.

For more information, visit sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/darshanupdateMay2011.html.