Hundreds gather for Annakut Darshan at Vraj Hindu Temple in Pennsylvania

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The Vraj Hindu Temple located in Schuykill County in Eastern Pennsylvania, held a massive Annakut puja/darshan Nov. 7, 2021, where hundreds of devotees from near and far came to celebrate and make their offerings.

Annakut, meaning a mountain of food, is a festival that is part of the five days of Diwali, and dedicated to Lord Krishna and other deities.

Devotees prepared hundreds of kinds of food, which were in thalis placed before the deities to express their thanks for the blessing and prosperity. After the pandemic, this festival gained more meaning, and people had much to celebrate though many lives have been lost.

The temple is named after Vraj, the place where Krishna spent much of his childhood.

The founder of the temple, Pramod Amin, was praised by those who attended. Among the special guests were Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, and India’s Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph.

“When Pramodbhai came (to me) twenty years ago with a proposal to build a Nath Dwara in U.S.A., I said ‘go for it’. And said I would like to a Great Grand Benefactor. Because I elieve the temple is a place where you can bring your family, your children, and this is a way you can connect them to their heritage, our culture,” Dr. Parikh said at the event. “Because no civilization can survive without connecting to our own religion, our own culture, our own heritage. I strong believe you should build as many temples depending on your faith, because that gives you lot of power, lot of energy, and lot of peace of mind,” he added.

Deputy Consul General Jeph said this celebration, “is not only for ourselves, our families, but our values, our traditions. They have taught us to pray for the entire humanity, for the planet, not only for the human race, but also for all the species here, and for the universe as a whole.”

Jeph said he was happy to be amidst the gathering of ‘nutan varsh’ or new year. And wished everyone happiness, health, prosperity in the coming days.

Amin thanked everyone for coming to the event, and ITV Gold for covering it, “to document what the Indian community is doing here.”

“This is the place for pilgrimage for the entire Sanatan (devotees) in this continent,” Amin said, “I am glad you are all here today to enjoy Annakut which is offered to Lord Shivnath. This is a welcome change. This is a Little India in the midst of serene hills of Pennsylvania.

The priest conducted prayers for all, and bhajans were sung accompanied by dancing.