The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Hindus and educational not-for-profit SHYAM joined hands for a Diwali first in the House of Commons with a recital highlighting the symbolism of the Gods and Goddesses Ganeshaa, Skanda, Parvati, Shiva and the last four manifestations of the Nava Durga. APPG chair Bob Blackman was joined by parliamentarians and community leaders at the deeply spiritual gathering in London last week.
SHYAM Founder Dhruv Chhatralia BEM opened with prayers and presented Blackman with the book ‘Ayurveda and the Mind’ by David Frawley. Newly elected Leicester East MP Shivani Raja spoke of the importance of spreading spiritual teachings in society and how that works in creating bridges between different cultures as she accepted her copy of the book.
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Chhatralia then went on to reflect upon the symbolism of praying to Lord Ganesha at the beginning of any ritual as the remover of all obstacles. He explained that the meaning of Ganesha or Ganapati is "group leader” and that each part of Ganeshji's body symbolises a leadership quality:
Elephant's head (intelligence)
small eyes (insight)
ears shaped like winnowing baskets (discernment)
large stomach (database and stability)
trunk (ability to do small tasks)
half-tusk (humility)
full tusk (100 per cent faith)
He went on to recite the symbolism of Skanda – the Agni son of Shiva and Parvati, born of tapas and symbolising the fire of self-knowledge (Vedic Agni). The event included his incisive talk on the symbolism of Maa Parvati and the last four manifestations of the Nava Durga. Chhatralia explained that Shiva and Shakti are the dual cosmic principles are an essential part of all Yoga, which is a natural process of integration and transformation. He described that understanding this cosmic duality leads us into the practice of Yoga, which is the unification of Shiva and Shakti.
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Among the other speakers at the event, Anusha Sareen gave an inspirational discourse about how Shiva best represents the practice of Yoga and Riddhi Vyas spoke about Mahashiva Ratri and how it is the most auspicious night of the year for worshipping Shiva Maheshvara the Supreme Lord of Yoga. Viscount Younger then gave an insightful speech about the deep meaning behind the festival of Diwali and the uniqueness in Indian culture where the Divine Feminine is worshipped and revered.
*Info: SHYAM