Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shatri of the Bageshwar Dham started the Hanuman Katha (The Story of Lord Hanuman) program in Patna on Saturday, 13th May 2023. On the first day of the five-day-long katha, Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri started the story with chants of Lord Hari. As he proceeded through the storytelling, Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri kept praising the land of Bihar. He also responded to opponents in his own style.
Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri reached Raghavendra Math before reaching the katha site. Here he offered prayers at the Ram Janaki temple. After this, the chief of the Bageshwar Dham reached Taret Pali Math located in Naubatpur, Patna. The vast area of the monastery is decorated with pandals. Thousands of people were present to listen to the chief priest of the Bageshwar Dham. The huge pandal was flooded with the crowd. As soon as Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri entered the pandal, the devotees shouted slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Jai Hanuman and Bageshwar Sarkar Ki Jai. In his well-known style, Bageshwar Baba cheered and raised slogans for all those who came to listen to the story, those who did not come to the program and all the opponents as well.
Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri said that the people of Bihar are blessed as Goddess Janaki was born in Bihar. He said that it was in this land of Bihar that Aryabhata invented zero. The Bageshwar Baba also hailed the people of Bihar. He suggested a way for people to deal with disruptions appearing during Hanuman Katha. He gave the example that when the elephant goes out on a round in the village, people feed it bananas, puris and various other dishes. Children worship the elephant as Ganesha. At the same time, stray dogs start barking at the elephant. In such a situation, if the elephant starts responding to the dogs, then people will call the elephant crazy. Therefore, the elephant keeps moving forward on its way ignoring those dogs.
Talking more about the disruptions in the way of the Hanuman Katha, Dhirendra Shastri also narrated the story of Lord Hanuman when he reaches Lanka to search for Goddess Sita. Dhirendra Shastri said that there were many obstacles in the path of Hanuman but he achieved his goal by overcoming all of them. During this time he also sang many songs. The chief priest of the Bageshwar Dham advised people to do karma after giving ample thought to anything. Union Minister Giriraj Singh, MP Ashwini Choubey, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, MPs Ram Kripal Yadav, Manoj Tiwari, Bihar BJP President Samrat Chaudhary and the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Vijay Sinha were also present during the program.
प्रथम दिवस दिव्य झलकियाँ श्री हनुमंत कथा…
— Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (Official) (@bageshwardham) May 13, 2023
आज कथा के मध्य केंद्रीय मंत्री श्री गिरिराज सिंह श्री मनोज तिवारी जी श्री अश्वनी चौबे जी श्री रामकृपाल यादव जी पूरे समय उपस्थित रहे और पूज्य सरकार का आशीर्वाद लिया pic.twitter.com/jwcrRSM0FC
Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri will preach the Hanumant Charitra (The Story of Lord Hanuman) from 13th May 2023 to 17th May 2023. In the 5-day program, the Katha will be read every day from 4 pm to 7 pm. On May 15, Dhirendra Shastri will hold a Divya Darbar. In this Divya Darbar, he will directly address the problems of the devotees without any token or queue.
Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the incumbent chief priest of Bageshwar Dham received a grand welcome when he reached Patna, Bihar on Saturday, May 13. Dhirendra Shastri was welcomed at the airport by Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Pataliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav among others.
Pleased by the heartwarming reception, he inquired about everyone’s well-being in Bhojpuri. BJP Member of Parliament from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari personally drove him to the hotel after his arrival.
Notably, the event in Bihar was surrounded by a lot of politics. It was opposed by leaders and members of the ruling Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal coalition. However, the Bihar government approved the program in spite of strong objections from its own ministers and leadership.
Tej Pratap Yadav, the minister for the environment, forests, and climate change, called Dhirendra Shastri a coward and a traitor. He claimed that the former’s followers visit him daily to offer their apologies. He had pledged to go to the airport to stop the religious leader and promised not to allow him to organise his event in the northern state.
Organisers asked for permission to host the event in Gandhi Maidan, but the authorities refused to allow it in view of the anticipated large crowd and security precautions. Following that, they requested approval for the same at Taret Pali Math which was granted by the Patna district administration.
