by Shodhan Prasad
pics by Ashok Belman (Gulf Kannadiga)
Dubai, Oct 20: UAE Bunts devotionally concluded a vibrant 'Shree Satyanarayana Pooja' at JSS School premises, Al Barsha on 19th of October, 2012 from 9.30 AM to 1.30 PM with more than 1300 devotees present throughout the pooja formalities seeking blessing from the Lord.
Chief Convener of UAE Bunts, Padmashree Dr. B.R. Shetty greeted the devotees and conveyed Navaratri wishes to all. Among other prominent personalities include Shekar Shetty of Arab Udupi Group of Hotels, Sarvotham Shetty, President UAE Bunts, Sudhir Kumar Shetty, CEO UAE Exchange Co and many Presidents and Office Bearers of various Community Organisations in the UAE who witnessed the Pooja along with members of the Bunts Community.
The pooja formalities were conducted on a beautifully decorated Mantap full of flowers and fruits on a high pedestal with a huge back drop of Goddess Mahalaksmi & Goddess Durgaparameshwari behind the colourfully litted wooden mantap.
Sarvotham Shetty welcomed all the devotees and opened up the pooja formalities with a prayer. It started with Guru Pooja, Ganapathi Pooja, Kalasa Pooja, Navagraha Pooja, Satyanarayana Pooja, Bhajans & continued with Satyanarayana Katha recitation and concluded with Maha Mangalarathi. The pooja formalities were ably done by Purohit Raghu Bhat along with his assistants. On behalf of the Bunts Community, couples Gunasheel Shetty & Sahana Gunasheel Shetty, Ashok Shetty & Veena Ashok Shetty, Prasanna Shetty & Sushma Prasanna Shetty sat on the main pedestal to receive the pooja blessings.
During the programme, senior member of UAE Bunts, Jagadish Shetty & Prathima Jagadish Shetty were honoured with Shawl by Dr. B.R. Shetty while Shekar Shetty presented Fruits & Flower bouquet to the felicitated couple. UAE Bunts felicitated the said couple as they have decided to settle down in their home town for good. Their dedicated service to the community during these three decades were fondly remembered while Sarvotham Shetty bid them farewell.
It was nice to see various community organisation's leaders and members participated in UAE Bunts Pooja throughout the day and they were Billawas Dubai & NE, Billawa Balaga Dubai, Billawara Balaga Abu Dhabi, Nama Tuluveru UAE, Vishwakarma Seva Samithi, Mogaveers UAE, UAE Amchigele Samaj, Devadigara Sangha, Kodagu & Dakshina Kannada Gowda Samaja, Kodava Samaja, Vokkaligara Sangha UAE, Padmashaali Samoodhaya, Ramaraja Khastriya Sangha, Brahmana Samaja, Theeya Samaja, Kundapura Devadiga Mithraru, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Dubai Karnataka Sangha, Sharjah Karnataka Sangha, Dwaniprathistana, Kannada Koota, Basava Samithi including many senior citizens and well wishers.
Bunts Senior organiser Ganesh Rai thanked Shashikala Sharad Shetty for the beautiful Mantap, Rajesh Kuthar & Team for the flower decoration, Raghu Bhat, Shivaraj Rao & Krishna Prasad for the pooja formalities, Satish Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty for the devotional bhajan arrangement, B.G. Mohandas & Ashok Belman for Media support through Gulf Kannadiga.com, Shodhan Prasad for Media support and coverage in Daijiworld and other media websites, Vinay Naik for Media support through Namma TV, Sponsors Pravin Shetty, Rajesh Shetty, Shashikala Sharad Shetty, Shekar Shetty, Guruprasad Shetty & Gunasheel Shetty.
Soon after the pooja formalities, the devotees queued up for the dharshan and prasada systematically. Later the prasada was distributed by the Ladies Team and the devotees followed to the first floor for Maha Prasada pure Vegetarian Lunch Buffet and savored the tasty dishes and sweets served by Woodland Restaurant Sharjah and Saheba Caterers, Ajman whose owners Divesh Alva & Shekar Shetty were applauded for the tasty food distributed.
The whole programme was systematically conceptualized by an able enthusiastic Team of UAE Bunts comprising of Sarvotham Shetty, Ganesh Rai & Sudhakar Alva supported by Pravin Kumar Shetty, Shekar Shetty, Divesh Alva. They were assisted by the organizing Committee Couple Members of UAE Bunts, Dr. Suraj Rai & Dr. Arathi Rai of Abu Dhabi, Udaya Shetty & Shashikala Uday Shetty of Dubai, Prasanna Shetty & Sushma Prasanna Shetty, Niranjan Shetty & Shilpa Niranjan Shetty, Nishith Shetty & Reshma Nishith Shetty, Satish Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty, Suraj Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty of Sharjah along with 50 other members of UAE Bunts whose efforts were highly witnessed with the successful pooja organised and concluded.