https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbH5z8LIvgA
As temples closed doors to contain the pandemic, a Facebook group that originated in Chembur, took prayers to homes around the world.
On the 14th of April 2020, the Tamil New Year, Nama 20 The Asthika Samaj, a fb live devotional music festival took baby steps in taking the divine name to people’s homes through the medium of Facebook.
Our primary purpose was to take the divine name to senior citizens who were living in isolation during the lockdown.
Little, did we know that we were hosting the *world’s first online bhajanotsavam* that saw 14 singers participating over a duration of 16 hours.
For the first attempt, participation requests came in from far away places like Dubai and the UK.
We knew that the baby was on its way to become a star. But while singers got their share of the limelight, the feedback was that accompanying artists were feeling left out. Hence, we launched Nama Vibes, a series of friendly chat sessions between our team members and accompanying artists.
Everyone was taking note: a fact that was proven by the flood of namasankeerthanam initiatives on Facebook, with each vying for their share of attention.
To stand out from the crowd, Nama embarked upon an initiative to bring 24 singers together to render the Narayana Theertha Tharangini, Kshemam Kuru Gopala, as a prayer for the world. The song went on to receive accolades from around the world.
But our task was unfinished. The havoc created by the pandemic and the extended lockdown meant that our viewers, primarily senior citizens who stayed all alone, were living a scared existence.
Inspired by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda we launched Nama@8pm where namasankeerthanam artists from across the world participate in an hour long performance every evening.
When Swami Vivekananda drafted a plague manifesto for the people of Calcutta, in May 1898, one of the highlights of the manifesto was the importance of namasankeerthanam every evening to drive fear and worries away.
In the spirit of taking namasankeerthanam to homes in these difficult times, all these programmes are non-commercial and we are eternally grateful to all Bhagavathas who have performed for us online without any commercial expectations.
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