SHRI SAI BABA:

A great saint who lived most of his life in the small Maharashtrian town of Shirdi. He is believed to have been born around 1838 and lived until October 15th 1918. Little is known about Sai Baba's parentage and personal history. Sai Baba was famous for working miracles and wonders (healing, appearing in multiple places at the same time and reading minds). His main aim in life was to make people realize the eternal truth "Sabka Malik Ek" (One God governs all). He also emphasized the importance of devotion to God (bhakti) and surrender to his will. He advised his disciples and followers to overcome the negative features of character and develop the good ones. He also taught that all fate was determined by karma. Sai Baba did not leave any written works. His teachings were all verbal, typically short sayings rather than elaborate discourses.

SHRI SHRINATHJI:

A deity form of Krishna. The name ShriNathji specifically refers to the story in the Bhagvat Puran, in which Krishna lifts the Govardhan mountain. Krishna convinced the villagers of Vrindavan to worship the cow over Indra on the basis that they got their livelihood from the selling and consuming the milk from the cow. This angered Indra and so he decided to punish the villagers by creating a rainstorm. Krishna lifted the mountain to protect the people of Vrindavan from the downpour of rain sent by Indra, by sheltering the villagers under the mountain.

SHRI JALARAM BAPA:

Jalaram Bapa was a great saint from Gujarat, he was born on the 4th of November 1799 in the village of Virpur , Gujarat. His father's name was Pradhan Thakkar and his mother's name was Rajbai. At the age of 16, Jalaram Bapa married Virbai. Jalaram Bapa was however not inclined to live a household life and to as well as taking over his father's business. He was mostly engaged in serving sadhus and saints. He separated himself from his father's business and stayed with his uncle, Valjibhai, who was very fond of Jalaram. When Jalaram decided to go for a pilgrimage to holy places, Virbaima followed him. At the age of 18, Bapa accepted Shree Bhojalram from Fatehpur as his guru. With the blessings of his guru, he started "Sadavrat", a place where all sadhus and saints as well as the needy could eat at any time of the day. Soon Jalaram Bapa's fame spread as an incarnation of the divine.

SHRI GANESH:

Ganesh is the older son of Shiva and Parvati, and is the God of wisdom and success, and the destroyer of obstacles. He wrote the entire Mahabharata with his left tusk. He is always worshipped before any major task so as to make the event auspicious and without any obstacles. There are two different stories as to how he came to have an elephant's head. One is that when Ganesh was born all of the Gods gathered to see him but one of them, Shani (Saturn) did not directly look at Ganesh, which annoyed Parvati. Parvati insisted that Shani look at her son and as soon as he did the baby was beheaded. Vishnu rushed to a riverbank and brought back a young elephant's head and attached to Ganesh's body. The other version is that once Ganesh was guarding his mother's quarters and his father wanted to enter the area and Ganesh denied him. Shiva became angry and cut Ganesh's head off. When he calmed down he replaced Ganesh's head with an elephant's head.

SHRI SHIV-PARVATI:

Shiva is the God of destruction and one of the trinity, of Vishnu-Brahma-Mahesh. Shiva goes by many other names such as Mahesh, Bhola Nath, Shankar and Kailashpati. Shiva has a third eye located on his forehead, it is said that when it opens an apocalypse occurs. Parvati is Shiva's wife and goes by other names such as Bhavani and Uma. She represents prakriti (matter) and as there is no meaning to destruction without destructible matter Shiva chose Parvati as his wife. They live on Kailash parvat (mountain) in the Himalayas.

SHRI VED-GAYATRI MATA:

Ved-Gayatri Mata is considered the Goddess of all the Vedas and is the consort of Brahma. It is a Sanskrit word, Ga means to sing, and Yatri means Protection. The Gayatri mantra is a personification of the Goddess.

The Gayatri mantra is:
Om bhoor bhuva suvah
Tat savitur vareNyam
Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat

Translation:
O creator of the universe
May we receive, thy sin destroying light
May thou guide our intellect in the right direction

SHRI LAXMINARAYAN DEV:

Hindu Goddess of wealth, Laxmi, and of her consort, Lord Vishnu ' the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity.

According to ancient scriptures there existed a forest called Hedamba Forest, in which there stood a berry tree (Badri, Indian fruit-bor). Goddess Laxmi manifested herself on this earth as the daughter of Bhrigu. When she became of marriageable age Bhrigurishi assigned to Naradji the task of discovering the suitor worthy of his daughter's hand. Naradji advised Laxmiji to chant the hymn "Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevay" - I bow to the Lord Vasudev. Sitting at this place be chanting the hymn Laxmiji could please Narayan Who appeared before her and granted her two boons first to be united with Laxmiji in marriage and second to stay with her at this place for ever after.

SHRI AKSHAR-PURUSHOTTAM (Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan and Gunatitanand Swami):

The Swaminarayan Faith advocates - "Service unto Mankind and Devotion unto God" as the means of attaining the ultimate spiritual liberation. The absolute absence of discrimination between caste, color, creed or sect highlights the universal appeal of this Faith.

Shastriji Maharaj initiated the dual worship of Shri Akshar Purushottam, the essence of the Swaminarayan sect; the philosophy which had gone unnoticed among the followers. Akshar Purushottam dual worship is a faith of devotion to God (Lord Swaminarayan) with his most trusted and preferred devotee, Akshar (Gunatitanand Swami).

This dual worship helps us to understand the intricacies of spirituality of pleasing Parbrahm with the help of Akshar. A pupil needs teacher to accomplish his academic goals. Similarly, any disciple needs Akshar as his guide to realize his spiritual goal.

Followers of Akshar Purushottam Upasana believe that Brahman and Parabrahman are the highest two of these entities.' Bhagwan Swaminarayan's philosophy holds Brahman and Parabrahman to be two separate entities. It is worth noting here that throughout his discourses in the Vachanamrut, the primary scripture of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, Bhagwan Swaminarayan referred to Brahman as Akshar, Aksharbrahman, or Akshardham. Similarly, he referred to Parabrahman as Purushottam, Paramatma, or Bhagwan.

SHRI RADHA-KRISHNA:

The relationship of Radha and Krishna is the embodiment of love, passion and devotion. Radha's passion for Krishna symbolizes the soul's intense longing and willingness for the ultimate unification with God. Shri Krishna is the soul of Radha and Radha is definitely the soul of Shri Krishna. She is the undivided form of Shri Krishna. She being a beloved of Shri Krishna is known as "Radhika". Radha is the principle paramour of Krishna in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the Gita Govinda of the Hindu religion. In many Vaishnava traditions of Hinduism, she is regarded as a primary deity. Radha is almost always depicted alongside Krishna. Radha's relationship with Krishna is given in further detail within texts such as the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Garga Samhita and Brihad Gautamiya tantra.

SHRI AMBA MATA:

It is the Gujarati name of "Durga Ma", a beautiful warrior seated upon a tiger. Devi is the great Goddess of the Hindus, the consort of Shiva and she is worshiped in various forms corresponding to her two aspects: benevolence and fierceness. She is Uma, "light"; Gauri, "yellow or brilliant"; Parvati, "the mountaineer"; and Jagatmata, "the-mother-of the-world" in her milder guise. The terrible emanations are Durga "the inaccessible"; Kali, "the black"; Chandi, "the fierce"; and Bhairavi, "the terrible."

According to Indian mythology a demon named 'MAHISASUR' was creating havoc on earth and his great magical powers which were granted to him by Lord Shiva. In order to save the Earth and its beings from death the great three Devas of Indian mythology, i.e. Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma combined their powers and created a force which had a form of a woman, which was named 'SHAKTI'.

SHRI RAM-LAKSHMAN-SITA:

Ram is a legendary or historical king of ancient India. In Hinduism, he is considered to be the seventh Avatar of Vishnu.

Ram is Maryada Purushottama, literally The Perfect Man. Ram is the husband of Sita, who Hindus consider to be an Avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.

Ram's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to Dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. For the sake of his father's honour, Ram abandons his claim to Kosala's throne to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest. His wife, Sita and brother, Lakshman being unable to live without Ram decide to join him, and all three spend the fourteen years in exile together. This leads to the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the Rakshasa monarch of Lanka. After a long and arduous search that tests his personal strength and virtue, Ram fights a colossal war against Ravana's armies. In a war of powerful and magical beings, greatly destructive weaponry and battles, Ram slays Ravana in battle and liberates his wife. Having completed his exile, Ram returns to be crowned King in Ayodhya (the capital of his Kingdom) and eventually becomes Emperor of the World, after which he reigns for eleven thousand years - an era of perfect happiness, peace, prosperity and justice known as Ram Rajya.

Ram's courage in searching for Sita and fighting a terrible war to rescue his wife and their honour is complemented by Sita's absolute devotion to her husband's love, and perfect chastity despite being Ravana's captive. Ram's piety and virtue attract powerful and devoted allies such as Hanuman and the Vanaras of Kishkindha, with whose help he rescues Sita. Ram is revered for his unending compassion, courage and devotion to religious values and duty.

SHRI HANUMAN:

Lord Hanumaan or Hanumanji is known by many names as Anjaneya, Anjali Putra, Bajarangabali, Hanuman, Mahaveer, Maruti, Pavanputra, etc... Hanuman, the monkey God, is the son of Vayu or Marut, the wind God. Hanuman's mother is Anjana. Hanuman is fast, the most agile and oriented God. Hanuman was the chief of the armies of Sri Ram and took a prominent part in the war against Ravana, the king of Lanka, in the Indian epic poem Ramayana. Hanuman helped restore Sri Sitadevi back to Sri Rama. Hanuman, worshipped for his strength, valor, agility, is a man of great teaming. He is considered to be an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Shiva.