The disciples of the United States have been truly blessed to have a mandal of six eminent sants reside in the United States for the past two months. On Sunday, July 26th, 2009, Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa showed His divine grace once again, and His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree arrived to the United States with a mandal of an additional twelve eminent sants.
Acharya Swamishree and the mandal of sants arrived at Newark International Airport around 7:30 pm, and hundreds of disciples had gathered at the airport to welcome them to the United States and to receive their darshan. Everyone then went to Shree Swaminarayan Temple New Jersey where Acharya Swamishree performed aarti to Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa and gave everyone His darshan. Maha Prasad was then served to all those who were present.
The following day, disciples from all over the United States had gathered at Shree Swaminarayan Temple New Jersey to officially welcome His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree and the mandal of sants to the United States. Before the start of the program, sants performed kirtan-bhakti, and everyone performed the daily Sandhya Aarti niyams. Afterwards, Swamibapa Pipe Band led a procession, during which His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree was seated on a chariot, from the far end of the temple parking lot to the front of the temple. This was the first time many of the young disciples in the pipe band had played as a part of the senior pipe band group in uniform. Disciples then carried Acharya Swamishree into the temple. Swamibapa Pipe Band performed a guard of honor, and Acharya Swamishree then sat down on His gadi. Disciples welcomed Acharya Swamishree and all the sants with a phool-haar ceremony, and then Acharya Swamishree showered His divine ashirwad upon the entire congregation. Maha Prasad was then served to all those who were present.