Early morning, on Saturday, May 9, 2015, seven eminent sants of Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport from India for a three-month vicharan across the United States and Canada. Later that afternoon, a welcoming assembly was held at Shree Swaminarayan Temple New Jersey. Hundreds of disciples had come to the temple to welcome the sants to North America and to have their darshan. During their three months in the United States, the sants will tour all over the continent, spreading the glory of Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa and fulfilling the humble wishes of disciples across the nation. Since 2004, His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree Maharaj has sent a mandal of sants to North America whenever His upcoming vicharan is shorter to fulfill the humble wishes of disciples in North America. Acharya Swamishree Maharaj, along with an additional mandal of eminent sants, will arrive on Tuesday, June 30, 2015, to perform the Patotsav ceremonies at various temples across the continent and, most notably, to grace the first-ever Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan North America Convention with His divine presence. The arrival of sants on May 9 was the start of what will be a very exciting summer in North America.
At the start of the welcoming sabha, sants and disciples performed kirtan bhakti rejoicing in the name of Lord Swaminaryanbapa Swamibapa. Following kirtan bhakti, Sadguru Shastri Shree Jitendriyapriyadasji Swami performed katha, sharing with disciples the glory of Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa. Sants were then welcomed with bouquets and warm words by disciples on behalf of all followers residing in North America. Disciples also had the opportunity to personally embrace each of the seven sants before Sandhya aarti and niyams.