“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things, which renew humanity.”
All through our childhood, our elders have always taught us the importance of faith. Faith in the Lord is the basis for human existence and divine service to humanity in His name is but a channel to give back all that we have generously been bestowed with.
Service or ‘seva’ harbours thoughts of purity, love, holiness, devotion and compassion, all of which bring us closer to the Lord we pray to. It fills our heart peace and joy and ensures that we derive happiness through our good deeds.
The greatest form of devotion we can exhibit to the Lord is bringing happiness to His people on Earth, all without the hope of any personal gain. This culture of giving to the poor and uplifting society is something that has passed down from generation to generation in India and we must practice it too.
It is with this thought that the Nagalamadaka Subramanya Vasavi Charitable Trust was formed in October 2008.
In addition to organizing the Parusha, the trust intends to dedicate its services to humanity in a phased manner, through
- Food, housing and boarding – ‘Annadanam’, free student homes and hostels, community halls, old age homes
- Education for poor students – Paying fees, books, scholarships, setting up schools and colleges, seminars and tuition, vocational training
- Medical care for the needy – Providing medicines, provisions of health care, preventive medical services
- Other social services – Assist in marriages, financial assistance in calamities, helping the mentally and physically challenged
The Nagalamadaka Subramanya Vasavi Charitable Trust (NSVCT) works for the upliftment of humanity, irrespective of caste, creed, community or religion. We serve humanity by directly or indirectly covering areas like housing, education, medical care and so on.
With the above-mentioned motivations, few like-minded people took up the formation of the NSVCT. A Board of Trustees has been elected for NSVCT to carry out all activities, which are incidental and conclusive to the attainment of the areas mentioned before, without any profit motive.
Since its inception, the Trust and its new board have been working to bring about the following immediate changes during the five-day Parusha festival:
- Better housing facilities for all guests and devotees including renovation of the bathrooms and good sanitation and also employing good cooks for serving quality food
- Annadhanam for all guests and devotees on all 5 days
- Special provision to donate for under-privileged kids
- Special provision for the safety of women and children
- Ensuring milk for children
- Clothing for the poor
- Education for women
- Care for the aged, including spiritual discourses
- Conducting poojas on mass scale with provision to individual participation
- Organising religious functions like ‘Vadabalu’, distribution of flowers for women
We would like to specially mention here, the Jakka, Yadiki, Mylavaram and all Vysya families, who have been involved in organizing Parusha for more than 100 years. The Trust promises to keep their ideals in mind and organize their activities accordingly.