One of the communities that believes in giving back to the society is Agrawal community. Philanthropy and Agrawal community runs parallel to each other. The community is involved in a lot of charity work, donations and making society a better place to live in, is going to celebrate 'Agrasen Jayanti' on September 26, 2022.
'Agrasen Jayanti' is the birth anniversary of 'Agrasen Maharaj', a legendary Hindu king and founder of the Agrawal (Agarwal) community. There are nearly 10,00,00,000 Agrawals in India.
Let us see the philanthropic work by the community and how they celebrate Agrasen Jayanti:
Mumbai:
In Mumbai, there are more than 100 Agrawal Samaj. Agroha units are also there which takes care of making chowks, donations. Agrasen Sanstha in Mumbai also, carries out mass marriage to help underprivileged sections of he society.
Mumbai's 'Agarwal Global Foundation' encourages and awards students who clear their 'Indian Administrative Services Exams' every year. People at key positions in this foundation are Rajkumar Singhal who is the Joint Secretary and Director of Agarwal Global Foundation, it also includes, Ashok Goyal- the owner of Essel World, Suresh Bajaria, active member of Ram Mandir community of Maharashtra and Dr. Shyam Agrawal who is the Treasurer of Vishwas Hindu Parishad.
Rajkumar Singhal, Joint Secretary and Director of Agarwal Global Foundation said, "Agrasen Jayanti is the day of celebrations for all the Agrawals. Maharaja Agrasen Palace is recently inaugurated in Lonavala and we had decided to install a '21 feet Bronze Agrasen Maharaj statue' here but the work could not be completed, so we are planning to do the same before Diwali this year. The palace is built for conducting religious, social corporate events, and marriages. A Mahalaxmi temple is also being built. The entire project will be completed by March 2023.
Mr. Singhal said that we have provided free stitching and computer classes to 300 underprivileged children who are staying in the village around Lonavala and every day, the number keeps increasing. As per law, orphans have to leave the orphanage when they become 18, so we are providing free hospitality courses, staying facilities to these youth, and provide them with job.
Prize distribution programs, plays, and many other programs like fashion shows, dance competitions, are held in Mumbai during Agrasen Jayanti celebrations. On Agrasen Jayanti, every year at Ville Parle's Maharaja Agrasen Chowk, food is distributed to the poor people.
Surat:
The city which organises a month long celebration till the day of Agrasen Jayanti is Surat. Agrawals celebrate this month long festival with enthusiasm and energy. Various competitions are held like decoration competitions, Kaun Banega Crorepati competition, Housie, Antakshari, Roadies, business related games, debates and the list goes on.
On September 25, 'Agra Marathon'- was held in Surat for members of all communities. Around 1500 people participated in the event and it was joined by Surat Police Commissioner Ajay Tomar and Home Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghavi. It was the first of a kind of event organised by the community.
Vinod Agrawal of Laxmihari group and mentor to Agrawal Yuwa Shakha, and Agrasen Mahila Shakha said that "In 2018, we organised 'Tiranga Yatra' -a walk with the 1100-meter long national flag held by thousands of people. This never happened in India."
"We try to keep as many events as possible to spread awareness in our society like menstruation seminars for girls, teaching small kids- good and bad touch program, inviting successful people members in their respective fields for conducting seminars, eye donation camps, tree planation programs and so on all around the year. Agrasen Jayanti competitions are held to encourage talents in the community, to celebrate the spirit of coming together, meeting people and have fun," added Mr. Agrawal.
