Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Submit Guest Post

Sacred Ambaji Dhaja brought to London for Siddhashram’s Navratri celebrations

Siddhashram marks 25 years as Navratri returns to Byron Hall for 20th year

Sacred Ambaji Dhaja brought to London for Siddhashram’s Navratri celebrations

Ambaji Dhaja

Mahesh Liloriya

International Siddhashram Shakti Centre will celebrate Navratri in London from 10 to 20 October 2026, marking a significant double milestone – 25 years of Siddhashram’s journey and the 20th anniversary of its Navratri celebrations at Byron Hall. Garavi Gujarat and Asian Media Group are associated with the celebrations as media partners.

The celebrations, to be held in the presence of H.H. Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji, will take place at Byron Hall, Harrow Leisure Centre, Christchurch Avenue, Harrow. The festival will bring together devotion, traditional Garba and live music over 11 nights.


A major spiritual highlight this year will be the Sacred Ambaji Dhaja Darshan, which Siddhashram says is being brought from India to the UK for the first time for its Navratri celebrations at Byron Hall.

Speaking about its significance, Guruji said the spiritual foundation of Garba lies in the worship of Maa Amba. He personally visited Ambaji Shaktipeeth, where the sacred dhaja was worshipped and offered before being brought to London.

Guruji said the intention was to give devotees in Britain an opportunity to experience the spiritual connection with Ambaji during Navratri. The sacred dhaja will be present at Byron Hall throughout the celebrations, enabling devotees to have its darshan while participating in the worship and Garba dedicated to Maa Amba.

Ambaji DhajaMahesh Liloriya

The festival will feature singers Babu Barot, Yutika Barot, Bhautik Patel and Disha Patel, accompanied by a live musical ensemble including dhol player Sunni Solanki, keyboard player Aakash Patel, Piyush Patel and Gautam Patni on banjo, Anand Solanki on pad, Chandrakant Parmar on manjira and Soma Patni on tabla.

Alongside the nightly Navratri celebrations, Siddhashram has also announced other devotional programmes. The programme displayed in the festival announcement includes Randal Maa Lota Utsav on Sunday, 11 October at 9.30am, while a Chandipath is scheduled from 11–19 October. The celebrations are being presented in aid of charity.

The Navratri programme will open its doors each evening at 7pm, with festivities beginning from 8pm. Entry contributions are £15 from Monday to Thursday and £25 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while children under five can attend free.

With two decades of Navratri celebrations at the same venue, this year's festival is expected to be particularly significant for Siddhashram's devotees and the wider Hindu and Gujarati community in London.

Add EasternEye As Your Trusted Source
preferred source on google news

More For You

Why is Lalbaugcha Raja so famous? How a 1934 community Ganapati became a celebrity destination

It goes back to a community facing a very different problem in the 1930s

X/HeyyyyShubham

Why is Lalbaugcha Raja so famous? How a 1934 community Ganapati became a celebrity destination

Highlights

  • Lalbaugcha Raja began in 1934 after traders and fishermen in the area faced losing their marketplace
  • A vow to Lord Ganesha gave rise to the tradition of the ‘Navsacha Ganpati’
  • The Kambli family has been creating the distinctive idol since 1935
  • Bollywood stars, cricketers and prominent business families now visit the pandal during Ganesh Chaturthi
  • The celebration attracts huge crowds, with reports of around 1.5 million devotees visiting each day

Every year, Lalbaugcha Raja becomes one of the biggest attractions of Ganesh Chaturthi in India.

Huge crowds queue for darshan, while Bollywood stars, sports personalities and some of India's most prominent business families also make their way to the famous Ganapati idol.

Keep ReadingShow less