During the weekend of Saturday 2 October and Sunday 3 October 1999, over 16,500 devotees, young and old, participated in Swaminarayan Mahamantra Bicentenary Parades. As part of the celebrations for the forthcoming Bicentenary of the Swaminarayan Mahamantra (1801-2001), devotees from the 35 areas of the BAPS center in Amdavad organized these lively and colorful parades in each area. Each parade comprised of musical bands, groups singing the Swaminarayan Mahamantra, decorated floats of camel carts, trucks, tractors, cars and rickshaws, and troupes of children, dressed in colorful costumes, performing traditional folk dances. The processions passed through the streets of each area with continuous chanting of the Swaminarayan Mahamantra. Many passers-by and onlookers who joined in the prayers appreciated the noble causes for which the processions were held.