As the main dome structure is now almost complete, a lot of preparation has been underway to commence the next step, the Kalash.
In a previous article we have seen the Kalash mock-up from McCoy industry, made in titanium nitride coated stainless steel, being fabricated in Mumbai. Our latest addition, shown in the photograph, is a life-size, in-house made frame of the bracket that will support the Kalash. Made in GRC (glass reinforced concrete), this 3/4 inch (1.9cm) thick frame is 14 feet (4.5m) tall.
In the weeks to come we will begin fabricating the mold from the frame described above to make the actual brackets which will be made of a combination of fiberglass and polyurethane. There will be 24 brackets in total, each weighing 1.2 tons.
By Bhakta Nikhil
Gurudaspur is a city situated in the state of Punjab. According to a latest census, the population is just less than 2,300,000. Two rivers flow here: Beas and Raavi and is just 10km from the international border between India and Pakistan.
A grand Ratha Yatra festival for the Lord’s pleasure was arranged on the 22nd August by local devotees. Devotees performed Harinam Sankirtan and book distribution twice daily. Pamphlets for the festival were also distributed simultaneously.
“ Whenever I get report of my book selling I feel strength. Even now in this weakened condition I have got strength from your report. You should know that in this work you have Krishna’s blessings.” SP to Satsvarupa, 8th September 1974.
A yajna was performed in the early hours of the morning on the festival day to create auspiciousness. A stage program was held between 11 am till 3pm. Kirtan, drama, lectures by international devotees and performances by the children inspired all present to take part sincerely in this festival for the Lord’s pleasure.
At 4 o’clock the Lord mounted His chariot which was beautifully decorated with the most fragrant of flowers. It was a feast for the eyes and all were stunned at the picturesque display. Chappan Bhoga was then offered to the Lord. Before the Lord started His journey, invited guests were requested to break coconuts with camphor on, in order to ensure that all obstacles were removed. Vedic hymns were then chanted and conch shells were blown, at that point Jagannath began His 4 hour long walk through the streets of Gurudaspur. 20 policemen were present to ensure that the whole festival flowed smoothly. Fruits and sweets were distributed in abundance to the locals who in turn were greatly satisfied. Ecstatic kirtan was lead by international devotees throughout, in which everyone seemed to be in an ocean of ecstasy. A total of 1000 participated in the Ratha Yatra whilst 10,000 onlookers took darshan of the Lord. At the end of the festival, mass prasad was distributed to all those who came to take part.
“ I thank you all very much for making the ratha yatra festival so successful. Please convey my gratitude to all the boys and girls who participated in this great transcendental service.” SP to Upendra, 4th July 1968.
Our gratitude to devotees who participated in the festival, especially those devotees coming from abroad: Spain, Italy, UK and Bangladesh. Our respect to our chief guests of honour: Dr Ram ji Repaka, Professor at IIT Ropar, Punjab and Dr Raj Kumar Meena,Professor at Bikanar Unviersity, Rajasthan. Especially, we would like to express thanks to Dr Anupam das who spearheaded this whole festival and worked tirelessly in order for it to be a success. Finally our heartfelt gratitude to Srila Prabhupada for pushing forward this Ratha Yatra festival to broadcast the Lord’s glories all over the world. We hope that we could please Him in our humble efforts.
Jagannath Swami ki Jay
Ratha Yatra Mahotava ki Jay
Srila Prabhupada ki Jay
On Thursday 13th August, ISKCON-London officially launched their year-and-a-half long celebrations across 2015 and 2016 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON by holding a festival to mark 50 years since Srila Prabhupada departed from India to the US aboard the Jaladuta.
The festival started with an Adivasa Ceremony led by Head Pujari, HG Murli Manohara dasa, and included themed classes from senior Srila Prabhupada disciples, HH Janananda Gosvami and HG Adi Karta dasa. Attendees also experienced an ecstatic maha-harinama and in the evening, there was a full Temple Room with devotees singing Yadi Prabhupada Na Hoite – a bhajan composed by HH Jayapataka Swami. No festival is complete without a sumptuous prasadam feast also being served.
Attendees were treated to a special Vyasasana display showing Srila Prabhupada boarding the Jaladuta. The Temple altar also provided a nice meditation, displaying Srila Prabhupada’s Prayers to Lord Krishna that he wrote on the Jaladuta. Everyone was also gifted with a copy of a special booklet “ISKCON50 in London” which invited the community to the range of ISKCON50 events taking place in London in 2015 as well as some nice excerpts to help imbibe the mood of gratitude to Srila Prabhupada.
Devaki devi dasi, ISKCON-London’s Coordinator for the 50th Anniversary Celebrations, said “There was a wonderful team of devotees involved in organising the festival in various capacities. The event was well-attended and showed excitement in the community about ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary Year. It was a sweet launch and we look forward to having further celebrations throughout 2015 and 2016 and increasing our appreciation for Srila Prabhupada and his achievements.”
One attendee, Bhaktin Channah, said “The Jaladuta 50th Anniversary Celebrations were amazing. I think for the first time I gained an understanding of Srila Prabhupada – not just as a writer of books but as a living guru who went through so much to bring knowledge of Krishna to the West. The festival made me realise just how fortunate I am to be a devotee but also how amazing ISKCON is. It has really inspired me to learn more about Krishna Consciousness and the life of Srila Prabhupada and to remain a devotee for life, and I am very grateful to all the devotees involved in the festival for this and for organising such a wonderful day.”
ISKCON-London are having a series of events in September to commemorate Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West. The next ISKCON50 events will be Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja on Sunday 6th September, the 50th Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada arriving in the US for the first time on Thursday 17th September and the 50th Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada arriving in New York (where the ISKCON movement began) on Saturday 19th September. Full day of festivities are planned on each of these days and everyone is warmly invited to attend. Further details can be found on www.iskcon.london/iskcon50.
To view recordings from the inaugural event, please visit http://bit.ly/iskcon50london-events-playlist.
For any queries, please contact iskcon50@iskcon.london.
Then the husband took a picture of his wife dancing with a devotee lady.
Flying to New York City
I offered it to Krishna by chanting the mantras, and it tasted so good. When the stewards saw I liked it they brought me another bowl of it. As I deplaned I thanked the man who got me the fruit telling it was the best food I ever had on a plane, and he replied, “That is because it is our food.”
After just proofreading and no harinama for a week, you can see I was happy to be dancing in the kirtanaagain!
By TKG Academy
The goal of our educational system is to inspire our children to become devotees of Krsna, while living in this world like perfect, responsible ladies and gentlemen. We see such example in the life of Radhika Raman Prabhu, who, along with his younger brother, was homeschooled by his mother, Aruddha Mataji. Their story is a success story and thus we invited them to share it with us.
Their seminar was inspiring and gave us a sense of recommitting ourselves to the standards established by Srila Prabhupada. The home environment, saturated with spiritual practices, while minimizing other distractions, is so essential and beneficial for attaining our desired goal. They urged us to forgo the excessive use of electronics and instead, invest our time studying the Srimad Bhagavatam with our children. They spoke about the importance of including children in outreach; in presenting Krsna consciousness and sharing it with others.
The seminar they presented in the temple room was followed the next day by additional Questions and Answers session for the benefit of our parents, as part of our Orientation Meeting. One parent wrote: “I wanted to thank you for the visit of Radhika Raman Prabhu and his mother. Amazing advice, association, etc. Great start to the new year.”
To listen to the recording of the seminar:
Source: http://www.tkgacademy.com/news-updates/events-festivals/the-art-of-krsna-conscious-parenting/
The devotees in Turkey are working very hard to finish the renovation work of the newly rented place in downtown Istanbul. The Govinda Cafe is scheduled to open for a trial period in two weeks, and the official opening will take place in about a month.
In Turkey Krishna-consciousness is allowed to perform only a very limited amount of public activities. Govinda Cafe will serve as an important tool to distribute prasadam and present the culture of Krishna-consciousness to the Turkish society.
Lecture on Take the Intelligence beyond the illusion of Knowledge by HH Chaitanya Charan Prabhu on Jul 2015
(HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu is a celibate spiritual teacher (brahmachari) at ISKCON, Pune. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Govt College of Engg, Pune. He is a member of ISKCON's topmost intellectual body)
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Karunavatar Gauranga Mahaprabhu on 24 Jun 2015 at Manchester
(HG Vishwarup Prabhu delivered professional and spiritual discourses to medical professionals in UK and USA in 2007-2008.)
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Param Dharma ka Sooksma Tattva Jnana by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 11 Jul 2015 at Navsari
(HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. )
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Rudeness And Impudence of an Ape named Dvivida Gorilla by HH Radhanath Swami on 23 Aug 2015 at ISKCON Chowpatty
(Radhanath Swami was born in Chicago in 1950. Radhanath Swami's childhood name was Richard Slavin; Radhanath Swami was given the name Radhanath Swami after he entered the renounced order. In his teenage years)
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Standards for Cooking Prasadam by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 02 Jul 2015 at Colombo
(HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. )
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Dependance on Krishna by HH Sivarama Swami on 11 Aug 2014 at Budapest
(Sivarama Swami was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1949. His family immigrated to Canada where some years later in 1970 he first came in contact with Srila Prabhupada's teachings, via his transcendental books. He became an initiated disciple of His Divine Grace in 1973 and accepted the renounced order of life in 1979.)
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on The Perfect Yogi by HH Niranjana Swami on 16 Aug 2015 at Kiev (Russian Translation)
(His Holiness Niranjana Swami was born on December 10, 1952, in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. In 1972, his spiritual search took a turning point when he saw a Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, on the counter of a bookshop in Washington, DC.)
To Listen and Download - click here
Lecture on Glories of Jhulan Yatra by HG Pankajanghri Prabhu on 30 Jul 2015 at ISKCON Mayapur
(His Grace Pankajanghri Prabhu has served in Sri Dham Mayapur since 1971. He and his twin brother, Jananivasa Prabhu, have become world famous as the exemplary “pujari brothers”.)
To Listen and Download - click here
Early morning drone flight at Mayapur. (Album with photos)
The TOVP is nearing the stage of receiving the enormous Kalash.
See them here: https://goo.gl/THNsnl
Srila Prabhupada's Mayapur vision focuses on inspiring devotees worldwide through education. For the last fifteen years, the Mayapur Institute (MI) has been developing as a powerful institute to fulfill his vision. Bhaktivinoda Thakura described Mayapur as the holy place with the most potency in this age to help one advance spiritually. With this understanding, Srila Prabhupada stressed the importance of coming to Mayapur, as he put it, "to recharge one's spiritual batteries," and then going back to one's temple to preach with heightened enthusiasm and effectiveness.
Since it began in 2000, the MI has been doing lots of this recharging. The MI has awarded its students, over 1,800 devotees, their sastric degrees (over 1/3 of such degrees offered within ISKCON) and over 1,500 have received devotional life-skill certificates in areas such as teacher-training or leadership-training (over 1/2 of such certificates offered within ISKCON), all in pursuance of a foundational instruction Srila Prabhupada gave back in 1971:
"Throughout the whole world there is no institution to impart education in the matter of spiritual understanding. So we are going to open a big center in Mayapur where this education will be internationally imparted. Students from all parts of the world will go there to take education in this important subject" (Letter to Atreya Rsi, 20 August 1971). This is what the MI is all about.
When our Bhakti-sastri students begin studying The Nectar of Devotion,they are intrigued and inspired to learn Rupa Gosvami's analysis of the qualification for advancing in Krishna consciousness: faith in and knowledge of sastra. When they really understand this principle, the "lights start to go on" as to why Srila Prabhupada made writing, publishing and studying Vaisnava literature the No. 1 Priority.
Sastric knowledge is not merely theoretical knowledge but the realized knowledge one naturally acquires by hearing and inquiring with the support of serious and sincere devotees.
"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.25)
Self-study is important, of course. But ask any of our graduates about the transformations in consciousness and increased capacity to serve which they've experienced as a result of studying Prabhupada's books in one of our systematic sastric courses, and you will understand why we are so enthusiastic in encouraging your participation.
Visvambara Caitanya Dasa (2008 Bhakti-sastri graduate from Belgium): "To me MI (Mayapur Institute) stands for (M)ost (I)ntimate, because the satisfaction I felt while studying Prabhupada's books was not ordinary but profound and soul-touching. And like a most intimate relationship, I have not forgotten those MI times, which still provide me with much insight for my daily life."
Incidentally, quite a few of our sastric graduates take MI's teacher-training courses and upon returning to their temples become sastric teachers themselves, thus uniquely pleasing the Lord.
"For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear." (Bhagavad-gita, 18.68-69)
Here's MI's powerful lineup of courses and facilitators to help you access the abundant mercy available in Srila Prabhupada's books and increase your service potency:
Bhakti-sastri Course Separate Sections for Men and Women (Nov 1, 2015 to Feb 17, 2016)
B.B. Bhagavat Swami B.V.V. Narasimha Swami Kadamba Kanana Swami Bhakti Caitanya Swami Vamsivadan dasa Atul Krsna dasa Padmanayana dasa Laxmimoni-devi dasi Shyamala Sakhi-devi dasi Su-gita Vani-devi dasi Anuradha-devi dasi Divyalila-devi dasi Subhasini-devi dasi
Bhaktivaibhava Course - Module 1 (Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 1 - 3)
Bhaktivaibhava Course - Module 2 (Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 4 - 6)
Bhaktivedanta Course - Module 1 (Newly Launched!) (Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 7 - 9) (Nov 16, 2015 to Feb 17, 2016)
The following Vaisnavas will facilitate in both the Bhaktivaibhava and Bhaktivedanta Courses:
Kadamba Kanana Swami Adipurusa dasa Bhanu Swami Atul Krsna dasa B.V.V. Narasimha Swami Carucandra dasa Candramauli Swami Harilila dasa Padmanayana dasa Srivas dasa Radhika Nagara dasa Vamsivadan dasa Vidvan Gauranga dasa
Graduation Ceremonies for the Bhakti-sastri & Bhaktivaibhava Courses (Mar 5, 2016)
Please please visit www.mayapurinstitute.org or write to us at info@mayapurinstitute.org to acquire your required preliminary self-study materials, and prepare yourself for what will likely be the most productive and blissful experience yet in your devotional career.
After finishing your sastric course, we also encourage you to participate in the Gaura Purnima Courses, which will help you deepen the devotional life skills needed to be an effective representative of the guru-parampara.
Gaura Purnima Courses (Feb 18 to Mar 25, 2016)
Feb 18 - 22 ISKCON Disciple Course (Women Separate) Laxmimoni-devi dasi
Feb 18 -21 ISKCON Disciple Course (Men Separate) Radhika Nagara dasa
Feb 18 - 23 Teacher Training Course One Atul Krishna dasa
Mar 1 - 5 Book Distribution & Leadership Seminar Navina Nirada dasa
Mar 3 - 6 ISKCON Disciple Course To be confirmed
Mar 3 - 8 Teacher Training Course One Atul Krishna dasa
Mar 7 - 10 Krishna Conscious Grhastha Ashrama Harilila dasa / Divya Lila-devi dasi
Mar 7 - 12 Leadership and Management Course Anuttama dasa
Mar 11 - 15 Spiritual Leadership Course Prahladananda Swami
Mar 13 - 18 Teacher Training Course Two Atul Krishna dasa
Mar 24 - 25 Bhakti-sastri Teacher Training Course Harilila dasa
Important dates:
Oct 28 - Nov 25 Kartika
Feb 24 - Mar 2 ISKCON ILS
Mar 2 - 5 Sravan Utsava
Mar 6 - 10 Kirtan Mela
Mar 12 - 18 Navadwip Mandal Parikrama
Mar 23 Gaura Purnima
We are looking forward to your association and to the opportunity to serve you soon in Sridhama Mayapur.
Holy Name Festival in Spain (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Caitanya Mahaprabhu says: “I have brought medicine to awaken very living being from perpetual sleep. Please receive the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and awaken. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.13.9 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/qxeNTq