The Cultural Contest by HH Indradyumna Swami on 21 Jun 2015

(Indradyumna Swami is a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Sannyasi traveling preacher, and a guru or spiritual teacher in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition. Each year Indradyumna Swami circles the globe teaching the message of the Bhagavad Gita and introducing people to kirtan chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.)

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Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06, Chapter 10, Text 17 - 33 by HG Pankajanghri Prabhu

(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”.)

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Lecture on Spiritual Advancement and Material Ambitiousness by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu on Jun 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, the Shastric Advisory Council, which offers scriptural advise to the GBC)

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Namahatta Festival in Czech Republic (Album with photos)

Dear devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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The largest-selling edition of the Gita in the Western world, Bhagavad-gita As It Is is more than a book. It is alive with knowledge and devotion; thus it has the power to change your life for the better. Bhagavad-gita is knowledge of five basic truths and the relationship of each truth to the other: These five truths are Krishna, or God, the individual soul, the material world, action in this world, and time. The Gita lucidly explains the nature of consciousness, the self, and the universe. It is the essence of India's spiritual wisdom, the answers to questions posed by philosophers for centuries.

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Hare Krishna,
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New Vrindaban is famous throughout ISKCON as being Srila Prabhupada’s first farm project, named after the holy dhama. Like other farm projects and temples, it was given the nomenclature “New” to link it to its origin. Srila Prabhupada even said there was no difference between the two, Vrindaban and New Vrindaban. The presiding Deities of Radha Vrindaban Chandra, Srinathji and Gaur Nitai are stunning. The larger than life Deities of Lord Nrsimha and Prahlad Maharaja are astounding. Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama and Lady Subhadra also have a separate altar, as do the Six Goswamis.

We arrived from Pittsburgh on Wednesday, May 27th in time to honor lunch prasadam at the home of Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Nityodita prabhu and his wife Padma, and were pleased to have Malati prabhu in our midst. Gopisa prabhu and other senior Srila Prabhupada disciples were also present. From there we went to the temple to begin making arrangements for the TOVP presentation that evening.

About 75 devotees assembled for the TOVP presentation. During kirtan there was an abhisheka of the Padukas and Puspanjali, after which the program began with Radha Jivan and Jananivas prabhus speaking about the TOVP project. Many devotees came forward to make pledges, despite this being a farm community. By the end of the pledgeing almost $115,000 was raised.

On Thursday, May 28th Jananivas was given a tour of Prabhupada’s Palace and other places in New Vrindaban. He was very pleased to get an opportunity to come to one of the original temples in the Western world established by Srila Prabhupada.

On this date in 1969, Srila Prabhupada initiated me--probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. He accepted me as his disciple and chanted on my beads in Los Angeles, while I was in Boston. And he sent me the following instructive letter:

My dear Giriraj,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 2, 1969, sent along with your beads. I have chanted on them, and your initiated name is Giriraj. Giriraj is the name of Goverdhan Hill, on which Krishna used to tend His cows. In Vrindaban Goverdhan Hill is worshiped as a representation of Krishna. Sometimes devotees take stone from Goverdhan Hill and keep it at home as a representation of Krishna, and they worship in this way.

I am very glad to understand that you have relished at least some of the transcendental bliss of Krishna consciousness. It is a great fortune for you. Living entities are roaming within the universes in different species of life and in different planetary systems, enjoying or suffering the reaction of pious or impious activities. But they have no information how to get out of this entanglement of repetition of birth and death. Due to the darkness of ignorance, most living entities have no idea about the values of life. Therefore, one who understands the importance of Krishna consciousness must be a very fortunate soul. So I marked it in your person when I was in Boston, and I prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna consciousness.

With my blessings, I am sending herewith your beads, duly chanted upon by me. You should avoid the ten offenses as far as possible, and follow the four regulative principles, as Satsvarupa will instruct you. I know your good godbrother Satsvarupa will always help you in this connection. Regarding your $2,000, which you promised to send me within three weeks, I beg to thank you for this.* Actually, a brahmachary should contribute whatever he has got to Krishna, through the spiritual master. The spiritual master does not accept anything for his personal use, but he employs everything for Krishna's service. Therefore the spiritual master is accepted in the renounced order of life. So far as householders are concerned, they may contribute at least half of their income to Krishna. Then life is sublime. After all, everything belongs to Krishna, and the sooner we return whatever we have got to Krishna, the better it is. That is our normal life. Regarding your stocks, you can keep them for yourself for the time being, and if need be I may ask you to deliver them in the future. Your engagements there are nice, so continue to follow rigidly. You may inform Satsvarupa that I have sent the Krsna tape #13, so he may transcribe it and send me a copy. I will be sending further tapes henceforward, because my Nectar of Devotion is now finished and I shall concentrate on the Krsna tapes. I hope this will meet you in very good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

*You can directly transfer this amount to my a/c No. 12410 with the Equitable Savings & Loan Association, Fairfax, Los Angeles, California.

Padayatra India on the roads of Andhra Pradesh

• by: Acarya Dasa

Here are  the main places where Padayatra India visited from January to June 5th.  Some of these places  have already been mentioned in previous articles. The reason  they again appear here is  because we later received many photos of these locations, some without captions, alas. Life on the road is very intense, as you can all imagine.

Ichapuram (January 9):on the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.  Raghupati Dasa, disciple of  Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, did all the arrangements, and Murli  Dasa, a retired military man, provided us with books in the local telegu language, which he had brought form Hyderabad.

Sompeta (January 11): a census town in the Srikakulam district

Narasannapeta: We were welcomed by Sevanidhi  Dasa, disciple of Jayapataka Maharaja. With his help we organized a shobha yatra in the city and did nagar sankirtan.

Srikakulam (January 26):  Two kilometres from this town is the temple of the Sun God in Arasvalli, constructed by a king of the Kalinga dynasty. It is the only Sun God temple in South India. Padayatra arrived for the festival of   Ratha Saptami or Rathasapthami marking the birth of Surya, also celebrated as Surya Jayanti (the Sun-god’s birthday).  Ratha Saptami also marks the gradual increase in temperature. We had darsana of the Sun God and had a grand harinama on the streets of Srikakulam, during which  we distributed 500 Bhagavad-gitas.

Sri Kurmam: It  is located13 kilometers East of Srikakulam near the sea. This is the holy place of Kurma-ksetra (also known as Kurma sthana), with a temple dedicated to Sri Kurmanatha, the second avatar of Lord Vishnu, ( the tortoise incarnation). We all went with Nitai-Gaurasundara for the darsana of Lord Kurmadev  and had a big kirtana there.  To make the pilgrims’ meditation easier, locals had made a pond with different types of tortoises.We also saw the footprints of Caitanya Mahaprabhu established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur.

Ranasthalam (Feb 1 to 3):  This village is located 28 kms West of Srikakulam.  Trivari Govinda Dasa, a brahmacari from ISKCON Tirupati, came there to receive the Padayatra and Their Lordships. He did the necessary arrangements, and with his assistance we celebrated a wonderful festival for the appearance  of Lord Nityananada. We had kirtana, abhisheka of Gaur Nitai and we all sang vaisnava songs. Many devotees had arrived for the occasion.  A grandshobha-yatra was organized and Gaur Nitai were carried through the streets, mercifully giving Their darsana to everyone. After the program prasadam distribution was done.

Vishakapatnam : Padayatra stayed at the ISKCON Vishakapatnam  temple on Beach Road,  a few kilometers away from the city.  Samba Dasa, a disciple of Jayapataka Maharaja, welcomed us and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai with love and affection. The devotees were glad to see us and Their Lordships, and did all the necessary arrangements for our comfort. On February 17 we celebrated Mahashivaratri in the Shiva Temple of Vishakapatnam. With the congregational devotees we organized a grand celebration with harinama and prasadam distribution; every evening we did nagar sankirtana and book distribution in the area.

From March 11 to 12  we were hosted at the Gaudiya matha of Srila Puri Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada had also stayed there for 4 to 5 days. Lokanath Maharaja had instructed us to visit the  Maharsatra Society ( a group of Maharastrians staying in Vishakapatnam) and have a program with them. Our Maharastrian brothers were very happy to see us and welcomed us warmly. We had a special katha describingthe glories of the holy names. The members of the  Maharsatra Society were very pleased and gave us a donation for  padayatra.

As Gaur Purnima was approaching 15 devotees went to Mayapur to attend the  Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama while the  rest of us stayed back in the temple and took advantage of this break from the road to renovate the cart by repairing the damages done and giving it a fresh layer of paint.

Simhachalam (March 17): Simhachalam – the hill of the lion  (“Simha” means lion and  “Adri” or “Achala” means hill)  is located at a distance of 18 km from Vishakapatnam.  The temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva  located at the top of a hill  is said to be the place where  the Lord appeared in His ugra (ferocious) form to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu. This form of the Lord is so fierce that it is kept covered by sandalwood paste throughout the year, and can be seen without it for only 12 hours per year. In the month of May is the festival of Chandana yatra or ‘Chandanotsavam’  during which the deity is again covered with sandalwood paste. The priests of the Simhachalam temple belong to the Sri Sampradaya, the line that follows the revered devotee and philosopher Ramanujacarya. Simhachalam is one of the 108 places recognized by the Sri Sampradaya as  divya-devams, spiritual places in this material world. The temple functions are performed by Vaisnava priests as they have been since Ramanujacarya visited there nine centuries ago.

The  padayatris went for darsana of the Deity and we all prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva  to remove all the obstacles on our bhakti marga.  The  temple on the hill is accessed via a motorable road, and it attracts scores of pilgrims from both Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. On the hill  we also saw  the footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu  established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and had a grand kirtana  at that spot.

Let’s not forget to mention Simhacalam Prasad Dasa, who did all the arrangements for our party.

Rajahmundry (April 16 to 18): We stayed at the local ISKCON temple.  Many congregation devotees and children participated in the shobha-yatra and many women did book distribution with us.

Kovvur ( April  21): It is an  important town in the West Godavari District due to its location on the banks of the sacred Godavari River. We visited the Sri Ramananda Gaudiya Matha established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati  Thakura on July 1932.  He had also installed the footprints of Sri  Caitanya Mahaprabhu to mark  the Lord’s meeting with Sri Ramananda Raya on the banks of Godavari river. Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Nayanabhirama and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu are the presiding Deities of that small temple. This matha has very nice dioramas displaying  the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and Lord Sri Krishna, and also a small goshala. Besides the streets of Kovvur we also did kirtana in a boat on the  river Godavari.

Ananthapalli (May 3): Celebration of Nrisimha Caturdasi.

See previous article “Padayatra India now in Andhra Pradesh”, posted May 7

Jangaredypalli  (May 13):

See previous article “Who are these people walking in the hot sun and distributing so many books?”, posted May 13

Dwaraka Tirumala,  or Dwarakatirumala: ( May 15) This village  is famous for the temple of Lord Venkatesvara. Dwaraka Tirumala, also known as ‘Chinna Tirupathi’. is located about 40 kilometres from the city of Eluru.  Here is the story behind the name of Dwaraka Tirumala: there was a great devotee of Lord Balaji who used to go to Tirupati regularly for darsana. Once he could not make it to Tirupari so Lord Balaji appeared to him in his village, which then became known as Dwaraka Tirumala.

Bhimadole (May 17): This village is located in the West  Godavari district.

Hanuman junction (May 23): This town  got its name because of  the junction of four  road near the Hanuman temple. The feet of the deity separate the Krishna and West Godavari districts. Locals believe Hanuman  to be the protector of the town and people from different religions worship him and celebrate Hanuman Jayanti  day together.

Vijayawada  (May 30 to June 2):   Vijayawada is situated on the sacred Krishna River. It is named after Arjuna, who was also known as Vijaya.  A disciple of Srila Prabhupada named Manihara  Dasa had started a school for orphans  in this city, trying to give Krishna consciousness to the students by doing  regular programs for them.   The padayatris all went to that school to do harinama and perform bhajans. After a small lecture  we distributed prasadamto all the children.With about 300 members of  the congregation we celebrated the Panihatti  dahi chida festival  on  the banks of the Krishna River, then gathered at the local ISKCON temple.

Mangal Giri  (June 4 and 5):

The temple of Pana-Nrsimha in Mangal Giri (Guntur district) still draws many devotees, who come to get the Lord’s darsana in His Andhra Pradesh’s abode. It is one of the most famoustirthas visited by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu during His South India travels. This tirtha is briefly mentioned in the  Caitanya-caritamrta ( Madhya Lila 9.66) :  “Everywhere Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went, His influence astonished everyone. He next arrived at the temple of Pana-Nrsimha. The Lord is extremely merciful » Mangal giri means  « the auspicious  hill ». We all took darsana of the Deity  of Pana-Nrsimhadev on top of the hill. It is said that Lord Nrsimha rested here after killing Hiranyakasipu, and Lakshmi Devi then gave him a drink to quench his thirst.

In making offerings to Lord Pana-Nrsimha, the temple priest takes a pot of sweet jaggery water and, with a conchshell,  pours half of the drink into the Lord’s mouth and the rest is returned asmaha-prasadam to the devotee making the offering. This jaggery water is made of gour, water, camphor, black pepper, and cardamom.  While the water is being poured into the mouth of the Lord, a gurgling sound can be  heard, like the sound of someone drinking. We also offered jaggery water and  all of us heard this transcendental gurgling sound. Even though there is so much sugar water offered here, there is not a single ant on the hill.

The temple is built around a self-manifest mouth of Lord Nrsimhadev. Over the mouth is a brass mask with an ugra (ferocious) expression. The Lord’s disk and club are also self-manifested in the stone. The worshipable footprints of Caitanya Mahaprabhu are housed in a shrine known as Padapeet, which was established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur to commemorate Lord Caitanya’s visit to that place. On July 3rd 1985 Lokanath Swami visited this holy place with Padayatra India. After that visit the padayatris built a small temple around the footprints of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There a slab in telugu explaining that this temple was built by  Padayatra India devotees under the guidance of Lokanath Swami.

MAY 2015 BOOK SCORES (All in Telegu language):

• Maha big books: 2207
• Big: 24
• Medium: 64
• Small: 6693
• Total: 8988

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http://www.padayatra.com/padayatra-india-on-the-roads-of-andhra-pradesh/

Lecture on Disappearance Day of Srivas Pandit Prabhu by Prabodhananda Sarasvati Maharaj on 12 Jun 2015 at Gita Nagari

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Lecture on The Yoga of the Supreme Person by Sachinanadana Swami on 21 Jun 2015

In 1990, she established an all female ISKCON temple which later was awarded a large road side bronze plaque by the State of Ohio Historical Society recognizing the center as the first Vaishnava/Hindu temple in the state, mentioning in detail its unique status in training women in Krishna consciousness.

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