On Saturday, May 20th, devotees celebrated the 22nd year of the Festival of Chariots at the beach and Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville, Florida.
The popular gathering, attended by devotees and locals alike, served out more than 1,200 plates of prasad throughout the day. In addition, about 500 individually packaged date fruits with a “Have a DATE with us” invitation were distributed by Lilla Purushottam Das and his wife Rukmini Dasi during the first 10 minutes of the procession.
Many booths were available for guests, including one offering mantra meditation. Four devotees were busy until evening at the henna booth, and devotees also sold devotional artwork and other crafts. This year, the Festival of India joined forces with the Festival of Chariots for this Ratha Yatra. They brought themed exhibit booths that welcomed large crowds throughout the day. They included booths on Srila Prabhupada, Vegetarianism, Changing the Body, and the Bhagavad Gita. Senior devotees from nearby Alachua staffed tents offering information and books. By the end of the day, 30 cookbooks, 585 small books (including 54 Bhagavad Gitas), 50 sets of chanting beads, 800 Chanting pamphlets, and around 1,000 Festival of Chariots brochures were distributed.
Festival attendees also enjoyed several devotional dance presentations on the stage. The first dance performance (Narasimhadev Kautvam) retold the story of Lord Narasimhadeva, who saved his great devotee Prahlad from his evil father. It was beautifully performed by Ranganayaki Mayshark and choreographed by Rukmini Devi Arundale.
The second devotional dance was a prayer asking for the blessings of God in His different forms (Thodaya Mangalam). It was performed by Vishaka, Dhara Saci, Gandarvi, and Sundarim and choreographed by Anapayini Jakupko from the Bhaktikalalayam Dance Academy in Alachua.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/1200-participated-in-the-jacksonville-festival-of-chariots-event-on-may-20th/
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