13th Annual Lord Jagannatha’s Ratha Yatra At Rijeka, Croatia, Europe

By Dvaraka-Gamana Devi Dasi

“O KRISHNA! TEARS FILL MY EYES WHEN I HEAR YOUR NAMES BEING GLORIFIED BY PURE DEVOTEES.”

Croatia, officially known as the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state at the crossroads of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which forms one of the country’s primary subdivisions, along with its twenty counties. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia’s Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The country’s population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism.

ISKCON is officially recognized in Croatia, with nine centres. Croatian government gave 500 square meters of space in the centre of Zagreb for Hare Krishna humanitarian work.
ISKCON Centres in Croatia:
1. ISKCON Osijek – Vaisnavska Vjerska Zajednica Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
2. Nava Nilacala Farm, Pula, Croatia
3. Culture Center Bhaktivedanta, Rijeka, Croatia
4. ISKCON Split, Split, Croatia
5. ISKCON, Varazdin, Croatia
6. Centar Veda, Vodice, Croatia
7. ISKCON, Zadar, Croatia
8. Centar za Vedske Studije Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
9. ISKCON VVZ Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

The 13th annual Ratha Yatra Festival in Rijeka, Croatia was held on Saturday, 6th June, 2015. The procession started at 5pm from Jelacic Square then proceeded through Korzo street to Jadranski Trg and back to Korzo. A stage program was held from 7pm to 9pm.

Special guests for the festival were His Holiness Candramauli Swami, HH Smita Krsna Swami, HG Vaiyasaki Dasa Prabhu and HG Rohini-Suta Prabhu. HH Krsna Ksetra Swami was expected to arrive with the Slovenian devotees.

Prasadam distribution was held at 7.30 pm near the parking precinct of the Chariot.

This was the largest public ISKCON or Hare Krishna festival in Croatia and the main street in Rijeka, Korzo was filled with cheerful devotees of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi.

Hare Krishna!
In the name of all Rijeka devotees,
Your humble servant,
Dvaraka-Gamana Devi Dasi