On Sunday, February 2nd, ISKCON Auckland hosted its annual Krishna Holi celebration at its lively 88-acre farm, New Varsana, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 15,000 visitors. With clear skies and warm sunshine marking the final month of summer, visitors were eager to sing, dance, relish Krishna prasadam, and, of course, partake in the traditional throwing of coloured dyes.
The main stage hosted various musical performances of different styles, each incorporating the chanting of the maha-mantra. As the crowd of thousands swayed along to the reggae, pop, rap, Bollywood, and techno dance music, vibrant dyes were smeared on smiling faces and thrown into the air, creating large colourful plumes of pink, orange, green, and red. The local Fire Brigade was also in attendance and showered the crowd with brightly coloured pink and green cooling water to the delight of those in the hot sun.
After an afternoon of chanting and dancing, visitors followed the alluring aroma of Krishna prasadam to the festival’s many food stalls, where teams of devotees distributed diverse flavours of refreshment. Thousands of plates of prasadam were enjoyed, with many guests taking prasadam for the first time and being impressed by the taste of vegetarian and vegan savories and sweets.
Holi attendees were also eager to explore inside the temple and take darshan of the beautiful deities, Sri Sri Radha-Giridhari, who were also smeared with Holi colours. Throughout the festival, the temple was packed with people taking guided temple tours, purchasing Srila Prabhupada’s books, and leisurely admiring the many attractive paintings of Krishna’s pastimes on the walls and ceilings.
Read More https://iskconnews.org/holi-festival-of-new-zealand-welcomes-prime-minister/
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