For the third year in a row the troupe of Le Carnaval Spiritual hasembarked on a 3 month tour of Australia. The success of previousfestival tours has led to widespread enthusiasm for the group oftalented devotees to perform at different events around the country.Following the success of last years festivals in Victoria, they wereinvited to the Parliament of World Religions which was hosted inMelbourne.Before an audience of 400 people which included some of the worldsmost significant religious leaders, devotees from around the worldperformed a 90 minute spectacular display of yoga, martial arts,dance, theatre and kirtana. The presentation also included a shortlecture on the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness by Indradyumna Swami.On the seventh and final day of the Parliament, Le Carnaval Spiritualwere again invited to take part in a 4 minute presentation during theclosing ceremony. The devotees performed a choreographed dance whichincluded yoga and martial arts, performed to the contemporary singingof Hare Krishna by MC Yogi and Jai Uttal. It built to a crescendo ofdevotees singing the maha mantra and then ended as all 22 devotees onstage flung rose petals into the air in an impressive explosion ofcolour.His Holiness the Dali Lama also spoke for 25 minutes about getting intouch with our inner spiritual qualities of forgiveness, andcompassion. He encouraged the audience to become united in an effortto stop seeing the differences in each other and make a positivechange in the world. Afterwards His Holiness the Dali Lama met thedifferent artists and speakers at the closing ceremony. IndradyumnaSwami approached him and gave him a flower garland. As they held handsand spoke briefly, Indradyumna Swami thanked His Holiness on behalf ofthe Hare Krishna Movement for helping to uplift the spiritualconsciousness of the world. The Ceremony ended with grand processionleading out of the main Auditorium were the Le Carnaval Spiritualperformers stood in a line and greeted the 4000 guests as they exited."You presentation was so uplifting" remarked Nataneal, a guest at theshow "Truely the highlight of the night!"Another Minister who had flown in from New Mexico, USA also remarked."I had hoped that the Krishna people would come for the closingceremony, as the opening ceremony last week was so flat! There isnothing like Krishna music!" The local ISKCON devotees were wellrepresented in many ways at the World Parliament of Religions. HHYadhunandana Swami, Mahaprabhu Dasa, Taraka Dasi and Bhakta Dasa allspoke on various spiritual topics. Melbourne temple PresidentAnnirudha Dasa remarked "Its a great way to network and strengthen ourconnections with other spiritual movements, both locally andinternationally". For the devotees of Le Carnaval Spiritual it wasjust one of 45 festivals to come.Indradyumna Swami explained, "Our main aim at the Parliament was todemonstrate that the Hare Krishna movement has a lot to offer societyin terms of spiritual uplift-meant. Our role is to educate people intangible spiritual philosophy and present a culture and lifestyle thatis conducive to spiritual growth." The World Parliament of Religionswill meet again in 5 years and the attendees were encouraged by HisHoliness the Dali Lama to put their speeches over the last week intoaction in the months and years to come. Taking that to heart thedevotees of Le Carnaval Spiritual will dazzle and delight a greatvariety of different audiences across Australia with an artistic anduplifting display of Krishna conscious culture in the months andhopefully years ahead.
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