Devotees gather for the first-ever Rathayatra festival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Recently, the first-ever Rathayatra festival in Ethiopia took place, quietly but significantly, inside the compound of the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa. For Mahaprasad Govinda Das, the only full-time ISKCON preacher currently active in the country, the festival marked a historic milestone in a long and determined effort to establish Krishna consciousness in one of Africa’s most religiously sensitive regions. “The Rathayatra took place within the compound of the Indian Embassy,” Mahaprasad said in a recent interview with ISKCON News. “That was a historical moment because it was the first time the Rathayatra festival was celebrated in Ethiopia.”
Though not a public street procession, the festival’s location and official sanction represented a breakthrough in a country where Hindu communities have long struggled for recognition. “This is a country where the Hindu community has tried to build a temple for three generations, but was unable to overcome government restrictions for the construction or use of places of worship, for the community,” he noted. “So having this event, even within closed walls, was a victory.” The festival coincided with the inauguration of a new Bhakti Vriksha Center at the Indian Heritage Center, part of a broader effort to create sustainable spaces for devotional practice in Ethiopia.
Read More https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-marks-historic-milestone-in-ethiopia-with-first-ever-rathayatra/
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