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ISKCON Milestone: Kolkata Ratha-yatra, 2012

In his letter to Gargamuni Maharaja in 1970 Srila Prabhupada wrote:

"i We shall open a very gorgeous branch in Calcutta. Calcutta is my birth-place, so all of you as my disciples do something unique in Calcutta. That will be fitting service to your Spiritual Master." Desiring to please Srila Prabhupada by doing something unique for him in Kolkata, his birth-place, devotees of ISKCON Kolkata decided to organize the grandest Ratha-yatra ever in ISKCON. It was obvious that there had to be something unique about that Ratha-yatra, which would attract the attention and participation of a great number of people and the media.

After the Bhagavad-gita court case in Russia the eyes of Indians were turned to Russian Hare Krisna's and their history. To strengthen the position of your ISKCON in Russia and to show the authenticity of Hare Krisna movement there it was decided to officially dedicate the Kolkata Ratha-yatra 2012 to ISKCON Russia and the theme for the nine days' Ratha-yatra festival has been chosen as "Hare Krishna Movement in the Former Soviet Union".

Srila Prabhupada is satya sankalpa - WHATEVER he desires is fulfilled by the grace of the Krsna. Thus by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada's desire Kolkata Ratha-yatra 2012 became one of the most successful events in the history of ISKCON. His Holiness Bhakti Vijnana Goswami Maharaja, the leader of ISKCON Russia inspired 35 Russian devotees from Mayapur together with their children to participate in different performances for all 9 days of the festival to make it successful. These performances were the most attractive feature of the festival according to the feedbacks from devotees and guests. Everyone was very much inspired to see our Russian harinama group from Mayapur ecstatically singing the holy name at the stage in front of Gundica Mandir for 4-5 hours every evening for all 9 days and everyone who visited the festival ground was dancing and chanting together with us. The Kolkata Vice President - Acarya Ratna Prabhu - said that this congregational harinama-sankirtana had completely changed the whole atmosphere in the campus.

Ganga Lila Mataji recalls, 'During all 9 days of the Ratha-yatra there was an impression that you had been to the spiritual world. While performing ecstatic kirtanas, while dancing, serving the Deities and honoring prasadam together, while helping and inspiring each other in this harinama-sankirtana we could feel that boundaries of physical, religious and national differences amongst all the participants, including the guests of the festival, just disappeared and thus we all ecstatically served the Lord by chanting His Holy Name. And the Lord reciprocated giving us so much bliss and joy in the heart. At the Ratha-yatra campus, in Gundica Mandira, wonderful Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadha Mayi Deities in lovely outfits were wallowing in the ocean of fragrant flowers and garlands. Huge colorful light pictures of Krisna's pastimes adorned the whole festival ground. The sweetest waves of the Holy Names were flooding the entire area. Happy smiling faces of the devotees and admiring faces of the guests were seen everywhere. All these created a unique atmosphere of Vaikuntha at the festival! Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadha Devi ki jaya!'

Another group of 16 Russian devotees together with their children performed different dramas and dances at the "Cloud of Nectar" theatre under the able guidance of Madhurya Kadambini Mataji. Every day they presented new drama and dances for all 9 days of the festival. Historically Bengal is a place of the classic Indian arts of drama and dance, therefore a Bengali audience is experienced in these expressions and has high expectations. But they were so satisfied and touched in the heart with the expressive and deep heartfelt performances by this theatre group. Every night the huge main pandal was packed. People were so enthusiastic to come again and again bringing their relatives and friends with them to watch the wonderfully bright performances. The devotees played classic Vedic stories - Ramayana, Jada Bharata, Nrisimha Lila, dramas and dances of Krisna's pastimes and many others.

There was another group of senior devotees who came from Moscow by the blessings of HH Bhakti Vijnana Goswami to present a project on a new temple in Moscow, the first traditionally Vedic temple in Russia. The vivid presentations at the main stage and in our Russian stall of 3-D reels and documentaries attracted many people and created awareness of the New Temple Project. They also presented an exhibition of more than 30 big posters, which showed the history of ISKCON in Russia. The exhibition and presentations were well received and covered by the Indian media.

To prepare the whole Festival was not easy at all and it took six months of intense effort and the hard work of the Kolkata devotees for the Rathayatra to come to fruition. To make the festival unique it was also essential to conduct it at a suitable place. Therefore the devotees chose the most prestigious place in the whole of Kolkata - the Metro Park Street Area. It looked exactly like a gorgeous Vrindavana forest and was fit to receive Lord Jagannatha. For six months the Kolkata devotees worked very hard to get permission to use the area - It seemed like Srila Prabhupada and Lord Jagannatha really wanted them to surrender fully in their endeavour. Finally with the intervention of the Prime Minister of India, permission was granted. And it happened 12 days before the Ratha-yatra day!!! Needless to say, the construction of the huge, elaborate Ratha-yatra campus was a real marathon. It required a high level of co-ordination, co-operation and help from each other as well as faith, enthusiasm and a service mood. By this pure attitude the devotees showed how they love our dear Srila Prabhupada.

Such sincere and faithful service attracted the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Jagannatha and therefore Ratha-yatra was a great success!

It was very fulfilling to see 1,400,000 people participating in these nine days of Festival and honouring Jagannatha mahaprasadam in Srila Prabhupada's birthplace. We felt great happiness while seeing the rain of Srila Prabhupada's mercy falling upon these conditioned souls. Once Srila Prabhupada said that the results of devotional service in the Holy Dhama increase 1 000 times but the results of devotional service at his birth place magnify 10 000 times!!! How lucky then were all the participants and the guests of the Ratha Yatra Festival? Who can measure the spiritual benefit they have gotten?

The Ratha-yatra received huge media attention and coverage for the duration of the whole festival. Many newspapers and TV channels, local and national, covered the event for all 9 days. More than 100 articles were published with headlines like "Chief Minister Chants Jai Jagannath with Russians". The previous communist regime had proclaimed a ban on religious expression and for the first time in the history of West Bengal, the Kolkata Ratha-yatra was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of West Bengal - Mamata Banerjee. She glorified Lord Jagannatha and His Ratha-yatra Festival and performed puja. She was very inspired and expressed the desire to come next year to inaugurate the Festival as well. His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja has never missed the Kolkata Ratha-yatra since its inception in 1972. This time His Holiness performed arati with the Honorable Chief Minister.

The Queen of the United Kingdom also honoured Kolkata RY with her attantion. She sent a welcome message to the Ratha-yatra.

It was a great honor for us to perform these services for our dear Srila Prabhupada, Lord Jagannatha and their devotees in Srila Prabhupada's birth place. We are very thankful to HH Bhakti Vijnana Goswami and the organizers of the festival - Acarya Ratna Prabhu, Radha Raman Prabhu, Sankarsana Nitai Prabhu, and others for the great opportunity to preach in such a remarkable way. We also would like to thank the whole crew of wonderful Kolkata devotees that facilitated our service and for caring for us so nicely by cooking special prasadam, arranging our accommodation and transportation and attending to all our needs!

Patita Pavana Jagannatha Swami ki jaya! Srila Prahupada ki jaya! Gaura-premanande hari-haribol!

On behalf of Russian performers at Kolkata Ratha-Yatra 2012,

Vackresvari Devi Dasi