By the ISKCON Seattle Communications Office
ISKCON Seattle is making great strides in preaching the holy name to the greater Seattle, WA community. Anandamela, the festival of India is a unique cultural event that bridges east with the west. Organized by ISKCON seattle for the last five years, this event comes in the wake of the festival of colors – Holi that has captured imagination of folks in Redmond and neighboring cities representative of general America. The festival is designed to gradually introduce the general population filled with kama, krodha, and lobha to Krishna consciousness.
This bridge preaching under the vision and leadership of HG Harivilas Prabhu has been largely successful with the festival attracting several western visitors taking Bhagavad gita and other Srila prabhupada literature. MCyogi, the Hare Krishna rock singer sang melodious Hare Krishna mahamantra and other devotional songs on the Ganga stage which is the main stage. The Yamuna and Saraswati stages hosted a variety of Vedic Indian entertainment. The food also maintains the fusion theme with Indo Chinese Manchurian with American flavors. About 30% of visitors were of non-Indian origin who came to learn the culture, experience the music, and enjoy the delicacies. At end of the day, the visitors and hosts were thoroughly imbued with sense of common destiny when it comes to cultural emphasis that the city of Redmond always took pride in.
Displays such as Varnashrama village transport us to the ancient way of simple living and high thinking. One of the most popularly sought after participant of this year Ananda Mela was Harini – the calf \ heifer. Through her presence, we were able to increase awareness on our cow protection efforts in Redmond farm community. Visitors could have fresh probiotic buttermilk from our own farm.
Ramayana Land and other Displays
In 2015 the key theme was Ramayana, the story of Lord Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. With 20 displays made with great I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter and care by over 30 volunteers, these displays reinforced the significance of our history. A drama of the Ramayana showcased Bhakta Hanuman and also debunked the Charles Darwin’s evolution theory. Over 20 kids participated in this drama and their level of training was evident as they recited verses in pure Samskritam. Srila prabhupada would have been proud seeing the impact of his movement in Seattle.Click here for Ramayana Land pictures
Enthusiastic devotees distributed literature on music, arts, Bhagavad gita, Krishna book, Chant and be Happy, and other Srila Prabhupada books. Chanting of the mahamantra Hare Krishna reverberated the open lawns filling the air with 5000 year nostalgic Vedic culture. Colorful dresses such as choli, ghagra, lehanga, saris, kurtas, pyjamas, and dhotis showcase the cultural strengths. In the previous years a display of holy river Ganges charted the course of the Ganges from Mount Kailash to the Bay of Bengal showcasing the uniqueness of the Vedic Indian culture and the lifestyle along its course. The Commitment of ISKCON Seattle and its 500+ volunteers towards presenting this timeless culture has been commended by Mayor of Redmond and through the large press coverage in previous years. The cost of the festival is covered through prasadam sales, cultural grants, paraphernalia vendor booth rentals (50+ vendors) and the discounts on facility charges by the City of Redmond.
It would be hard to imagine a Hare Krishna festival with number of visitors or participants exceeding 20,000 in North America. About 410 Srila Prabhupada transcendental books distributed. The number of stage performers was 200 comprising dancers, musicians, and drama etc. With ten prasadam booths serving over 20 varieties everyone enjoyed transcendental Krishna prasadam.
Unique Features this Year
One of the key successes of the festival is the raising of over $130,000 in pledges for TOVP Mayapur project. This makes our temple the first ever temple to raise funds from the general public and increase awareness about the TOVP outside the devotee community at such a larger scale.
Yet other unique feature of the festival was the Kids Jagannath Rath Yatra organized by Bhimsen boys club of ISKCON Seattle, procession of Sri Balaji (Dwaraka Krishna). Visitor kids were engaged in Krishna Chess competition, Gauranga bouncies, and Nala-Bhima cooking competition.
Vedic University
While TOVP pledges , cost recovery and distribution numbers for prasadam plates and Srila Prabhupada books are good indicators of success for our festival, another key measurement we taken into account is the year on year increase in the number of enrolments for the courses offered through Vedic University. The Vedic University volunteers were holding fort for two days sharing the timeless principles from the Bhagavad Gita to all visitors. Various new courses were introduced this time through the eXperience series- Intricacies of Creation, Leadership Sutras from the Bhagavad Gita, Mantra Meditation, 15 min Daily Yoga Package, Time Management , Cow Care, Natural Farming and Discover Yourself. Owing to these new courses and the high trust that the greater Seattle community has on the Vedic University, the number of enrolments increased by 20 percent this year and the number of people wishing to receive emails from the Vedic University by 30%.
ISKCON Seattle has something for every age group: Cow farm and Varnashrama for everyone, Bhimsen boys club, Blossom girls club, BhaktiWomen focused on women’s growth, Balamela for kids, Synergy International school for kids, book distribution events for the courageous devotees, Bhakti Gita and Discover yourself courses from Vedic University, Bhaktivedanta library for the inquisitive, the list goes on.
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