Due to his delicate health condition, HH. Jayapataka Swami Maharaj was unable to make it to Kolkata Rathayatra as per his usual annual routine.However, Maharaj’s optimism and determination sprouted a mini-Rathayatra in the high-end township complex in Chennai, where he is currently staying. The residents of the apartment were so moved by Maharaj’s presence in their complex that they wanted to do something that would please him and that’s where the chariot festival made it’s way.
The unanimous e
By the mercy of Srila Prabhupad, today Hera Panchami is celebrated by devotes all across the world and with each passing year the size of the festivities is growing. More than 500 years back Sri Chaitanya MahaPrabhu along with His devotees use to derive ecstatic pleasure when HeraPanchami pastime of Lord Jagannath was enacted in Puri. He used to be so filled with so much love for Krishna in the mood of Vrindavan that He sang and danced for long hours without being fatigued.
As per scriptures Lo
By Acarya Dasa – All India Padayatra Leader
BLESSED WITH THE DIVINE ASSOCIATION OF BHAKTI RASAMRITA MAHARAJA
On June 1st, we reached the city of Belgaum in north Karnataka. Congregation devotees warmly greeted us. We were fortunate to have Bhakti Rasamrita Maharaja, who delivered a lecture especially for us padayatris, glorifying padayatra. He said “Every temple should organize a padayatra; one who walks on padayatra gets the special mercy of Srila Prabhupada.”All the Belgaum devotees came for
I’m on the road again, this time in Australia. I am missing Vrindavan, but happy to be sharing my good fortune with all.
“So, this is formal accepting of sannyasa, but real sannyasa will be fulfilled when you’ll be able to induce the people of the world to dance like you. That is real sannyasa. This formal dress is not sannyasa. Real sannyasa is when you can induce other people to become Krsna conscious and they dance in Krsna consciousness. If you can turn one man to become Krsna conscious, th
Why do you immediately jump to Krishna’s pastimes from the Tenth Canto?
Hari Sauri das: When we were in Bhuvaneshwar, in late January and early February of 1977, two or three moviemakers came. They told Srila Prabhupada that they were making a movie and that they wanted to popularize Krishna’s pastimes. They said,
“Hare Krishna is becoming popular, and we want everybody to know about Krishna. We want to show Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes. Since you are the guru of the Hare Krishna movement, we
By: for sutapamonk.blogspot.uk on March 23, 2016
Photo Credits: www.theonedayroad.com
"Thomas Edison said that five percent of people think, ten percent think they think, and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think. Thinking is hard work – that’s why so few people genuinely do it."
Last few days in India. With no local SIM card and patchy internet access, I’ve been ‘off the grid’ for the best part of the month.
A blessing indeed. When the external world become
By Karnamrita Das
This morning while chanting, I naturally remembered many of the aspects of life I pray for, which have come to me during japa, or in my introspective times during the day. What I pray for, is what I also teach about in my talks. In a general sense, I teach the necessity of calling out for help to our gurus, previous great teachers, and the aspects of Divinity we especially think of or attracted to, like Radha and Krishna, Gaura and Nitai, Prahlad and Nrisimhadeva, or those of y
In South Kolkata, a treasure trove of Vaishnava literature can be found in ISKCON Mayapur’s Bhaktivedanta Research Centre. This library is a gem hidden in a quiet Kolkata neighborhood, in which can be found copies of almost every book written by the previous acharyas going back to Srila Rupa Gosvami, and many rare and out of print books, such as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s compilation of commentaries on the Padma Purana and his commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita. The library also contains scan
Please accept my humble obeisances; all glories to Srila Prabhupada.
For more than ten years I have been printing large format books such as Darsana, Krishna Art, and the latest 16 Kg Bhagavad Gita.
My cherished dream has always been to produce Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita in a size that would make it the largest printed sacred text in the world, and then, after displaying it in different parts of the world, place it either at Kuruksetra where Krishna had spoken to Arjuna on the battle
Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath is world famous. This article talks about Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannatha, its history, significance and so on as explained by Srila Prabhupada.
Ratha Yatra (Festival of Chariots) is one of the world’s oldest religious festivals, originally celebrated in Jagannath Puri. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada this festival is now being celebrated all over the world. In the summer of 1967, the city of San Francisco saw the Western world’s first Ratha Yatra. Many other swam
We shall continue our discussion of the cleansing of the heart, “The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple,” Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twelve. I will read the verse again and then the entire purport. We have already discussed the beginning of the purport, which explains the general process of cleansing the heart. Now we shall discuss the specific types of dirt that can lodge in the heart, and how to deal with them.
We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twelve
The observance of Gundica-marjana, the washing and cleansing of the Gundica temple, takes place on the day before Ratha-yatra, in preparation for the arrival of the Lord.
The history of Ratha-yatra goes back thousands of years, to a previous age, but for us the specific significance of the Ratha-yatra and the cleaning of the Gundica temple was shown by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when He was residing in Jagannatha Puri five hundred years ago. In the transcendental mind of Sri Chaitanya, the temple
By James Cooper
In 1786 Sir William Jones, a Welsh philologist and judge of the supreme court of Bengal, sent shock waves throughout Europe with the following speech he gave in his address to the Asiatic society of Bengal.
“The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than c
“The Ratha-yatra festival observed by Lord Caitanya is the emotional process of taking Krishna back to Vrindavana. Sramati Radharaṇi refused to go with Krishna to Dvaraka to enjoy His company in the atmosphere of royal opulence, for She wanted to enjoy His company in the original Vrindavana atmosphere. Lord Krishna, being profoundly attached to the gopis, never goes away from Vrindavana, and the gopis and other residents of Vrindavana remain fully satisfied in Krishna consciousness.”
– KRSNA,
Every year one of the biggest Rathyatras of Kolkata is organised by ISKCON, with three towering colourful chariots pulled by thousands of devotees along city streets. What we see through the glimpse of this festival on Kolkata streets is not just a religious display of tradition, but a consciousness at a higher level, of harmony and peace. Incidentally, the making of these colourful chariots that are at the centre of this fervour need months to be hauled and decorated. Traditionally, the work b
Purushottam Nitai Das: When Lord Jagannath with his elder brother Balarama and little sister Subhadra enthrone the beautifully decorated majestic chariots on the Rath Yatra day then the hearts of lakhs of people dance in joy. After snana yatra, Lord Jagannath remains confined in a secluded place for 15 days. During these period he performs his pastime with goddess of fortune. He then takes permission from her and come to ride on the chariot to give pleasure to the devotees. And the devotees wit
Chandan Bhatia: 1. The main altar has a murti of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and his personal Deities, Sri Sri Gauraraga Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Gadadhara Pandita.
2. On the left side of the main altar is a small place honoring Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s dedicated servant, Krsna dasa.
3. Bhajana Kutira of Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji: the right of the main altar is the place where Gaura-kisora dasa Babajl had a bhajana kutira. He spent many hours chanting here while visiting Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
House: It is
By Hari Narayana Das
Two Jagannatha Ratha Yatra took place at the same time (July 8, 2018) and in two different places. one far in the west, Jakarta, and the other one far in the east, Kediri, East Java.
As Srila Prabhupada mentions in his lecture that “Just like the other day we held the festival, Ratha-yatra. Chant and take prasadam. That’s all. Organize this all over the world. They will be saved. They will understand Krishna.” (SP lecture on Bhagavad-gita 1.10-London, July 12, 1973)
Being s
By Radha Sundari devi dasi
We have all heard the story of the house that Srila Prabhupada built in which the whole world can live. And how in his great mercy he lovingly created, in the body of ISKCON, a spiritual family to take up residence in that house. A family imbued with the qualities of love and trust, to stand at the door and welcome inside the rest of the world.
Although we have repeated these words many times over the past 38 years, it is only in the last few days, after Hari-sauri Pr
