On a daily basis, I am receiving in the neighbourhood of a dozen garlands – a way of welcome, an etiquette to honour a sadhu (a monk). You can’t beat the fragrances of the flowers in India. It’s quite a treat. One receives these strings of lovelies when entering a home, an institution, a temple, often two or three at a time. It adds up. Also, when one sits down to give a class.
It was two classes today. The morning one involved pastimes (my personal ones) with our guru, Prabhupada. The s
Some of the greatest monks of the last two millennia, like Sankaracharya, Ramanuja, Madhava, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, visited the location where the Kurma/tortoise avatar has been honoured near Srikakulam. Our group was told to prepare for a 3 AM pickup by the bus. I hate to say it, but no one in this country tends to be on time.
When we reached the Kurma Mandir, the gates for the 4:30 AM opening was also not a reality. We were eager – eager to see something rare – the snan, or bathing, don
I made a visit to the Mayapura district hospital to see for myself the expansion and to offer encouragement to staff and the visionaries behind the project. The project manager is Hari Lila, a good friend. When he came to Canada for a fundraising tour, I introduced him to Scarborough Bluffs off of Lake Ontario. It was summertime. The weather was beautiful and the water really clean. We played the game ‘Hari Ball’ with the boys of Bhakti Academy. We really enjoyed ourselves.
By 3:30 AM you can hear the yelping of the jackals subsiding in the distance, but much nearer in most directions, the sound of water is pouring in a sturdy plastic bucket meant for a morning bath. Oh yes! Everyone in the rented rooms have a shower, yet it’s custom to let that water fill up as far as possible. That’s when the splash takes place. That is your bath.
Being Saturday, so many pilgrims have come from Kolkata and the surrounding areas increasing the numbers and intensifying the sense urges. No harm! Mayapura is neither Mardi Gras nor Disney World. It is a family-friendly, God-centred place.
One of the features of Saturday i
Our best audience to date is the group of students from SMIS. This beautiful flock of over 300 enthusiasts graced the auditorium. Oh, how they love the story of the dwarf avatar! The performers were in top form. They repeated their excellent performance (I don’t want to say ‘perfect’ because you can always tweak or polish – improve). It was an evening show.
I asked the young students what their favourite portion of the drama was. As usual, that is very individual, whether it was the b
It was kind for one devotee to stop with his scooter and offer me a lift to go a few metres up to a restricted area. I thanked him for the offer, but declined, as I often do on the road. My ‘no thanks’ was followed by my explanation.
“Our guru, Prabhupada, did not care for such conveyance in Mayapura. He told one of his disciples to sell his scooter right after he purchased it. It was nice and quiet here for a while. Outside of trucks that bring in supplies, people walked or cycled. T
Russian devotees have a strong presence here, not so much in administrative posts, but physically and culturally. Every day, without fail, you are bound to see and hear a group of musical Russians engaged in kirtan for the public’s pleasure. For our drama’s opening acts, we have a group of young female dancers. Their teacher, also Russian, asked me to give a gift to each performer, a token of their graduation. Young Vanamali, who does some martial arts display, is very Russian, and is also i
This young man, who looked European to me, was going around on the campus grounds picking up neglected trash. He had a specific bag in hand for his collection. I could tell it was a service of a volunteer nature and that softened my heart. I let him know, “It’s great what you’re doing.” I moved when I discovered he was behind me. He identified himself as “Sam!”
Guru Prasad Swami was trying to correct the devotee who throws the sacred water on the pilgrims. The Maharaja caught my eye and indicated that he should not throw from the front of people, but instead from behind, especially for those who wear glasses. We were in the middle of the arati ceremony when Guru Prasad mimed out to me windshield wipers swaying back and forth. He laughed. I laughed.
This small gesture started my day. Perhaps the jesting might strike an interest in a devotional
The japa walk in the morning is the time to absorb all that is good – air, mist, sun, plants, trees, incense from puja sources. Me and my japa walking partners also take in a whiff of sewage once we get down to the residential area. There is this huge banyan that we come upon and we love it.
One woman from Siberia joins us. She quite likes our company, although she knows not a stitch of English. She is up for our mild brand of tapasya (austerity). We hit surfaces of bricks, soft sand,
My devotee friend from the Netherlands acquired the most attractive brass deities of Chaitanya and Nityananda and asked if I would name them. They will play a major role at the Sunday School program recently started in Amsterdam. For good reasons I named them ‘Gaura Nitai Bhumi’.
We set them on a stool just prior to our drama practice when we do a series of voice and body exercises to warm up for our two productions for this year. I do have my personal shot at these exercises. There is
Some good news came from a disciple/student regarding our beloved Srila Prabhupada.
“Today, at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad awarded the prestigious title ‘Vishwa Guru’ to His Divine Grace Abhaya Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
“This historical moment certifies the incomparable contribution of Srila Prabhupada in the Renaissance of Sanatan Dharma and Bhakti mov
Our drama thespian group is working very hard to assemble, once again, The Age of Kali, with gorgeous costumes. Compliments to Girisha from South Africa who put the attire together so that the actors could feel the part with some enhancement. We have made incredible headway in one way, only because the actors truly believe in the piece and the message it brings.
When I see the rehearsals, I am taken by the fact that the main character, Kali, who is notoriously nasty, parallels many of the cur
I am in the sacred land of Mayapura. I started fresh for a day, and it is special. On our calendar for Hare Krishnas the world over, it is a day to honour one of our great luminaries. His name is Nityananda, responsible for, in a large way with his wife, Jahnavi Devi, spreading a consciousness of Krishna in the area of Bengal.
I took to a solo japa meditation walk towards the Tarampura Road where formerly you could see the two elephants. Unfortunately, they no longer reside there. Re
Beautiful quotes from Prabhupada:
“In the beginning there may be some failures. That is quite natural. Just as a child is trying to stand, he may fall down. But that does not mean he should give up the idea. Go on! A time will come when he will be perfect. A time will come when you’ll be perfect, Krishna conscious.”
“It is not only in India – all over the world. There cannot be peace unless you reform the whole social structure, and that can be done only by their Krishna consciou
Saturday is the day when devotees choose a town, congregate at the centrum, city centre, or city square to share that blessed blast of the Name with the public. On the way, I saw forests that I wasn’t sure existed in this below-the-sea level country. Most of the Netherlands was swamp and sea before man grabbed a hold of it. One thing I notice in the rural areas is the countless number of birds, herons, ducks, geese, swans, doves, pigeons, magpies, and more.
Not too many cows that I’ve seen ex
For some time now, I was wondering if I would ever be able to find someone who might be able to pull of an acting portrayal of Sri Chaitanya, the monk avatar who ignited the culture of kirtan in India, and who, in his latter part of life, demonstrated his ecstasies of bhava. The performance by Naman (now initiated as Namacharya) was something he nailed quite well at a venue near Amsterdam where the devotees meet weekly. The drama, which was not named at introduction time, was a special treat f
I know Partha Sarati from the youth bus tour days when he came to join us in the summer of 2008. An American who now lives in the Netherlands, he is retired from the forces in Iran. They were tough years.
He heard I was in Holland and came to join me on a walk by the canals and windmills. He’s a fun guy, but reminds you of the struggle and the ugliness of war. We lunched at Ritam’s apartment, and then he went about his way back to be with his daughter.
In the evening, I was driven to
