By Titiksu Das and Nitai Gaurasundar Das
London and Paris have much in common as far as Krishna Consciousness is concerned. Srila Prabhupada visited both cities many times.
He installed Radha Krishna Deities in both places and gave Them similar names...Radha-London Isvara (London) Radha-Paris Isvara (Paris). He also installed Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra, and Gaura Nitai in both cities.
Rathayatras in both places attract thousands each year, around 20,000 people in London (since 1969) and ar
By Madhava Smullen
The San Francisco Rathayatra, ISKCON’s first, returned on August 14th after missing the year 2020 due to the pandemic, with a bright and colorful celebration for the Lord of the Universe at Golden Gate Park.
With the exception of last year, San Francisco Rathayatra has been held annually since 1967, when Srila Prabhupada sketched a truck with a four-pillared canopy on the back and organized his early disciples in introducing Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra to North Ame
By Madana Gopal Das
The first Annual Parsippany, New Jersey, Rathayatra festival was held this summer on July 11th, 2021.
The bright-faced, colorfully dressed devotees, numbering over 1500, sang, danced, and joyfully pulled the beautifully decorated chariot of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi starting at the Vrajdham temple and ending at the construction site of the brand new Grand ISKCON Parsippany Temple, where the parade ending with a thunderous kirtan.
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It is a great honor, privilege, and pleasure to be here on the auspicious occasion of Snana-yatra. The first deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON were discovered in San Francisco in 1967. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, Malati dasi, saw a small figure in an import store, Cost Plus, and brought it to him. When Prabhupada saw the figure, his eyes opened wide. He folded his palms and bowed his head in respect. Then he said, “You have brought Lord Jagannatha, the Lord
Our life is like a yatra – a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey towards the Divine. Our body symbolises the rath or chariot, through which we embark on the journey towards serving and attaining eternal love of the Lordships. Though we live in this material body or ‘rath’, the bonafide shastras and acharyas advise us to surrender its control to the all-merciful Lord Purushottama. Thus, by sincerely following their instructions, we earn their blessings and eventually we are able to blissfully maneu
At the height of Indian summer, right at the beginning of the Monsoon, the Lord of Puri goes to his garden palace for the annual summer vacation. Originally the festival has its foundation in the residents of Vrindavan bringing back their Lords, Krishna, Balaram and Lady Subhadra from Kurukshetra.
Today in Puri He, the Lord of the Universe travels in some style from his temple in Puri, to his garden temple, located outside the town centre called Gundicha. Thousands of Hindus flock to see, and
Ratha Yatra or Chariot Festival'is a festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Odisha, India. It is the oldest Ratha Yatra taking place in India and the World, whose descriptions can be found in Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita.This annual festival is celebrated on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month).The festival commemorates Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha Temple
The presiding deities o
By Madhava Smullen
An online “Sravana Festival,” with a series of Zoom talks by illustrious guests about the pastimes of Lord Jagannath and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is setting the mood for the upcoming Ratha Yatra celebrations at the ISKCON temple in Plainfield, New Jersey and on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
The nectarean spiritual talks, which are taking place every Sunday from 9:00am to around 10:30am EST, began on June 20th with Director of Gopal Jiu Publications Madhavananda Das, who is based
On this full-moon day, sixteen days before Ratha- yatra, Lord Jagannatha is bathed. He becomes sick and is confined to rest for fourteen days. He is then offered special care until He comes out for Ratha-yatra.
A special bath of Jagannatha takes place on the Purnima of Jyestha month to commemorate the appearance day of Lord Jagannatha.
By Madhava Smullen
Lord Jagannatha is coming.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 was the first year without a New York Ratha Yatra parade in 45 years – instead, Lord Jagannatha was driven down Fifth Avenue in a minivan, along with a virtual online celebration.
This summer, things are beginning to look different. The number of new coronavirus cases in the US has plummeted from a seven-day average of more than 250,000 a day in early January, to a daily average of less than 14,380 during the past
With folded hands, we thank all the Vaishnavas for participation in this year’s Kshetra Parikrama. Irrespective of the pandemic and the bridge in physical association it has caused, in great numbers from all around the world, has tuned in daily to participate in the parikrama engaging our minds fully in Puri Dham.
This has proved to us that indeed we can systematically and devotionally engage modern day technology fully for the service of the Lord and how it can be used perfectly in this period
Happy Dipavali. A Good News for You!
Welcome to Puri Parikrama 2020!
As Supremely Merciful as Lord Jagannath, His Divine abode Puri dhama is reaching to you, wherever you are, in any part of this planet and you can join us in Puri Parikrama Online everyday from 2nd Dec-5th Dec. Do not miss the mercy of performing Puri Parikrama on the specific day prescribed in Scriptures(on the tithi of Marga sirsa masa Pancami – the 5th day after Purnima, in the month of Marga sirsa, this year it falls on 5th
Caitanya Mahaprabhu proclaims that the Holy Names will be glorified in every town and village. In our village within a town, the local Topanga Canyon media resonated Lord Jagannath’s mercy. Even though He could not appear on the beach amongst ten thousand or so happy festival-goers, He found his way into every home in our small community nestled in the mountains of Los Angeles county. I take no credit for His appearance here. I just opened the bi-weekly paper to find a darshan of His smile. We m
Ratha Yatra is usually a summer staple for ISKCON devotees, a chance to pull Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra on Their chariot through the streets, share Krishna consciousness, see old friends and connect. With the COVID-19 pandemic, of course, none of this is possible in person, and Ratha Yatras all over the world have been cancelled. But devotees are thinking creatively and coming up with virtual alternatives for the chariot festival.
From July 1st to 12
Starting in 1973, residents of New Vrindaban, West Virginia, held their own small rural Rathayatra festival on the farm, a sweet event with Lord Jagannath riding a succession of different charmingly rustic makeshift carts.
In the early 2000s, Malati Devi, one of the organizers of San Francisco’s 1967 Rathayatra – the first outside India – commissioned a proper traditional chariot and the festival grew in popularity within the community.
Then in 2016, the Rathayatra became a public annual even
This year we won't get the chance to pull Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi's chariots through the streets but don’t let that dampen your spirits. Get ready to welcome Them into your hearts this weekend!
ISKCON Berlin, London, Radhadesh and Zurich are organizing the Spirit of Ratha Yatra, a unique first-time European virtual collaboration festival jointly hosted on Saturday 18th July, 11:00 - 17:00 CEST / 10:00 - 16:00 BST.
The festivities will include Deity darshans, history
In what is normally an event with 30-40,000 people in attendance, the Festival of India/Chariots was down scaled substantially due to the epic Covid-19 epidemic. That’s the reality today—learn to adjust.
The organizers of this year‘s program in Toronto operated as cool as cucumbers, as usual, and their approach to this beloved event was full of innovation. Deities of Jagannath were stationed in a convertible and were taken for a ride down the customary route of Yonge St to the waterfront at Su
