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Padayatra reached Zaregaon on July 17, 2023. It’s a small village in Karmala Taluka and Solapur district. The villagers welcomed us with beautiful garlands. The roads were decorated with rangoli. One of our devotees named Panduranga Jadhav belongs to this village. He invited us for prasadam and prepared Maharashtrian puran poli, a very famous Marathi dish. In all festivals, Maharashtrians make Puran poli. It was offered to our Lordships and we all honored prasadam.

The next day we went for naga

By Damodarlila dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader

We brought two oxen from Gujarat for our padayatra on the auspicious day of Gita Jayanti in 2021. Our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, mercifully named them Krishna and Arjuna. Happily, they both were serving. We never tied Arjuna to the chariot because the oxen require training and then they are yoked to the chariot, so Arjuna always walked behind the chariot. Three months back he fell causing a fracture of his right leg. We took him to a v

By Damodarlila dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader

On April 14 padayatra reached the town of Majalgaon 70 km northeast of Beed, the district headquarters, where the residents were happy to receive us. We carried the chariot to the house of a devotee family and had a wonderful programme. After some rest, we went on nagar sankirtan and people eagerly joined in and danced with us. That evening many villagers assembled for Gaura arati and I gave class on the importance of the holy name and the Bhaga

By Damodarleela dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader

The Maharashtra Padayatra reached Pandharpur dhama on January 26, 2021. We were welcomed at the entrance of the dhama by the devotees and our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja. It was a great moment. I jumped from the chariot to offer my obeisances to Gurudev and as I stood up, he put a garland around my neck. I felt so humble and thought the perfection of my life is pleasing him, because padayatra is the heart of our spiritual master.

Maharaj

By Damodarleela dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader

Padayatra reached Bastavade village in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district on January 21. When we went for advance party to the village the previous day the leaders happily received us and quickly arranged our accommodation. As the news spread that some saints would be arriving with a rath carrying the Lord the residents prepared by sprinkling the roads with water and decorating them with rangoli, then welcomed us at the village entrance on the day

By Damodarlila dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader

Since the India-wide lockdown was announced in March 2020, the Maharashtra Padayatra has been under the shelter of the Sawantwadi ISKCON centre. The devotees here have been taking good care of us, especially temple president Vasusresta dasa. As we can’t leave the centre due to the lockdown, we have faced a shortage of grains and grocery items. After one of the morning programmes, I discussed the issue with congregation devotees Avadhut Krishna d

While chanting in the temple in Vrindavan during Kartik I overheard some boys talking in Marathi. I approached them and asked where they were from in Maharashtra. Their village was Khutalwadi in Kolhapur district, the place of the Mahalakshmi temple, an ancient pilgrimage site in Kolhapur city. By the Lord’s arrangement our Maharashtra Padayatra was about to go to Kolhapur in the coming days, so I took their addresses and contact numbers. They said, “Please come to our village when your padayat

By Damodarleela dasa and Arjuna Krishna dasa

Recently the Maharashtra Padayatra was at Koregaon in the Sangli district, a village enriched with devotees. Cintamani devi dasi, the daughter of a brother of Lokanath Maharaja, stays here and as part of a Vaishnava family she naturally follows the same spiritual path. Her son, Caitanya dasa, who studies in gurukul, was also at home to welcome padayatra and he sang and performed kirtan with us. They have a combined family, a rarity nowadays, and all