Blog

ISKCON New Dvaraka in Los Angeles raised more than $300,000 during a special fundraising dinner held in support of the community’s upcoming 50th Annual Ratha-yatra festival, scheduled for August 2, 2026. The LA Ratha-yatra is one of the longest-running and most prominent Jagannatha chariot festivals outside India. This year’s event will mark its 50th anniversary, celebrating five decades of public kirtan, devotional culture, and outreach in Southern California.

The gala evening brought together

“When Lord Chaitanya was at Alalanatha, the devotees from Bengal arrived in Jagannatha Puri, and word was sent to the Lord that they were there waiting for Him and He should go there. But He was so much in the mood of separation that He did not want to return to Jagannatha Puri if he could not get darshan of Lord Jagannatha. The devotees very intelligently began kirtan, and in that kirtan Lord Chaitanya’s mind was pacified. In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains  that the holy names of Krish