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By Anita Chougule (ISKCON Pandharpur)

Under the guidance of the RadhaPandharinath temple vice president, Dhanurdhar Arjun dasa,ISKCONPandharpurmatajis held their first one-day Vaishnavi padayatra on May 4, 2024.

All of us know that this year we are celebrating our beloved Param Pujya Guru Lokanath Maharaja’s seventy-fifthVyasa-puja. For this auspicious occasion, Greater Noida conducted a one-day Vaishnavi padayatra on April 27. One of my siksha gurus, Tulsi Puja devi dasi, told me to also plan t

On February 10th, 2024, the last rites were offered for a beloved padayatra ox, Nandu, who served Nitai Guarasundar for 12 years by carrying Them throughout India. A few years ago, Nandu retired at the goshala in Sri Pandharpur Dham and departed his body in the early morning of February 8th. The antyesti (funeral rites) were held nearby on the banks of the Chandrabhaga River along with Sankirtan and the well wishes of the devotees.

“Nandu served nicely in the padayatra for twelve years. He never

By Jayabhadra devi dasi (Padayatra coordinator)

The Tamil Nadu Padayatra was inaugurated on January 17, 2023, at Tirunelveli, a major city in the state of Tamil Nadu about 75km northeast of Kanyakumari, India’s southernmost point. The padayatra is led by Bhakti Vikas Maharaja disciple Sevananda dasa, who served in the All India Padayatra for five years where he was trained by AIP leader Acarya dasa.

Following the inauguration padayatra headed south before backtracking northwards to Madurai, th

November 4, 2023, marked the first leg of Padayatra Mauritius’ Island-wide Padayatra. Coinciding with the tirobhava tithi (disappearance day) of Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami, the walk was also dedicated to commemorating the forty-eighth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s first visit to Mauritius.
The day’s itinerary covered approximately 10km, starting at the Sri Sri Radha Golokananda mandir in Phoenix then heading north th

The inauguration of Sri Rama temple will be a great and once in a life event and the most awaited event. Like our Caitanya Mahaprabhus 500th birth anniversary celebration.  

 At that time, we had Padayatra as a way of celebrating the 500th anniversary of the appearance Of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We had Dwaraka to Mayapur padayatra that was also a once in a lifetime event and then padayatra never stopped it’s still going on and on.  

 So aligned to that Ayodhya Padayatra came to my mind. First

Padayatra reached Chitrakoot on 24th June and we stayed at Chitrakoot  around 12-13 days. Keeping the padayatra chariot there, we went to Pandharpur for the Vyas Puja of our spiritual master Lokanath Maharaja.  When Uttar Pradesh Padayatra visited Chitrakoot they had to struggle a lot for their stay, they  had to pay Rs. 1000 per day. So we were  little worried, But Lord shows the day. We visited the same  dharmashala where we had stayed 10 years back during our last round to Chitrakoot and by

By Acarya dasa (All India Padayatra leader)

Radhastami is a special occasion for padayatris: it is the birthday of Srimati Radharani as well as our All India Padayatra, which has now turned thirty-nine years of age.

Padayatra was inaugurated on Radhastami 1984 at Dwaraka and since then has completed seven rounds of India, walking and preaching all over the subcontinent. It’s going on nonstop, and whatever difficulties are encountered we try to overcome by the mercy of guru and Gauranga. It’s a

Leading up to the much-anticipated temple opening in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, ISKCON is organizing a series of events in Ayodhya and the rest of the country to take the teachings of Lord Rama to every household.

One notable example is ISKCON’s Sri Rama Padayatra which commenced its 41-day journey to Ayodhya from East of Kailash, Delhi with a grand inauguration in the presence of Smt Meenakshi Lekhi (Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs & Culture), Shri Ashwini Kumar Chaubey (Union Mi

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

Padayatra in Nepal had started on January 19, 2021. Brahmacari Sahastranam dasa from Ukraine, who had been serving in Nepal for twelve years engaged in community and farm services lead the padayatra.

Another devotee,Premharinamdasa from Pune, Maharashtra, who had participated in the Dindi-yatra and served in Padayatra India, joined Brahmacari Sahastranam. Then Sahastranam Dasa had to go back to Ukraine. Then I by mercy of my spiritual master took up padayatra services. Some devotees joined in be

By Sri Baladeva Dasa (One day padayatra organizer)

On Sunday, July 30th, 2023, a grand and successful one day padayatra with bullock cart was organized in manusmudia village (80km from Jamshedpur). The event was a testament to the community’s unity and enthusiasm, bringing together residents from all walks of life to celebrate a memorable day.

The padayatra commenced at Kadam tala chowk where devotees gathered with all their offerings and bhogas to welcome their Lordships Sri Sri Nitai Gaurach

By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal Padayatra leader

The Nepal Padayatra restarted in the Jhapa district in southeast Nepal on November 17, 2022, following a gap of two months while the padayatris went on Vraja-mandala Parikrama.

Our first stop was at Kerkha village near the Kamala River. A family in the village welcomed us and arranged for our accommodation and prasadam at a Shiva temple. We performed nagar sankirtan in Kerkha and had a house programme at the family’s residence. The next day as we were

By Dayal Gopal dasa, Nepal Padayatra leader

Padayatra is continuing in Nepal and we are walking on the Mahendra Highway running the length of the country from east to west, the only major highway in Nepal.

At the eastern tip of Nepal, we came to the Mechi River, a trans-boundary waterway flowing through Nepal and India. A tributary of the Mahananda River, the Mechi originates in the Mahabharat Range in Nepal, flows through Nepal, forms Nepal’s eastern border with India and then flows through th

By Dhirnayak dasa, Utkal-Banga Padayatra leader

The Utkal-Banga Padayatra reached Sheragada village, a former market town in the Ganjam district of Odisha, a few days before Janmashtami, parking our chariot in front of the Jagannath temple.
The padayatris fasted on Janmashtami and during the day were busy with preparations of fifty-six bhoga and decorating the chariot with fruits and flowers. The previous day we had sankirtan in Sheragada and invited the residents for the two-day celebration o

By Dhirnayak dasa, Utkal-Banga Padayatra leader

The Utkal-Banga Padayatra recently spent time in the picturesque Mahendragiri region of Odisha. Mahendragiri is a mountain in the Rayagada block of the Gajapati district. The hill is situated amongst the Eastern Ghats at an elevation of 1500m and spreads across the neighbouring Ganjam district. The area is a wonderful creation of the Lord and as we were walking, we felt we were heading towards the Himalayas.

Mahendragiri, referred to in the Ramay

By Acarya dasa, All India Padayatra leader

The All India padayatris started their char dhama yatra from Haridwar on May 10, 2022, heading for Badrinath dhama via Joshimath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and lastly arriving at Gangotri on June 18. From Gangotri, we negotiated the steep downhill walk back to Haridwar and on June 20 returned to our preaching journey.

Padayatra headed south from Haridwar stopping at Bijnor where we celebrated the disappearance day of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. There are so

By Acarya dasa, All India Padayatra leader

Having been joined at Rishikesh on May 11, 2022, by padayatris from the Maharashtra, Utkala-Banga and Uttar Pradesh padayatras along with several congregation devotees, the All India Padayatra began its char dhama yatra and after a journey of twenty days reached Badrikashram dhama on May 30, the AIP’s seventh round to Badrinath.

From Rishikesh we crossed the Panch Prayags, five confluences of the Alaknanda River:  Dev Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Karna Prayag

Nepal is a 75% hilly country, so our chariot can’t go everywhere and we often need to walk from one village to another. We carry only our luggage and books and do book distribution and sankirtan. In Nepal, due to poverty and casteism many residents are converting to Christianity, having their books translated into the Nepali language.

There is less preaching of Sanatan dharma, but I was amazed to see the response of people to padayatra. As they hear harinama, they come out to join us and are v

By Acarya dasa (All India Padayatra leader)

The All India padayatris started the char dhama yatra from Haridwar on May 10, 2022. We had darshan of Hari ki paudi at Haridwar and Sapta rishi ghat and, of course, a holy dip in mother Ganges. The next day we moved ahead from Rishikesh and after a journey of twenty days we reached Badrikashram dhama on May 30. Some congregation devotees and padayatris from the Maharashtra, Utkala-Banga and Uttar Pradesh padayatras also joined this adventurous spirit

By Yashoda Dulal Dasa   

For a number of years, ISKCON Christchurch in Te Waipounamu (New Zealand’s South Island) has held a combined padayatra (a walking journey) and boat festival. There are two small rivers running through the city, the Avon and Heathcote, that pass by beautiful forested gardens as well as the prominent urban centre, which is always an ideal setting for our colourful festivals.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/easter-festival-graces-new-zealands-garden-city/