This year, ISKCON is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the appearance of its Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – born in 1896 in Calcutta – with various efforts to honor him throughout the year.
On Saturday August 21st, ten days before Srila Prabhupada’s August 31st appearance day, devotees from the ISKCON Auckland congregation in New Zealand will hold Harinama Sankirtana in multiple suburbs around Auckland, as well as on the city’s main thoroughfare Queen Street in celebration.
New Zealand has had Covid-19 contained since June of last year, and no restrictions are required for such events, so devotees have been doing Harinama every Friday as usual. But the August 21st outing, dubbed the Srila Prabhupada 125th Anniversary Kirtan Mela, will be a special one.
“You always look to do something special on these occasions, and the 125th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance is pretty special indeed,” says Kalasamvara Das, president of the New Varshana temple in the Auckland suburbs. “We’ve done Maha Harinamas before for other anniversaries, such as the 40th anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Radha Giridhari in 2012. But this is the first time we’re taking it out beyond the streets of Auckland, into the suburbs.”
Kalasamvara adds that such a celebration fits with the Seven Purposes of ISKCON which Srila Prabhupada wrote to incorporate his society in 1966, specifically number four: “To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy name of God, as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/new-zealand-devotees-plan-harinama-in-auckland-suburbs-for-prabhupadas-125th-anniversary,7938/
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