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Reported by HH RP Bhakti Raghava Swami

As often expected, the unexpected happened. One day before Gour Gopal prabhu was to arrive from Secunderabad to Madhya Pradesh he had an automobile accident that prevented him from travelling. Instead, Hari Kirtan prabhu had to replace him along with Bhakta Ashok but they could only reach MP after a few days. Our first two programs were thus without mrdanga.

This preaching program had been planned long back by Samikrsi prabhu whose devotional and professional career has been in America but who desired strongly that Lord Caitanya’s mercy be introduced in his own and surrounding villages. He had requested his old friend and Godbrother, Bala Krsna prabhu from Saranagati Village in Western Canada, to come to India specifically to visit his village and advise how to develop his land as an ideal sustainable project. He also desired devotees from our Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra to also participate and help revive village preaching in his area close to Khandwa and Khargone.

Making up the team were Samikrsi prabhu (USA), Bala Krsna prabhu (Canada), Kinkini prabhu (AP), Hari Kirtan prabhu (AP), Bhakta Asoka (AP) and three devotees from Indonesia headed by Kisora Krsna prabhu, Hari Kripa prabhu and Bhakta Narada. Daily devotees would travel in the early morning to perform Harinam Kirtan in some previously selected village and then late in the afternoon, by 6:00 pm, devotees would again travel to another village for an evening program of bhajan, pravachan, video, chanting, dancing and prasadam distribution. At all the programs the attentive audience heard about the two main programs of the Sri Govinda Gau Gram Prachar Yatra, namely the Nama Hatta Sanga and the Krishi Go Raksha Sanga.

We were able to cover the following 9 villages: 1) Nagziri, 2) Badhgaon, 3) Bahher, 4) Dibgaon, 5) Thikari, 6) Bistan, 7) Bhikangaon, 8) Khargon and 9) Gatti on the last day.

The outreach result was as follows:

Our village preaching covered a radius of about 100 Kilometers. We found the villagers to be very receptive, most not having heard about Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. We conducted Go-Puja only in one place but held Nagar Sankirtan in all the villages, either in the morning following the evening program or in the evening itself.

In all the evening programs we set up a book table displaying the Samskar Patra and Srila Prabhupada’s books, put up our Banner featuring the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign. At some point in the program, Hari Kirtan prabhu would introduce the Swami step bringing an enthusiastic response and participation from the audience, especially the younger generation, to chant and dance with great enthusiasm. Whenever possible we also spoke about the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada’s unique contribution to spread Sanatana Dharma is every town and village all over the world. We also distributed freely the IDVM-India calendar promoting the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign with many attractive quotes and photos of Krishna’s cows. And on a few occasions we passed out japa malas inducing everyone to chant one round on the beads.

Most of the villages have Sri Ram temples with a few Sri Sri Radha Krishna temples as well, along with Durga temples and Shivaji temples. Hanumanji is also very popular and worshiped by most people. All knew about the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra but many could not pronounce it in proper sequence. However, with a little prodding from devotees, the audience responded and learned very quickly. We are especially pleased to see the large number of bullock carts used by the local farmers. The culture of cow care is still very much present in these remote villages of Madhya Pradesh.

During our entire tour of MP, we were housed at Samikrsi prabhu’s estate named Sri Sri Radha Sharad Bihari Eco Village. The area covers some 35 acres having a pomegranate orchard of some 10,000 plants. This project is under the Hare Krishna in Every Town and Village Trust that he has established. Samikrsi prabhu also wishes to develop “Goloka On Earth” near a small place called Gopalpura. He has already acquired an area of about 45 acres with plans to get another 32 acres close by. The master plan for the temple is well under way. As part of his plan to introduce Krishna consciousness far and wide, Samikrsi prabhu has introduced an innovative program where he has built 3000 altar sets complete with small deities, puja set and book set for a small library that he makes available to those who will take up the process of Krishna consciousness seriously.

We could all realize the tremendous potential for preaching in the villages. This was one of Srila Prabhupada’s clearly expressed desires that the villages in India where the vast majority of people still reside should be a priority for ISKCON. The many photos we took attest to the readiness of villagers to chant the Hole Names. The facilities available offered by Samikrsi prabhu could be used to help set up one of many Varnasrama College campuses as desired by Srila Prabhupada as well.

Source: http://www.iskconvarnasrama.com/home/phase-five-of-the-sri-govind-gau-gram-prachar-yatra/