Pictures of the festival can be seen by anyone (even if you do NOT use Facebook), here (cut and paste the link into your web browser):
Over this past weekend, from Friday May 6 through Sunday May 8, the South Vrindavan temple, at Puthur village, Thrissur District, Kerala, was inaugurated.
Deities of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Krishna, Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi, and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai were installed in the temple.
The temple is promoted by ISKCON Bahrain temple president Udarakirti Chaitanya Das, and devotees from Bahrain, named “Balaramdesh” by HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj.
Situated on 12 acres of land, and surrounded by the homes of Balaramdesh devotees who are relocating to South Vrindavan, the temple was built in Kerala style, but with modern building materials. There are a number of beautiful paintings and relief artworks that decorate the temple.
Senior ISKCON devotee from Mayapur, Bhadra Charu Das performed the installation with the help of ISKCON Vrindavan head pujari Mukunda Datta Das. Other senior ISKCON devotees who participated in the inauguration festival were Bhakti Vikas Swami, Radha Raman Swami, Bhakti Vinoda Swami,
(ISKCON zonal secretary for Kerala), Basu Ghosh Das (Temple President ISKCON Baroda), Murali Mohan Das (Co-President, ISKCON Vijayawada), Patri Das
(Regional Secretary for ISKCON Nepal), Atul Krishna Das (Director of the Mayapur Institute, Sridham Mayapur), Ekalavya Das (of ISKCON Calcutta), Nityananda Ram Das (Vice President, ISKCON Baroda), and Pundarikaksha Govinda Das (General Manager, ISKCON Juhu, Bombay). Nandaputra Das from Nagarcoil, Jagadsakshi Das (Temple President, ISKCON Trivandrum), and Vikram Govinda Das (Manager, ISKCON Kanyakumari) were also present.
Many other devotees came from around India and from Bahrain, as well as from Dubai and Sharjah in the U.A.E. Brahmachari kirtaneers from ISKCON Chowpatty, Bombay, were also in attendance.
The function was blessed by HH Jayapataka Swami in a letter sent to the organizers of the program. Maharaj was unable to attend due to the renewal of his US green card, and had to meet a deadline to enter the USA by May 10.
Kerala is known throughout India as “God’s own country” for profuse coconut trees, jackfruit trees, araca nut trees, black pepper vines, and several exotic varieties of banana trees. The hills, rivers, greenery, and the way old Hindu/vedic culture has been preserved in so many ways makes Kerala a very attractive place for devotees of Lord Krishna!
On behalf of the organizers, you are all invited to visit!
Nearby South Vrindavan, about 15 kilometers West, is the famous temple of Lord Krishna known as Guruvayoor, the most popular place of pilgrimage for Keralites, and one of the most popular places for Tamil Nadu residents as well!
One of the features of the Guruvayoor temple is the daily procession in the evening where the “utsava” (festival) Deity of Lord Krishna is taken on parikrama (circumambulation) around the temple on top of a male elephant!
The temple maintains 65 elephants in an elephant sanctuary, near by the main temple.
More information on Guruvayoor can be seen on the internet, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guruvayur
Just 10 kilometers East of South Vrindavan is district headquarters Thrissur
(tri-Shiva in Samskritam), where there is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva, Vadakkunnathan, that is also one of the popular pilgrimage places in Kerala. Kerala “Pooram” festival held annually during Pooram nakshatra in the Keralite month of medam – it falls usually during April.
More information on the Pooram festival can been seen on the internet, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrissur_Pooram ;
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