People here speak about some roasting days but overnight a pleasant rain cooled things, and from a devotional perspective, Indra, god of rain, was simply making way for the Chariot Fest. Overcast weather made it pleasant for the noontime start when the wheels turned at the Science Centre next to the ocean side.
The chanting began and the smiles on followers swelled. A volunteer kept at us, pullers of the rope, singers of the song, “Hare Krishna” as we ambled along with his spray device of rose water. Ahhh! Better than rain. The crowd grew but not as immense at the report of half a million recently in Moscow. Anyway the spirit of Jagannath’s party was just awesome. I was honoured to lead some of the chant and also to lead on the stage with mantra and dance steps. This was the actual wrap up.
In between I met people, first-timers and seasoned devotees as well. For instance Adi Yajna, whom I perceive as an older spiritual brother. The first Chariot Fest I ever attended was in ’73 in Toronto and it was Adi Yajna’s attempt at constructing something that the city, nay, the country had never seen before, according to him and I have no reason to doubt.
Also, to come next to sit by me was Dhaniya Dustin Niles, a devotee, and an active member of Trudeau’s Liberal Party but now switched to the Conservatives. Oh and he’s also an opera singer who has sung for King Charlee.
Overall, it was a great success, although I got only about 2 kilometres in for walking. Lots of dance steps though.
Source: https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/the-clouds-were-with-us
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