Visit of Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary to ISKCON Delhi
Visit of Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary to ISKCON Delhi
The Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Zsolt Semjen, Deputy Speaker of Hungarian Parliament, along with Hungarian Ambassador to India and nearly 7 other Hungarian officials arrived at 5.30 Pm. They were greeted at the main entrance of Sri Sri Radha Parathasarathi Temple by H.H. Gopal Krishna Maharaj.
Also present at the entrance were few senior devotees of the temple and well-wishers such as Vedavyasa Das (Chairman - Prakash Group of companies), Piyush Goyal (Chairman - Goyal group of companies), Rajesh Sharma (Deputy Director - ASSOCHAM), Meera Goyal (Chairman- Sri Radha Parthasarathi Steering Committee) and several other established businessmen connected to Delhi temple were present.
For Mr.Semjen's visit, 30 additional police men from the Delhi police were deployed all around the temple campus. The tour began with Maharaj showing them the auditorium in the museum block which is used for cultural programs and events. From here they were led to the Vedic Museum, starting with the Bhagavad Gita exhibit.
This exhibit presents the Bhagavad Gita in an animatronics and visual format. Maharaj toured Mr.Semjen and other dignitaries through this show explaining about Vedic culture, Bhagavad Gita, its message and what this robot show represented. Then the group headed to second floor of the museum which presents the Mahabharat, an original art gallery on Ramayan painted by international devotees, exhibits on Vedic sciences. Here the Deputy Prime Minister commented that he was aware of the ancient Mahabharat and as we passed through the Ramayan art gallery he appreciated the paintings.
Here Maharaj walked them through the different exhibits and spoke about our museum and its history. Mr.Semejn was pleased to know that the temple was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpyee and that museum which was later inaugurated by the Russian Ambassador to India, Mr. Alexander Kadakin.
They were then led to the temple for the darshan of their Lordships. A special pathway was created solely for their movement. Maharaj informed them of the Deities and who they are. The dignitaries were brought before their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi, where the temple priest greeted them by chanting Vedic mantras for auspiciousness and wellbeing of all. Then Mr.Semjen, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Hungarian ambassador to India performed an arati of their Lordships and all the dignitaries were offered a Maha garland.
They were quite please and amazed at the same time seeing the environment that had filled the temple hall. Nearly 500 devotees were seated in the temple hall with a melodious kirtan that was led by temple brahmacaris.
Maharaj then proceed to show them the 'Parikrama Art Gallery' where the photos of the presiding Deities of our different temples around the world and original Krishna Lila paintings are shown. The delegates from Hungary were pleased to see the pictures of their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar of the Budapest temple.
They were then brought to the VIP room and offered prasadam. Dr Zsolt Semjen gave a speech for 10 minutes and praised ISKCON's activities in Hungary and worldwide. The Deputy Prime Minister spoke in Hungarian and it was translated by a professional translator from the Hungarian embassy. He explained that the Hungarians are very respectful to the minorities also.
After his talk, Maharaj gave a speech in which he appreciated the Hungarian people and thanked the Hungarian government for restoring the Church status of ISKCON. Maharaj then spoke to the dignitaries and briefed them about the programs in Delhi and pan India, such as the Mid Day Meal.
Mr.Semjen then presented Maharaj with a silver medallion with the Hungarian emblem inscribed on it and crockery set. Maharaj in turn presented the Dr.Semjen with a Darshan Book and showed him few photographs, he was pleased to see the Lordships and appreciated the pictures.
The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament was presented a Krishna Art Book and all the dignitaries were given souvenirs of Srila Prabhupada's books, posters, incenses and prasadm boxes. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament were given a special box of prasadm with carob cookies and chocolate to take home for their family members in Hungary. The Deputy Prime Minister thanked Maharaj and said he was indeed very pleased that he had come here and assured he would try to come again. Maharaj then escorted the dignitaries to their cars and thanked them for coming.
The Deputy Prime Minister and his team were very friendly and respectful to the hosts. Overall the arrangements were very good and the delegates looked impressed by the temple, its ambience and were happy with the visit.
The internal arrangement for this program was headed by Raghava Pandit Prabhu.
Report compiled by: Yudhistir Govinda Das.
The photographs of his visit can be accessed at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/118048521807589208737/DPMVisitPhotos#5740188390
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If you wish to access all the photos of the visit, you may write to:
yudhistir.das@gmail.com
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