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Dear Devotees

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to ISKCON 50!!

The holy and auspicious month of Kartik commences on 17 October 2016. This
year we have been commemorating ISKCON’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary. 2016
has been filled with so many glorious activities commemorating this
milestone in the history of ISKCON.

This year is really and truly special. The theme for this year’s
Vraja-mandala Parikrama carries forward the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON.

How Vraja-mandala Parikrama started in ISKCON

Our yearly Vraja-mandala Parikrama program is the natural extension of an
instruction Srila Prabhupada gave me in 1976. In the early part of that
year, I was serving with the Gaur-Nitai Travelling Sankirtana Party in two
German buses. When these buses broke down Srila Prabhupada told me to forget
about the buses and instead start a bullock cart sankirtana party travelling
and preaching in the villages of India.

Srila Prabhupada gave me detailed instructions and this led to the birth of
ISKCON’s padayatra program. ISKCON Padayatra had its renaissance in 1984
when we retraced Sri  Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s footsteps in honour of the 500th
anniversary of  Lord Caitanya’s appearance . We began on September 2,1984
and arrived in Sridhama Mayapur on March 20, 1986. Instead of stopping
there, we decided to go back to Dvaraka via Vrndavana. That was in 1987.

My godbrother,  Dhruv Maharaja Prabhu, had gone all around Vraja and taken
photographs, from which we put together a slideshow about the twelve forests
of Vraja. The padayatra devotees watched this enchanting slideshow, and it
occurred to us that we too could circumambulate Vrndavan’s twelve forests.
We set to find out, touring the land of Sri Krsna and establishing ISKCON’s
first ever Vraja-mandala Parikrama. This was in March 1987.

In 1988 we decided to do the Vraja-mandala parikrama during Kartik.

(Adapted from Introduction by HH Lokanath Swami Maharaja from his book
Vraja-mandala Darsana)

We invite you all to be part you be part of this wonderful commemoration
with an abundance of mercy flowing freely.

Kindly find the attached schedule.

Your humble servant,
Dinanukampa dd
(Secretary to HH Lokanath Swami Maharaja)

October 2016

16th:- Vrindavan Parikrama -( Ishtagoshti)
17th:- Vrindavan To Mathura
18th:- Mathura Parikrama
19th:- Mathura to Madhuban
20th:- Madhuban To Shantanu Kund
21st:- Shatanukund to Radhakund
22nd:-Radhakund - Govardhan Parikrama
23rd:- Radhakund - (Bahulashtami) Radhakund
24th:- Radhakund to Deeg
25th:- Deeg to Badrinath
26th:- Badrinath Parikrama - (Indira Ekadashi)
27th:- Badrinath to Kamavan
28th:- Kamavan Interior Parikrama
29th:- Kamavan External Parikrama
30th:- Kamavan to Barsana - (Deepavali)
31st:- Barsana - (Govardhan Puja)

November 2016

01st:- Barsana
02nd:-Barsana to Nandgaon
03rd:- Nandgaon to Kokilavan
04th:- Kokilavan - (Prabhupada Disappearance  Day)
05th:- Kokilvan to Sheshashyai
06th:- Sheshashyai to Shergarh
07th:- Shergarh to chirghat
08th:- Chirghat to Bhandirvan - (Gopastami)
09th:- Bhandirvan to Mansarovar
10th:- Mansarovar to Lohavan
11th:- Lohavan to Dauji - (Utthan Ekadashi)
12th:- Dauji to Brahmand Ghat
13th:- Bramhand Ghat to Raval
14th:- Raval to Mathura - (Kartik Purnima)

Kindly contact:

Syamarup Dasa: shyamrupdas.lok@gmail.com (Hindi and English)

Nitya Kishor Dasi: nityakishordasi@gmail.com(English, Russian and Spanish)