Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
July 14, 2010
"No one in particular seemed to decide what would
happen next but it just went on, like
waves, one after another. One devotee did
something like a Russian dance down on the
floor, shooting his legs out."
Last night about 400 devotees were at the
temple to greet Lord Jagannath, Who
returned from the 6 hour Rathayatra at
10pm. The kirtan was so jubilant, devotees
dancing together in several clusters across the
temple floor. They were spinning,
dancing in circles, moving in and out of
the center raising their hands, and going
nuts. One turning circle of devotees (joined by
holding hands) surrounded another circle
going the opposite direction. Both went faster
and faster until the spin force broke them apart.
No one in particular seemed to decide what would
happen next but it just went on, like
waves, one after another. One devotee did
something like a Russian dance down on the
floor, shooting his legs out. Another
moved his arms and legs so wildly that all
the others laughed. We were really
enthralled as the Temple President
Vishnu Caitanya Prabhu, an incomparable
singer, carried us away, surrounded by drummers.
I marveled at the mercy of Prabhupada that
the devotees were experiencing intense
kirtan rasa, laughing, jubilant, overcome.
Prabhupada said "They are dancing like
peacocks." After Melbourne Rathayatra in
1974 he said "Why are they dancing?...
Because they are directly in touch with God."
Comments
I hope devotees around the world enjoyed the same mellow during the ratha yatra...