Posted By Uddhava dasa on January 27, 2016
Winter is a quiet time in Vrindavan. Many ISKCON Brijabasis choose this season to go “out of station” to fulfill personal obligations. For many, it is to accept invitations received from devotees around the world to share Krishna Consciousness in far away locales.
You can set your watch to the mid-December blanket of fog that rolls in and remains until the end of January, as if the clouds were observing a yearly pilgrimage. Residents of Vraja bundle themselves in layers of wool chaddars, and some great souls even put warm cloth on the itinerant Vrindavan bulls during this time. They look very fine, wandering about in their shawls – custom made to accommodate their regal humps.
Yogurt, chandan and khus, all regular staples of this Dham, are scarce, their cooling effect not being required. Requests for a lassi from the local sweet shop are met with looks of incredulity, as if the customer lacked all common sense.
Taking darshan is always a treat during winter season in Vrindavan as their Lordships’s servants attempt to keep them warm. There is something special about seeing Shyamasundar snuggled in a knitted peacock blue sweater that comes up to His beautiful chin.
Guru Puja can be a chilly affair in the courtyard of the Krishna Balaram temple during winter. But somehow or other, the devotees swaddled in their cloth seem to chant and dance with even more enthusiasm. Their eyes shine, they dance and sing, shrugging off the cold like excited friends on a Himilayan yatra.
In Vrindavan, despite the winter, enthusiasm and happiness never take a vacation.
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