Episode 7:  Where to Find Appropriate Talent?

(This is another billboard design I put together but later realized was a bit too out of context and weird because the average person living in Calcutta doesn’t live on the third or fourth floor of a large apartment building as suggested by the top of the cart passing through the open window.   The original sketch was just a plain line drawing but I added the solid colors to enhanced the blueprint to make up for the fact that the document I scanned

ISKCON coimbatore organised 2nd Annual Sri Jagannath Rathayatra festival at Ooty on 22nd 
April Saturday.The festival was inaugurated by prominent Guests and dignitariesalong with the presence of His 
Holiness.Bhaktivinoda Swami Maharaj( ISKCON Coimbatore Temple President ,Zonal secretary of Western Tamilnadu & Kerala). 
"Srila Prabhupada has given all this previlage of participating in Sri Jagannath RathYatra Festival all over the world blissfully chanting holyname of the Lord in associa

Watch the glories of Vaishakha Month. Keep yourself tuned to hear more benefits of this month and what the scriptures say about it. To Donate - http://mayapurinstitute.org/campus-pr…/square-foot-campaign/

Episode 6:   Plan It... Do Your Best... and Pray Hard!

(When I heard that the temple intended to contract for some billboards to be erected around the city of Calcutta, I submitted a few sketches with ideas for what those billboards might look like.  In the top left corner of the drawing is a photo of how the artists interpreted this theme into a huge colorful billboard.)

“So do it carefully...” - A phrase that Srila Prabhupada would often cite.

“But in 1970 we worked for two months straight an

Recently, I took the initiative to encourage the BBT trustees to correct the translation of the refrain in Srila Prabhupada’s Bengali poem written on the Jaladuta as he arrived in America. On September 13, 1965, he wrote: “Today I have disclosed my mind to my companion, Lord Sri Krishna. There is a Bengali poem made by me in this connection.”

Coincidentally – precisely fifty-one years later – on September 13, 2016, the BBT trustees discussed the proposed correction. During a Skype meeting, they

A few years ago I presented a photo table at a Sunday feast at one of our temples. One devotee came up to the table and held a photo of Lord Nrsimhadev in his hands. I encouraged him to take Lord Nrsimhadev home, but he said, “If I was qualified to worship Him!” and quickly walked away. He seemed to be afraid of Lord Nrsimhadev.

More recently my daughter and her husband removed the photo of Lord Nrsimhadev from their altar because they heard that some couples had been devastated by worshiping a

Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) – Canto 2: The Cosmic Manifestation – SB 2.9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version

That afternoon, Sunday April 2, 2017, the old city in Semarang became crowded by people who wanted to watch ogoh-ogoh carnival. The Old City became witness of the diversity of the ethnic, religion, culture and faiths. Narayana Smriti Temple too was officially invited and the devotees pulled Lord Jagannath in the main streets of Semarang.

“This is very good proposal. Make the Ratha-yatra festival very great success. This will be a great introduction in your city and people will appreciate it” (S

A few months back I had the good fortune to get association of a senior Vaishanava. During the lecture one line that really touched my heart was the advice that we should daily pray to Prabhupada to ‘make me an instrument of your compassion in this very life time’. It was seemingly a simple statement but it touched my heart and I started following it since then. Just by praying like this daily to Srila Prabhupada had some effect on my dull consciousness, inspired me to some act and brought newe

On a warm Sunday morning, in a city bereft of people who are away to enjoy a long weekend, a stream of devotees in Vaishnava attire trickle out of a small building in a quiet Wellington suburb, carefully hugging their books. Their faces are lit with serene contentment as one more part of their existence is explained, one more aspect of their life given meaning and purpose. The devotee congregation in the ISKCON temple at Wellington, New Zealand is small, but tightly woven. The quaint single sto

Episode 5:  A Jumbo Rath for Calcutta

(This is a photo of Srila Prabhupada’s sister, Pishima, if you watch the video clip below yu will see her cooling the deities with a peacock fan in the opening shots of the first Calcutta Ratha-yatra in 1972. This clip is 5m:20s long.
 LINK: http://www.iskconkolkata.com/kolkata-rath-yatra/previous-rath-yatras/ )

“Knowing that it was Dhrtarastra who had sent the invitation, Yudhisthira felt obliged to go. He had vowed never to refuse his elders' orders. Even

Srila Prabhupada was the best spiritual master. What better spiritual master could one possibly think of!? He was the best but still many of his disciples were not successful in following their vows because everyone has his own destiny in his hands. The spiritual master can only help us. As Prabhupada said, “When the plane is on the ground then there are a lot of people around the plane – putting fuel, checking the tyres and so many things are going on. Ground staff are everywhere! But once the

“Reading the books (scriptures) will purify the intelligence” -Srila Prabhupada in a letter to to Kirtiraja - Bombay 11 January, 1976. 

At Mayapur Institute, we train our students to develop taste for reading scriptures regularly.

Episode 4:  Getting to Calcutta

(Vidyananda Prabhu took this photo of me in 1976 at the Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindaban when I got initiated.  I had completely forgotten I asked him to take a photo of me when Srila Prabhupada handed me my beads.  I was stunned with appreciation two years later when he finally gave it to me at some festival when our paths crossed again at an unplanned time! )

“Actually, one should undergo severe austerities and penances only to achieve spiritual happiness. I