Author Archives: Dandavats

Jagannath appears in Cligeon, Indonesia
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Hare KrishnaBy Hari Narayana Das

At present there are only a couple of devotees, Bhakta Putu Parwata and his wife, who reside in Cligeon. They have a good relationship with Mrs . Wira who works as secretary in government office. She also communicated the ratha yatra to the local Hindu community and got the support of the local Hindus to help participate in the festival under the banner of Balinese culture. Hearing the good news from Cligeon, Indonesian leaders spread the word to all Indonesian devotees and requested all those who could to attend.

WSN April 2016 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Sasi dasa

Here’s the good news about the world of book distributors: It used to be said that the sun never sets on the worldwide British Empire, but now it does. However, now the sun never sets on Srila Prabhupada’s book distributors. Every seven seconds a book is distributed, and 24/7 the books go out to conditioned souls. This gives many people the opportunity to understand that they belong in another world, a transcendental world where everyone has full knowledge and an eternal position and feels unlimited happiness in the service of Krsna. In April, one of the temples in Sri Lanka had one of its most successful months. The city with the big score, Batticaloa, is not huge – 300,000 people. And the center has very few book distributors, but they did so well spreading Lord Krsna’s glories that they accumulated 4,510 book points, an 898% increase over April 2015. They distributed 2,760 books.

ISKCON temple at Lamhetaghat to bring Jabalpur on world map
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Hare KrishnaBy thehitavada.com

World class International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will construct Shri Radharaman temple at Chouwkital Lamhetaghat over 4 acre land at the banks of Narmada. Gaushala, Free Food for Life, Gurukul, Hospital, Vedic study centre construction has also been proposed. Temple Manager Aditiputra Das said that it will be the third largest temple in Madhya Pradesh. The biggest temple is situated in Indore, while second largest temple is situated in Ujjain. Founder of ISKCON Acharya Bhakti Vedant Swami Prabhupad had started it with an objective of spreading Indian Sanatan Vedic Sanskriti throughout the world. Bhoomipujan for construction of temple will start at 4 pm on May 9.

ISKCON opens kitchen for free mid-day meal to school children
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Hare KrishnaBy indiatimes.com

Mumbai, May 5 () International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which provides mid-day meal free of cost to thousands of school children every day, today opened a state-of-the-art kitchen at the Municipal-run R N Cooper hospital here. The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation’s Kitchen at Cooper Hospital in suburban Vile Parle was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, according to a press release. This kitchen will make healthy and hygienic food for the patients of Cooper Hospital at subsidised rates, besides serving food to thousands of children free of cost in the mid-day meal programme. The Government provides subsidy to ISKCON for supplying food to children. ISKCON Spiritual Guru, Radhanath Swami said establishment of this kitchen at Cooper Hospital is one more step towards fulfilling ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupad’s dream of no one remaining hungry.

Iskcon Mayapur celebrates Narsimha Chaturdashi
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Hare KrishnaBy Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey

The devotees of Iskcon Mayapur celebrated Narsimha Chaturdashi, the divine appearance day of Lord Narsimha Deva in the temple on Friday, May 20. To commemorate the occasion, discourses from Srimad Bhagwatam , glorifying the pastimes of the Lord Narsimha Deva was recited by H.H Bhakti Purshottam Swami in the morning followed by “Darshan Arti”. At dusk “Maha-Abhisheka” of the deity was performed by using sandalwood oil and other precious oils. Hundreds of devotees raised their arms and started dancing in ecstatic mood while chanting Narsimha prayers. The festivities included 12 hour Kirtan Mela for two days, palanquin procession, congregational chanting by thousands of devotees and performance of “yagna” to please the Lord. The entire temple campus was beautifully decorated by colourful flowers and the deity of Lord Narismha Deva was the centre of attraction. Lord Narsimha Deva is believed to be the protector of the devotees who face impediments in their lives. Devotees arrived in huge numbers with great joy to observe this festival. There are approximately 300 devotees came from various states of South India specifically to participate in this festival, other than this around 400 devotees came from various parts of Bengal and adjoining states.

Krishna conscious talk at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City
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Hare KrishnaBy radhanathswami.com

On Saturday, May 7, Radhanath Swami spoke before a capacity crowd at The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The Rubin Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, India and neighboring regions. On the eve of the release of his upcoming book The Journey Within, Radhanath Swami was interviewed by yoga teacher and social activist, Dana Flynn on the topic of how to live spiritually through yoga in an increasingly materialistic and impersonal world. Following the discussion Radhanath Swami took questions from the audience and then the speakers were joined onstage by Ananta Govinda Das, Acyuta Gopi and Govinda Jones, engaging the audience in an uplifting kirtan to conclude the event. One pleasant surprise was that an early shipment of copies of The Journey Within arrived and quickly sold out at the museum’s gift shop. After the talk Radhanath Swami met guests and signed books. Below are excerpts from the evening’s talk.

On Padayatra: New Realizations Everyday
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Hare KrishnaBy Acarya Dasa

Every day we travel to new places, hosting various programs here and there. Our advance party of devotees’ head of to our next destination arranging accommodation and whatever else they can before the rest of us arrive. It is not always that whatever we plan happens, after all ‘man proposes, God disposes[1]’. We are never sure of so many things: like where we will have prasadam, how will we get water or where we will have arati –but as my Gurudev, Lokanatha Swami always says, “Nothing happens by chance, it is all the Lord’s arrangement. Whatever happens to a devotee is always auspicious –shoba.” Every day as we travel from town to town we carry Guru and Gauranga in our hearts. We march into the streets eager to discover what the Lord has planned for us. We are all very fortunate to make these new discoveries of the Lord’s causeless mercy. Each day the Lord brings us closer to Him, filling our hearts with realizations.

New Vrindaban Celebrates 30th Anniversary of U.S.A’s Only Full-Size Nrsimha
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhava Smullen

For thirty years, a very special Lord Nrsimhadeva Deity has protected the devotees of New Vrindaban and all of North America, and received their love and service. Now, residents of the West Virginia village want to invite people from all over North America to come celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of His installation, and to behold the only full-size Nrsimha Deity on the continent, on His sacred appearance day. Sculpted by artist Soma Das in New Vrindaban and installed in 1986, the ferocious half-man, half-lion Lord with his deep black skin and golden mane stands at a towering seven feet tall next to his boy devotee Prahlad – so the celebration is sure to be an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Boise’s Krishna Cultural Center grows, welcomes the public
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Hare KrishnaBy Anna Webb

Boise architect Bruce Poe designed the first temple in 1999 and the new expansion. Poe is not a Krishna devotee, but he has become a good friend to the congregation, said Gupta. Poe said that designing the temple and complex has been a journey for him, learning about the religion and how devotees regard the world, then coming up with a design that responded to those beliefs and particular rules about temple siting and orientation while fitting into a mostly residential neighborhood.

‘THE WALKING MONK’ makes a stop in city
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Hare KrishnaBy Bruce Walton

Sitting underneath a tree by the main library near the corner of Wick and Rayen avenues, a man known simply as “The Walking Monk” enjoyed a quiet Friday afternoon arriving for the first time in the city in his pilgrimage we across the U.S. His only supplies: a cell phone he rarely uses, prayer beads, a watch, some business cards and the bright orange robes and sandals he wears while he traverses the land. Bhaktimarga Swami, 63 is a Hare Krishna monk who started his pilgrimage just three days ago when he began in Butler, PA. HE plans to walk entirely on foot to San Francisco, walking 20 miles a day. He left no timetable for his arrival on the West Coast.

Narasimha Caturdasi – 30th Anniversary of His Installation in Mayapur
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Hare KrishnaBy Braja Vilas das

Next Friday (May 20th) is the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Narasimhadeva, the half-man half-lion avatara who appeared to save Prahlad Maharaja. Lord Narasimhadeva has a very special mood of affectionate protection towards His devotees, and thus He is very dear to them. In fact, we constantly rely on His shelter. As Srila Prabhupada said, “We should always consider that this material world is a dangerous place and therefore we shall chant Lord Narasimha’s Holy Name in order to be protected by Him in all dangers.” (Letter to Himavati – 4 July, 1970) Thirty years ago, after an attack on the temple by dacoits, the Mayapur community decided to install a unique Deity of Lord Narasimhadeva for protection. Both Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had previously advised other endangered temples to do the same. There are many forms of Lord Narasimhadeva according to His different pastimes and moods, some angry and some peaceful. He is worshiped in Mayapur in His Ugra-Narasimha mood, full of divine wrath.

Lord Jagannath Rath yatra festival in Karnal, Haryana
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakta Aseem

Yet again the Lord Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev and subhadra devi came out on to the streets in Karnal on 12th May 2016 to shower the people with their profuse blessings. Their Lordships passed through the main market area in full splendour and gave their Darsan to thousands of people. All the devotees and locals from all spheres of life got a chance to come together and serve the Lord to their hearts content. The program started many days in advance. The local devotees regularly go out for sankirtan in the city and the nearby villages throughout the year. Their efforts were very well complemented by a group of international devotees who did harinam sankirtan, book distribution and flyers distribution informing the people about the Rath Yatra ceremony.

First ever Jagannath Rath Yatra procession in Rupnagar, Punjab
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakta Aseem

Thousands of people thronged the street in Rupnagar on 14th May 2016 to deliver a very warm reception for Lord Jagannath , Baladev and Subhadra devi for the first time ever, seated on a chariot, in this relatively smaller district of Punjab. Rupnagar commonly known by name Ropar is located on the banks of the river Sutlej besides Shivaliks. It boasts of one of the richest archaeological site of the Indus valley civilization with records dating back to the period of the Mahabharata. This city is also well known for its Gurudwaras. Devotees from different parts of India and abroad arrived well in advance to prepare for the festival. The devotees reached every corner of the city with harinam and Prabhupad books, informing locals about the Rath yatra festival.

ISKCON and the Internet
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Mohan das

That brings in the question of whether an individual can form a genuine relationship with Krishna without committing their physical body to any activity. There is some room for this in Vaishnava philosophy. For example, influenced by the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster The Matrix, In Maya- The World as Virtual Reality Sadaputa das compares the Vedic view of this observable universe to an advanced virtual reality program. In his book, virtual reality is used as a metaphor for our situation as conscious beings. The basic theme is that what we can imagine doing in a virtual reality computer system may actually be happening in nature on a vastly greater scale. Given that the Vedic understanding of the experienced world via our bodily senses is temporary and illusionary, the comparison made by Sadaputa das is highly justifiable. Using the Vedic philosophy, then, one could argue that online activities are no less valid than anything else in this material world.

NASN April 2016 -North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Sasi dasa

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of April 2016. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Individuals, Monthly Top 5, Cumulative Countries, Cumulative Temples, Cumulative Top 100 Individuals, Cumulative Top 5

South Vrindavan temple inauguration festival – report and pictures
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Hare KrishnaBy Basu Ghosh Das

Over this past weekend, from Friday May 6 through Sunday May 8, the South Vrindavan temple, at Puthur village, Thrissur District, Kerala, was inaugurated. Deities of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Krishna, Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadradevi, and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai were installed in the temple. The temple is promoted by ISKCON Bahrain temple president Udarakirti Chaitanya Das, and devotees from Bahrain, named “Balaramdesh” by HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj. Situated on 12 acres of land, and surrounded by the homes of Balaramdesh devotees who are relocating to South Vrindavan, the temple was built in Kerala style, but with modern building materials. There are a number of beautiful paintings and relief artworks that decorate the temple.

Cure for The London Blues
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Hare KrishnaBy Vilasini Devi Dasi

“How is it possible to be healthy and happy in a place where the weather is constantly dreary and cold?” I thought. I remembered Srila Prabhupada’s statement in a purport to the Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.24.36): “When there is sufficient sunshine, the mind remains clear and transparent in other words, the sun-god helps the mind of the living entity to become situated on the platform of paramahamsa [‘topmost swan,’ or transcendentalist].” Does it not follow, then, that with insufficient sunshine the mind becomes hazy and opaque and stays on the platform of a crow? After all, Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that He is the light of the sun and moon, and Prabhupada affirms in the purport to that verse that “the light of the sun and the moon originally emanate from the brahmajyoti, which is the bodily effulgence of Krsna.” For one’s spiritual life, wouldn’t it be better to live in a place where one could bask in the rays of thebrahmajyoti and be elevated effortlessly to the paramahamsa platform? Isn’t it described in the Gita that unnecessary austerities that torture the body or mind are in the mode of ignorance? If Krsna is all-pervading, isn’t He also in sunny California? Aren’t there thousands of conditioned souls there that I could help find Krsna consciousness?