Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

I accompanied a small but enthusiastic band of devotees from Govinda’s Asrama on harinama to Newtown. This inner suburb of Sydney is famous for students and alternative lifestyle residents. The shopping strip has about 8 vegetarian/vegan restaurants and some years … Continue reading →

Tuesday night kirtans at Govinda’s Asrama in Darlinghurst draws a wide variety of people from young to old. There are many regulars but about a third are newcomers. I haven’t attended for over 6 months but was fortunate recently to … Continue reading →

Govindas restaurant and the Lotus Room in Darlinghurst are still going strong after more than twenty years of operation. The restaurant, run by devotee couple Pratapana and Jayasri, is pretty much packed out every night. The Lotus Room hosts kirtan … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada: “I planned that I must go to America. Generally they go to London, but I did not want to go to London. I was simply thinking how to go to New York. I was scheming, “Whether I shall go … Continue reading →

The anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the USA is very significant. It is celebrated by devotees all over the world because shortly after ISKCON was born. From the Prabhupada Lilamrta: “The ocean voyage of 1965 was a calm one … Continue reading →

The deities at Seattle temple are magnificent and I feel very fortunate to have Their Darshan. It took a great effort to install Them and build a beautiful temple but now the whole city is benefitted. On Janmastami there were … Continue reading →

Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra devi rode wonderfully on Their Rathayatra Cart throughout the city of Bellevue, which is like a city within the city of Seattle. Many thousands of devotees, some as far away as Vancouver and L.A. participated … Continue reading →

The devotees at Seattle temple organised a two day festival at Bellevue Crossroads Park to celebrate Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra. On the first day activities were going on in various tents and performers in the main tent entertained with dance, kirtan … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada said of Srimati Radharani: tapta-kāñcana-gauraṅgī rādhe vṛndāvaneśvarī vṛṣabhānu-sute devī pranamāmi hari-priye Rādhārāṇī is hari-priyā, very dear to Kṛṣṇa. So if we approach Kṛṣṇa through Rādhārāṇī, through the mercy of Rādhārāṇī, then it becomes very easy. If Rādhārāṇī recommends … Continue reading →

Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra cart was brought up from the Gold Coast to Cairns to enter the Multicultural Parade that goes around the streets of the city. On the way it stopped at Townsville where local devotees organised a Rathayatra in … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada was born Abhay Charan De on September 1st 1896 in Calcutta, India. His father was Gour Mohan De, a cloth merchant, and his mother was Rajani. His parents employed an astrologer to calculate the child’s horoscope, and they … Continue reading →

Even though Krsna Janmastami was on Tuesday this year, many devotees, as far afield as Sydney, attended the wonderful celebration at New Gokula farm. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Krsna, personally appeared as the son of Vasudeva. Before He … Continue reading →

Devotees at New Gokula gathered to celebrate the auspicious appearance day of Lord Balarama, the elder brother of Lord Sri Krsna,  on the full-moon day of Sravana (August). Lord Balarama appeared as the son of Rohini and Vasudeva. He is … Continue reading →

Many devotees attended the opening of the Radha Krsna Cultural Centre in Southport on the Gold Coast. Previously, it was located in a rented building but under the auspices of Rupa Vilasa das and family a new property was bought. … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada very much encouraged the observance of Jhulan Yatra – the swing festival of Radha and Krsna. He said, “During these five days of Jhulan Yatra, the deities’ clothes should be changed daily, a nice prasad (food offering) be … Continue reading →

Sri Raghunandana Thakura made his appearance within this world in Sri Khanda.  In his home he became acquainted with the worship of Sri Gopinatha from an early age. One day his father, Mukunda Dasa, who was a doctor, had to … Continue reading →

Vamsidas Babaji was a Gaudiya Vaisnava sadhu who lived at Swarupa Gunj, Navadvipa during the time of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. He was respected by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, who used to see to it that Vamsidas Babaji was provided with grains … Continue reading →

I was fortunate to attend a home program in Bali with HH Kavicandra Maharaja, who has many disciples here and is my co-GBC for Indonesia. He gives great talks and is much loved by the devotees. The program was at … Continue reading →

Gopala Bhatta Goswami (the son of Vyenkata Bhatta, a Sri Vaisnava brahmana) appeared in Sri Rangam, South India. Lord Caitanya once stayed four months in his home  and converted the family to Gaudiya Vaisnavism. A boy at this time, Gopala … Continue reading →

Leaders from all of over Indonesia, including, Java, Sulawesi, Lombok, Sumatra and Bali, came together for the annual general meeting of the National Council. Kavicandra Maharaja and I also attended in our role as GBCs for the area. Each leader … Continue reading →

This year’s Denpasar Rathayatra festival was attended by around 4,000 devotees, with some coming from other parts of Indonesia like Java, Sulawesi and Lombok. The day started early with kirtan and free prasadam for many people in the park. That … Continue reading →

The devotees organised a wonderful festival in a central Denpasar park the day before the Rathayatra. There was kirtan, lecture, dance and wonderful prasadam all day. Indonesians are very fond of going to parks with their families so not only … Continue reading →

All the temples in Bali celebrate Rathayatra on the scheduled day of the year. Some take out Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi on a big cart around the area and others simply take Them on a palanquin around … Continue reading →

Singaraja, in Indonesia, was the Dutch colonial capital for Bali from 1849 until 1953 and was also an administrative center for the Japanese during their World War 2 occupation. It is a beautiful city and we now have two centres there, … Continue reading →

Devotees at Radha Gopinatha Mandir and Radha Rasesvara Mandir have been buying land near the temple and building their family homes. This is like many temples in India, especially temples like Sri Rangam, where the whole town is built around … Continue reading →

Since the Snana Yatra festival, the devotees at Jagannatha Gauranga temple in Bali are missing the darshan of Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. Their Lordships are resting in a nearby room and being taken care of nicely by the … Continue reading →

Sri Vakresvara Pandit was present with Sriman Mahaprabhu during His pastimes in Navadvipa and after his acceptance of Sannyasa.  He also accompanied Him to Jagannatha Puri. During the time of the Lord’s residence in Puri he continued to live with … Continue reading →

On this full-moon day, sixteen days before Ratha- yatra, Lord Jagannatha is bathed. He becomes sick and is confined to rest for fourteen days. He is then offered special care until He comes out for Ratha-yatra. A special bath of … Continue reading →

Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi. “Pandava” refers to the Pandavas, the sons of Emperor Pandu. One son of Pandu was Bhima, a most powerful warrior and a most voracious eater. He was not one who welcomed fasting and admitted to not being … Continue reading →

 Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana (Sri Govinda Dasa) appeared in the 1600’s near Remuna, Orissa. In his youth, he mastered Sanskrit grammar, poetry, and logic. After carefully studying the commentries of Sankara and Madhva he took initiation in the Tattva-vadi disciplic succession … Continue reading →

Devotees in Newcastle have been catering for lunches at the University of Newcastle for years. The tradition is still going on with the Bhakti Tree supplying wonderful prasadam for students during their break. Three days a week devotees head out … Continue reading →

Devotees came from all over Australia to attend the ISKCON three day Annual General Meeting, which was held at Melbourne temple. Temple President, Aniruddha Das, and a wonderful team of devotees looked after everyone very nicely with accommodation and prasadam. … Continue reading →

Five hundred years ago in the district of Puri, in the village of Bentapur adjacent to Brahmagiri Alalnath, there lived a great devotee named Bhavananda Raya. Bhavananda had five sons, the eldest of which was Ramananda. It is said that … Continue reading →

The leaders of the New Zealand yatra met in Auckland at our school to tend to ISKCON’s legal requirements, discuss preaching strategies and to hear how the temples and centres were doing. One of the best parts was the transcendental … Continue reading →

I was fortunate enough to attend two Nrsimha Caturdasi celebrations, one at Southport and the other at New Govardhan. Although the New Govardhan festival was on a Tuesday evening, there were around 150-200 devotees who participated. I led kirtan and … Continue reading →

The Radha Krsna Cultural Centre in Southport is run under the auspices of Rupa Vilasa das (a disciple of Tamal Krsna Maharaja and doctor from Fiji) and his family. It has been operating for about three years with regular weekly … Continue reading →

Lord Jagannatha’s Brisbane Rathayatra took place with around one thousand devotees attending. Their Lordships rode majestically through the streets of Brisbane with kirtan led by his grace Sri Prahlada. At the end, the Ratha Cart was pulled into St George … Continue reading →

According to the Ramayana of Valmiki, King Janaka found Sita Devi while ploughing as part of a yajna. Therefore, Sita is described as the daughter of the earth goddess Bhumi and the adopted daughter of King Janaka and Queen Sunaina. … Continue reading →

Sri Gadadhar was the constant companion of Mahaprabhu from the time of their childhood. His father’s name was Sri Madhva Misra and his mother’s name Sri Ratnavati devi. They lived very near the house of Sri Jagannatha Misra in Mayapura. … Continue reading →

After Bhakti Caru Maharaja finished his tour of Fiji, his disciples organised a 3 day seminar program at a retreat centre, near Forster, NSW. Maharaja spoke on the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and I was fortunate enough to spend … Continue reading →