Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

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 →

Vrndavana Dasa was born in Mamagachi in the Navadvipa area of West Bengal. His mother was Narayani, the niece of Srivasa Pandita. Vrndavana Dasa’s father, Vaikunthanatha Vipra, was from Sylet in East Bengal. However, it is said that his father … Continue reading →

Devotee: Prabhupada, you have said, “Preaching God’s message is a thankless task.” Srila Prabhupada: Yes, just look at Jesus Christ—crucified. What was his fault? He was simply teaching God consciousness. Of course, he was not killed. Nobody can kill the … Continue reading →

Sri Syamananda, Srinivasa and Narottama Dasa Thakura are eternal associates of Sri Gaurasundara. For the purpose of preaching the holy message of Sri Caitanya all over the earth they appeared in this world. Sri Syamananda Prabhu was born in Utkala. His father’s … Continue reading →

Joan Fielder, also known as “Jamuna” by the devotees, had been visiting New Gokula farm on and off for around twenty years. In the last few years she was a regular at the Bhakti tree in Newcastle where she loved … Continue reading →

The son of Raghu was Aja, the son of Aja was Dasaratha, and the son of Dasaratha was Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the Lord descended into this world in His full quadruple expansion as Lord Ramacandra, … Continue reading →

The devotees from Melbourne regularly go out on harinama samkirtan in the city and surrounding suburbs. The Tuesday evening kirtan party is a little smaller than the rest of the week but nevertheless the devotees are enthusiastic. I was invited … Continue reading →

Natesvara Govinda and Vasundara Devi Dasi came from India to Adelaide, Australia in 1978. He was busy in his work as a surgeon and only came in contact with ISKCON devotees many years later. They come to the temple regularly … Continue reading →

Yamuna-lila devi dasi, a grandmother with a large devotee family, passed away from this world on Tuesday 21st around 4.45pm. She had been in ill health recently and was surrounded by her family at death. Yamuna-lila and her husband came … Continue reading →

Home programs are ever popular in Denpasar and every visiting guru, sannyasi and senior devotee is invited every time they come. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the home of Brajarasa das and his family for an evening … Continue reading →

The last day of the Jagannatha Gauranga Temple festival was celebrated by the abhiseka of the new deities, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi. Priti Vardhana and some of the gurukula boys from Mayapur performed the … Continue reading →

The devotees of the Jagannatha Gauranga Temple in Denpasar, Bali, organised a big kirtan mela in the lead up to the installation of Jagannatha and Gaura Nitai deities. I started off the kirtan, followed by Madhava and Sri Radhika, then … Continue reading →

HH Bhanu Swami gave the SB class on the last day of the Christchurch temple festival. Temple President, Ramanuja das, picked the first verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam signifying how the temple was starting afresh. In the afternoon Sri Prahlada … Continue reading →

On the second day of the Christchurch temple festival the devotees welcomed dignitaries, such as the local members of the National and Labour parties, police representatives and the President of the Multicultural Centre. The guests broke coconuts for auspiciousness, cut … Continue reading →

Devotees travelled from all over New Zealand and some from Australia for the reopening of the Christchurch temple, which previously had to be pulled down because of the earthquake six years ago. The morning was celebrated with the installation of … Continue reading →

Every Saturday night for many years small Radha Madhava have taken a procession around Sridham Mayapur riding majestically on elephants. They are accompanied by enthusiastic devotees chanting and dancing in front and behind to the amazement of the thousands of … Continue reading →

My God-brother, Jagjivan Prabhu, passed from this world last November 2016. He joined ISKCON at New York temple in 1970 and left for South America in 1974. He helped to establish many centres there and lived the last years of … Continue reading →

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura appeared in Jagannatha Puri on February 6th 1874 as the son of Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura. In his childhood he quickly mastered the Vedas, memorised the Bhagavad-gita, and relished his father’s philosophical works. He became known … Continue reading →

The GBC body meets every year at Sri Mayapur Dhama to discuss proposals and strategies for the upcoming year. Part of the meeting is dedicated to working in strategic planning groups that cover topics such as outreach preaching, devotee care, … Continue reading →

Lord Nityananda is the eternal associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rarely is the name Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) taken without that of Nitai (Lord Nityananda). Mahaprabhu cannot be approached or understood without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, … Continue reading →

Ramanujacarya, of the Sri Sampradaya, was born in India during the year 1017 A.D. His parents were Asuri Keshava and Kantimati, both from aristocratic families. Ramanjua passed his childhood days in Shriperumbudur, the village of his birth. At the age … Continue reading →

Sri Advaita Acharya was the first among the associates of Lord Chaitanya and He appeared on earth some 50 – 60 years before Lord Chaitanya’s own advent. Sri Advaita Acharya is recognised as a combined incarnation of Sri Maha Vishnu … Continue reading →

Devotees from New Varshan New Zealand like to do Harinama in the suburbs and downtown Auckland. Friday night is usually the big kirtan and because there were special guests, Janananda Maharaja, Mahavisnu Maharaja and myself, around 80 devotees came out … Continue reading →