Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

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 →

This year’s Rathayatra at Whangarei, about 160 kilometres north of Auckland, was wonderful. Their Lordships Sri Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra Devi looked magnificent and the three metre Lord Chaitanya was especially blissful. Many devotees came with special guests, Janananda Maharaja, … Continue reading →

On my recent visit to New Varshana in Auckland, I had the opportunity to associate with my godbrothers, Janananda Maharaja, Mahavisnu Maharaja and Darmatma Prabhu. One day there was a celebration of Janananda Maharaja’s Vyasapuja and many disciples and other … Continue reading →

Shri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan, was born in 1503. He lived for 75 years and left this world to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord in 1578. He was the son of … Continue reading →

King Sagara performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to declare his sovereignty over the neighbouring kingdoms. The 60,000 sons of Sagara were following the horse when they saw it enter a cavern where the sage Kapila was meditating. Not seeing the horse, … Continue reading →

Shyamananda Krsna das, Premabhakti devi dasi and their daughter, Radhika, moved to Newcastle last year. He is a professor of environmental science at a local university and his wife works nearby. For the previous 11 years the family was in Adelaide … Continue reading →

Most people take their holidays between Christmas and New Year’s and like to go down town for shopping or go to the beach and other areas. Hare Krishna devotees take advantage of this opportunity to increase Harinama Samkirtan and book … Continue reading →

Brajanandana das and family are originally from Malaysia but have been living in Perth for many years. He is now the Vice President of our temple and organises temple and community programs. I had the good fortune of being invited … Continue reading →

“If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, “Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus,” then he has no knowledge. And if … Continue reading →

Our Radha Govinda temple at Puncak, in the hills outside of Jakarta, has a growing devotee community. This includes quite a few children of devotee families. Besides the beautiful deities, temple, asrama and guest house, there’s a small goshala at … Continue reading →

We have over a hundred devotees living in Lombok, which is the next island over from Bali, Indonesia. The population is mainly muslim but there’s about 10-15% Hindus living there as well. About 15 years ago, the devotes got together … Continue reading →

Five thousand years ago, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, delivered the most confidential and topmost knowledge of devotional service in the form of the Bhagavad-gita to His dear-most devotee Arjuna and to humanity at large. … Continue reading →

The devotees assembled at our beautiful Radha Rasesvara temple in Bali to celebrate Srila Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Goswami’s Vyasapuja. His holiness left our association for the eternal abode in 2006 but visited Indonesia many times and made hundreds of disciples … Continue reading →

Seven years ago, the Bali Klungkung area devotees bought some land and constructed a beautiful temple and asrama. Sometime later they installed Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sri Radha Kunjabihari. I had the privilege of attending the … Continue reading →

Four or five new bhaktas arrived from Kalimantan, (formerly Borneo) to join the asrama at Jagannatha Gauranga Mandir in Denpasar. Although not yet initiated brahmanas, they are learning how to serve the deities from the brahmanas at the temple so … Continue reading →

Krsna Kirtan das is from Croatia and his wife Amala Prema devi dasi from Turkey. They came to Australia about a year ago and served at New Gokula farm. They have now transferred to the Bhakti Tree in Newcastle and … Continue reading →

Vijaya and Kiran are from the Punjab in India. They have lived in the Murwillumbah area since 1977. Vijaya’s grandfather first arrived here in 1901 and grew bananas and kept dairy cows. For the last few years, Vijaya has headed … Continue reading →

During the month of November, every day early in the morning the young daughters of the cowherds would take one another’s hands and, singing of Krishna’s transcendental qualities, go to the Yamuna to bathe. Desiring to obtain Krishna as their … Continue reading →

It’s been a few months since my last visit to New Govardhana and in that time many new projects are starting and others have come to completion. There are about 10 new cabins for guests – the last recently finished … Continue reading →

Lord Krishna detected some pride in Lord Indra and wanted to teach him a lesson. Instead of worshipping Indra, He convinced the inhabitants of Vrindavan to honour Govardhan Hill instead. Outraged, Indra retaliated with terrifying thunderstorms. The Supreme Personality of … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada, residing in the holy Dhama of Sri Vrindavan, at 7:30 pm on Monday November 14th 1977, gave up his mortal frame surrounded by loving disciples engaged in ‘Harinam-sankirtan’, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name. Translating Srimad Bhagavatam … Continue reading →

Dipavali or Diwali means “a row of lights”. It falls on the last two days of the dark half of Karttika (October-November). For some it is a three-day festival, others a five day festival. There are various alleged origins attributed … Continue reading →

Every night at our ISKCON Juhu temple during Karttika month, thousands of people offer lamps to Their Lordships. It is said in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa: “O tiger of sages, a person who during the month of Karttika eagerly hears … Continue reading →

The mid-term GBC meeting usually comprises strategic planning sessions with the leaders discussing a range of topics on how to develop and spread Krsna Consciousness all over the world. The local devotees, headed by TP Brajahari das, provided all the … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada struggled in the early 1970s to acquire the ISKCON Juhu property. He promised Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari, who were then housed in small shack, a beautiful temple. The complex opened in 1978 and now includes a spacious marble … Continue reading →

The first full moon of the autumn season marks the celebration of Krsna’s dancing with the gopis. On this day the deities of Vrndavana are nicely decorated in white. Krsna lila dramas are enacted. Because the moon is very auspicious, … Continue reading →

Shri Madhvacharya appeared in 1238 A.D. near Udupi, Karnataka in South India. He was considered an incarnation of Vayu (wind god). He had an unusually strong physique and extraordinary intellectual power. Madhvacharya took diksha at age five, sannyasa at twelve … Continue reading →

The fourth Sydney Temple fund raising dinner for the year was attended by about 150 devotees and guests. Special speakers were HH Bir Krsna Maharaja, Gaura Gopal from Mumbai and myself. The evening went well with kirtan, dance, progress report … Continue reading →

Our Bhakti Tree Centre in Newcastle is going from strength to strength. Apart from catering for Newcastle University 3 days a week, it is also a fully fledged restaurant operating 5 days a week. On top of that, there are 2 … Continue reading →

One of the recent events celebrated for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary by the Brisbane devotees was a boat ride on the Brisbane River. About 140 devotees ( that’s all the boat could fit ) assembled at a Southbank jetty in central … Continue reading →