Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

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 →

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 →