Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

“Any person who performs bathing in the month of Kartika, remaining awake, offering lamps, giving charity or planting and transplanting Tulasi, he achieves the same form as Lord Sri Visnu.” In Melbourne temple, both morning and night, many devotees and … Continue reading →

Thy gentle graces won our heart We feel too weak to live apart Prabhupada, whom we all revere Our Guru, whom we hold so dear O great saint of noblest heart Auspicious the day you did depart To the bright … Continue reading →

Lord Indra was overcome by anger when the residents of Vraja canceled his sacrifice. He tried to punish them by sending forth a devastating rainfall to Vrndavan. Lord Sri Krsna protected Gokula by lifting Govardhana Hill and for seven days … Continue reading →

The land in Sammamish, Seattle was bought many years ago but in the last 8 years a beautiful new temple has been constructed. The are deities of Radha Nila Madhava, Sita Rama Laksman Hanuman, Gaura Nitai and Jagannatha, Balarama, Subhadra. … Continue reading →

Perth devotees were invited to participate with a South Indian society to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lamps. This was held all day in a beautiful park off the esplanade in Fremantle. The devotees had their own area and set … Continue reading →

Fremantle is a suburb just south of Perth. Every year the Council organises the Fremantle Parade, which comprises about 100 floats and marching bands. The devotees were invited to participate about 5 years ago and entered with Lord Jagannatha’s Ratha … Continue reading →

Every year the GBC has a “mid-term” meeting at a different temple in India. This year the body was hosted at Govardhan Eco Village. For five days the GBCs and other leaders from around the world discussed strategic plans to … Continue reading →

The Bhaktivedanta Hospital is a tribute to Srila Prabhupada, inspired by HH Radhanath Swami. it essentially functions as a “not-for-profit” institution with the motto of “Serving in Devotion.” What started as a dream to provide quality healthcare at an affordable cost by a few devotee … Continue reading →

Govardhana Eco Village is about a two hour drive from Mumbai, India. It is managed by Gauranga Prabhu and his team from Radha Gopinath Mandir in Chowpati. This beautiful project, which is overseen by HH Radhanath Maharaja, is about 70 … Continue reading →

Our Jagannatha Mandir is located in the Pasar Baru or “little India” area of central Jakarta. Nearby is the President’s headquarters and Parliament. The temple building is quite old and the devotees are fund-raising to renovate the top floor where … Continue reading →

The Mahendradatta University is one of the many universities in Denpasar and some of our devotees teach there. I was invited me to give a lecture on the relevance of Bhagavad-gita in the modern age. Kishora das, from Radha Madhava … Continue reading →

Parvati devi dasi from Denpasar is a high school teacher and regularly organisers classes on Bhagavad-gita at public schools. She, along with her husband, who is also a teacher, speak at Universities as well. Parvati asked whether I could come … Continue reading →

The devotees in Bali celebrated Srila Prabhupada’s arrival into America by re-enacting his journey on the Jaladuta. The murti of Srila Prabhupada was taken by car to a boat in a harbour near Nusa Dua and the devotees joined him … Continue reading →

Each temple in Bali hosted a program of evening kirtan for Holy Name Week and this was followed at Radha Rasesvara Mandir. HH Kavicandra Maharaja and I interspersed the kirtan with short talks on the importance of harinama and the … Continue reading →

On the occasion of Haridas Thakur’s disappearance and Holy Name week, more than 100 devotees went on kirtan at Kuta Beach Bali. I had the pleasure of leading the kirtan, which was literally on the sand along the ocean. There … Continue reading →

Carana Mitra, a Calcutta High Court Judge, wrote: “I knew Thakur Bhaktivinoda intimately as a friend and a relation. Even under the pressure of official work as a magistrate in charge of a heavy subdivision he could always find time … Continue reading →

“O Kesava! You assumed the form of Vamana to trick the great demon Bali Maharaja by Your steps, and to purify all living entities by the water that emanated from the nails of Your lotus feet. All glories unto You, … Continue reading →

The devotees at Radhava Madhava Temple started holy name week by inviting the other temple devotees in Bali to attend all day kirtan. Each centre was represented by their best kirtan leaders and the devotees chanted and danced to each … Continue reading →

The last day of Auckland temple’s 50th anniversary was celebrated with a maha-abhiseka of Srila Prabhupada. Many dignitaries came, including the US Consul General, the Human Rights Commissioner, two members of parliament and three high ranking police officers of the … Continue reading →

On the second day the Auckland temple celebrated Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America with the devotees going on a boat in the harbour. This was a reenactment of Srila Prabhupada traveling on the Jaladuta to America. A small deity of … Continue reading →

N The Auckland yatra celebrated the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada arriving in America. The festival went for three days starting with maha-harinam in the city. There were five separate kirtan groups chanting around the city and at one point … Continue reading →

Abhaya Carana and the devotees from the Bhakti Tree in Newcastle regularly have preaching programs every week. On Wednesday there’s a yoga night and on Friday a kirtan night. Three days a week they cater to the Vegetarian Club at … Continue reading →

On the occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance anniversary, an excerpt from a poem I wrote: Thy gentle graces won our heart. We feel too weak to live apart, O Prabhupäda, whom we all revere, Our Guru, whom we hold so … Continue reading →

Krsna is the embodiment of love and affection. He sees the good qualities of a living entity, overlooking the bad. Even if someone is in a lowly position Krsna is so kind that He can raise him to the topmost … Continue reading →

Hearing a celestial voice that the eighth child of Devaki would kill the demoniac King Kamsa, he killed all the children born from Devaki. Mother Devaki was in deep distress during her seventh pregnancy because she felt the child would … Continue reading →

Once again, the Cairns devotees were able to organise Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra in the Cairns festival parade. The Rathayatra cart, built by Yamala Arjuna,  was brought up from the Gold Coast. There were over 100 floats in the parade, but … Continue reading →

Devotees serve the Lord during the summer by placing Him on a boat, taking Him out on procession, applying sandalwood on His body, fanning Him with a camara, decorating Him with jeweled necklaces, offering Him palatable foodstuffs, and bringing Him … Continue reading →

The GBCs of Mayapur were supposed to go to Mayapur for the summer meeting. However, because of severe flooding, the meeting was held in Kolkata. Bhakti Caru Maharaja graciously organised everything at the last minute and everyone was hosted at … Continue reading →

ISKCON Kolkata celebrated 4 days of festivities commemorating Srila Prabhupada’s leaving August 15th 1965 on the Jaladuta for Boston, U.S.A. On the first day functions were held in the Nethaji Indoor Stadium, which has a capacity of 15,000 seats. Many … Continue reading →

It’s been quite a few years since I last visited Radha Govinda Mandir, Kolkata. The temple has developed quite a lot since then. There are 73 brahmacaris and more than half of them are university graduates. Govindas restaurant has been … Continue reading →

  In the village of Panihati, Raghunatha dasa obtained an interview with Nityananda Prabhu. Sitting on a rock under a tree on the bank of the Ganges, Lord Nityananda seemed as effulgent as hundreds and thousands of rising suns.   … Continue reading →

Vasusrestha and Dhanistha have returned to live at New Govardhana after living at Woolgoolga for many years. She works as a nurse at Tweed Hospital and he manages the day to day activities at the farm. Their 3 sons have … Continue reading →

Sonu and Manisha are from the Punjab in India and have been living in Australia for the last 5 years. They have a little baby called Hargun who is also called Vrnda. Manisha has been accepted by Radhanath Maharaja for … Continue reading →

Rupa Vilasa das, a doctor and Priya devi dasi, a pharmacist, are both from Fiji and have been living with their children in Australia for over ten years. They moved into to their new house on the Gold Coast a … Continue reading →

The Rathayatra parade and festival at New Govardhana started a little earlier this year at 10am. This was because the afternoon was filled with various functions in the main tent outside the temple room. There were at least 700-800 devotees … Continue reading →

Every year at Jagannatha Puri, the Rathayatra culminates at the Gundica temple, which is surrounded by lush gardens and tall coconut trees. Fragrant flowers and shady trees create a Vrindavan atmosphere. Gundica Mandira is called the “birthplace” of Jagannatha Swami … Continue reading →

Neelam is a doctor who lives at Ashmore on the Gold Coast. Her daughter, Sakhi is studying medicine at university and her son Krishna is finishing high school. After leaving India, the family lived in the UK for a while … Continue reading →

At the Bhakti Centre on the Gold Coast, during Purusottama month, the devotees chant Krsna’s name, read from Bhagavad-gita and offer ghee lamps to the supreme Lord Krishna. It is said that Draupadi in her former life was the daughter … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, by the arrangement of providence, an extra month came to this world. Every one took this month to be most inauspicious. The personality of this month was very sad and went to see Lord Visnu in … Continue reading →

Quite often, the small country towns get the biggest turnouts to their parades. The Lismore Lantern Festival has been celebrated every year going back decades. It is a night time parade and Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi bestowed … Continue reading →