Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

  Krsnagana das, who formerly lived near Cairns in North Queensland, became a devotee seven or eight years ago and joined the asrama at New Govardhana. After a while he began traveling with Braja Gauranga das all over Australia doing … Continue reading →

The Brisbane temple celebrated Gaura Purnima with great pomp. The devotees erected a big marquis in the front yard where the abhiseka of Gaura Nitai was performed. There was also kirtana, lecture and drama of Lord Caitanya gathering a samkirtan … Continue reading →

We had the pleasure of attending two Gaura Purnima festivals, one at the Bhakti Centre on the Gold Coast and the other at Brisbane temple. Lord Chaitanya manifests the audarya bhava, or the most munificent and merciful aspect of the … Continue reading →

The Bhaktivedanta Academy, established in 1984, is an educational institution based in Sri Mayapur Dhama, India, which provides education for boys, girls and adult students on the principles of the Vedic Gurukula system. The educational programs aim to provide a … Continue reading →

Svananda Kunja is Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house at Sri Godrumadvipa Mayapur. From the verandah of Thaku­ra Bhaktivinoda’s house, one day while chanting Hare Krishna, he saw the horizon of Mayapur light up under the effulgence of, ” One exceedingly wonderful temple which … Continue reading →

The tenth anniversary of the Panca Tattva installation at Sridam Mayapur was celebrated with great pomp and enthusiasm by the devotees attending the festival. The morning’s class was given in the courtyard in front of the temple so the temple … Continue reading →

Bhakti Vijnana Maharaja, our GBC from Russia, presented a seminar at the ILS entitled, “A Culture of Empowerment.” He talked about leaders needing a humble service attitude, inspiring trust, showing by example, setting a clear vision and ultimate goal. One … Continue reading →

VANDE, which stands for Vaisnava Arts For A New Devotional Era, is headed by Bhaktimarga Swami and a dedicated team of ISKCON thespians. Maharaja travels the world encouraging devotees to spread Krsna Consciousness through this ancient medium. Srila Prabhupada said … Continue reading →

One of the seminars at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga was how to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation. Srila Prabhupada came to Mayapur in 1965 to seek the blessings of his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. He … Continue reading →

The 2014 ISKCON Leadership Sanga was attended by around 1000 devotees from all the world. This was the second time this event was organised and almost double the amount of devotees came from the first one. Also, whereas in the … Continue reading →

Srila Prabhupada said, “utsava priya manavaha, people like festivals. We are inherently attracted to festivals because every day in the Spiritual World is a festival, every step is a dance and every word is a song.” This year on Nityananda … Continue reading →

The devotees working at the ToVP offices in Mayapur will be very busy in the coming years finishing off not only designs for the main structure but for the internal and external ground plans as well. The team of about … Continue reading →

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, and raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip. In … Continue reading →

On one day of the Family festival all the devotees headed down to Whangarei where Buddhimanta and his crew of enthusiastic devotees arranged a Ratha-yatra parade through the streets of the city. A new cart was made and Their Lordships … Continue reading →

The devotees around Auckland organised a 6 day family festival that saw nearly 80 devotees travel to Waitangi in the north of New Zealand. Waitangi is the famous place where in 1840 The British signed a treaty with the Maori … Continue reading →

It’s always a pleasure visiting the Wellington yatra. We have two centres here, one down town known as Gaura Yoga and the other at Newlands, a nearby suburb. When I visit the devotees usually come from both centres to attend … Continue reading →

It has been over three years since the first of the big earthquakes struck Christchurch and the city is still pulling down damaged buildings and constructing thousands of new ones. I have been told that it will take at least … Continue reading →

Venugopal Prabhu, from New Govardhana, is a devotee of more than 40 years standing. He has been a temple president in Brisbane and Cairns where he served in those roles with distinction. Currently, he is the co-director, along with Ajita … Continue reading →

For over 10 years the devotees from New Govardhana have been catering at the Woodford Folk festival. It is said that a few hundred thousand people attend this festival over a 6 day period. This year it was especially hot … Continue reading →

The Adelaide temple management organised programs every night at the temple for my last visit there. It was nice to see so many devotees attend even though the temperature outside was over 40 degrees that week. Luckily, there is air-conditioning … Continue reading →

The Meredith Music Festival is a three-day outdoor music festival held every December at the “Supernatural Amphitheatre”, a natural amphitheatre located on private farmland near the town of Meredith in Victoria, Australia. This event was started in the 90’s and the devotees have been involved for the last 10 years. … Continue reading →

Christmas eve for many around the world is celebrated in preparation for Christmas Day, a commemoration of Lord Jesus’s appearance more that two thousand years ago. Jaya Sri and Pratapana, who run the Lotus Room centre in Darlinghurst Sydney, decided … Continue reading →

New Govardhana is host to Wwoofers, (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) from all over the world. At any given time there are 35-45 who stay there from one week to two months. For 6 hours a day they work in … Continue reading →

Isvara prabhu, formerly from the UK, now living at New Govardhana for the last 25 years, heads up a weekly Harinam party that chants from Byron Bay to the Gold Coast. There are also other kirtan parties that leave the … Continue reading →

Jyotisar is the exact spot where Lord Sri Krishna spoke Bhagavad-Gita. There is a Banyan tree in this place under which Krishna explained Bhagavad-Gita 5000 years back to Arjuna – his greatest friend and devotee. On a board placed on the … Continue reading →

Hare Krishna Food for Life has been operating in Canberra since 1989. Two or three times a week the devotees cook a nice spread of rice, subji, pappadam, halva or cake, custard and drink and take it to the Griffin … Continue reading →

Thursday night programs at the Liverpool Street preaching centre, Kings Cross, are always well attended. Usually, there is a mix of interested persons from the kirtan nights at the Lotus Room, people who have been regularly attending, and live-in ashram … Continue reading →

The Annual Bondi Yoga Festival took place on Sydney’s Bondi Beach at the Bondi Pavilion. This is a famous landmark where people from all over the world take part in cultural activities such as art and music. On a sunny … Continue reading →

Tulasi Vivaha is a famous festival where it is said that tulasi devi, in this world in the form of a plant, marries Krsna, in the form of Saligram Sila.  Briefly, the story is that tulasi took birth as the … Continue reading →

Fremantle, Western Australia, is a port suburb 30 minutes south of the city of Perth. It was settled in 1829 and was named after Captain Fremantle who was the commander of the HMS Challenger. It has a lively shopping area, … Continue reading →

On November 14, 1977, at 7:25 p.m., Prabhupada opened his eyes, which were very clear, more so than in many months.  His mouth opened, his tongue moved, and then he became still.  The kaviraja took Prabhupada’s pulse and held a … Continue reading →

Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama, with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana to Ayodhya after a 14 year exile, and a war in which he killed the demon king Ravana. It is believed that the people of Ayodhya lit ghee lamps along the way to light their … Continue reading →

Mahabaleshwar is a holy place about 240 Kilometres south east of Mumbai on top of the Sahyadri Mountain Range. Srila Prabhupada visited this place in 1976 and stayed at one life member’s house. Many thousands of years before, Dhaumya Rsi, … Continue reading →

Last year, Iskcon’s Radha Rasabihari temple in Mumbai, opened a brand new school about 15 minutes drive from the temple and named it Bhaktivedanta Mission School. The school, which is 7 floors high, comprises many classrooms, an assembly hall, performing … Continue reading →

Each night after the strategic planning meetings ended at Radha Rasabihari temple in Mumbai, there were kirtan sessions that all the devotees were invited to attend. There is nothing more satisfying than to get together with advanced devotees for blissful … Continue reading →

  Tamohara Prabhu, the current GBC Chairman, who holds a PhD in psychology,  inaugurated the GBC strategic planning meeting at Radha Rasabihari temple in Juhu Beach Mumbai. Other than the GBC members, there were 60  leading devotees from all over … Continue reading →

Maharati das, Govinda devi Dasi and Ravinjaya are all second generation devotees who live in Bali. Maharati is studying for his masters in pharmacy, Govinda works in management with a local company and Ravinjaya is finishing off his studies at … Continue reading →

Samudra das and Nagara devi dasi run a surf, dive and clothing shop in the Sanur area of Denpasar, Bali. Actually the shop is in the front of the family house that Samudra and his brother Padma grew up in. … Continue reading →

Echoes of Peace is a festival that has been held for eleven years in one of the main parks of Denpasar. Each year, leaders from spiritual groups in Bali come together and show cooperation under the banner of the Hindu … Continue reading →

Radha Rasesvara temple is located in a coconut tree and cocoa plant area in the hills outside Denpasar. The devotees were able to buy a good amount of land to build an asrama and temple. Since then more land has … Continue reading →