Radhanath Swami Speaks at Governor’s Bungalow, Pondicherry…
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Radhanath Swami Speaks at Governor’s Bungalow, Pondicherry (Album with photos)
Radhanath Swami was invited by the Honorable Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry Mrs. Kiran Bedi to speak at her official residence Raj Nivas on 23rd December 2017. He spoke from his book The Journey Home, and the talk culminated with the launch of his second book The Journey Within. Radhanath Swami’s talk was part of Raj Nivas Lecture Series, an initiative by the Governor “to engage citizens of Pondicherry on thought leadership through a series of interactive sessions by eminent speakers from the fields of history, art, leadership, literature, management, science, culture, health, spiritually and more.”

The talk was attended by Lieutenant Governor Mrs. Bedi, a retired police officer who, while in the police service won the Ramon Magsaysay Award as well as worldwide acclaim for her reforms in Tihar Jail in India. She was the first woman to join the Indian Police Service and the first woman to be appointed the United Nations civilian police adviser. “We can’t thank enough Radhanath Swami for accepting our invitation to come to Pondicherry. I have never seen an audience so rapt in attention as the audience were during his talk today,” said the Lieutenant Governor. “Radhanath Swami is a remarkable gift of divine grace to India. To come across living legends and saints like him is very rare. It will be my dream come true if I see The Journey Home made into a movie during my lifetime,” she said.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/fSTvjc

Meetings And Seminars In Mayapur (Album of photos) Giridhari…
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Meetings And Seminars In Mayapur (Album of photos)
Giridhari Swami: The 2018 GBC AGM began on Feb. 3. This year the meetings run tandem to the ILS and other events, so suffice to say that things are quite intense here in Mayapur. 850 leaders from around the world have gathered for the ILS and the first day was spent in plenary, ably led by Gopal Bhatta and Kaunteya Prabhus. Some sixty seminars are being held over eight days, and it is quite a challenge to choose one over the other….
Find them here: https://goo.gl/m7eALD

Colorful Harinam Sankirtan in Auckland, New Zealand (Album with…
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Colorful Harinam Sankirtan in Auckland, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Although Sukracarya was a strict brahmana addicted to ritualistic activities, he also admitted, nischidram anusankirtanam tava: “My Lord, constant chanting of the holy name of Your Lordship makes everything perfect.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 8.23.16 Purport).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qqY7cH

A visit to Siliguri Iskcon (Album of photos) Dharmatma Das:…
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A visit to Siliguri Iskcon (Album of photos)
Dharmatma Das: Credit goes to the wonderful disciples of Jayapataka Maharaja who built and developed this amazing Temple. Well organized and maintained. Beautiful Pancha Tattva and Sri Sri Radha Sundhar with Lalita and Vishaka and many other Temples on the grounds. A real gem of a Temple…
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sCF1fb

A Happy New Year: Sustained Growth and Renewal at ISKCON New Goloka
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Hare KrishnaBy Lila-sakti Devi dasi

2017 was a year full of forward movement and positive changes at ISKCON New Goloka. Established in 1985, our aging temple infrastructure is currently being upgraded and updated to comply with required local building codes. Orange County, North Carolina is particularly stringent with their commercial code requirements, so the renovation process has been long, tedious, and costly. By Krishna’s mercy, however, we are in the home stretch of completing the first part of a multi-phase infrastructure improvement initiative at ISKCON New Goloka, home of Their Lordships Sri-Sri Radha-Golokananda. When complete, Their servants will prepare bhoga offerings in a brand new commercial kitchen, and Their paraphernalia will be stored and maintained in a spacious and well-appointed pujari room. All glories to the devotees who have continuously undergone great austerities to wonderfully serve the deities despite so many challenges. Continue reading "A Happy New Year: Sustained Growth and Renewal at ISKCON New Goloka
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International Seminar on Vedanta and Science, Kendari, Indonesia
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Hare KrishnaBy Hari Narayana Das

Sulawesi is one of the main islands of Indonesia and Kendari is the capital city of South East Sulawesi. We took a flight from Bali to Makassar for a transit of about two hours then another flight to Pomala airport at Kolaka, Sulawesi where devotees were eagerly waiting to receive us. That evening we had the opportunity to interact with few guests who were leaders of Hindu community there. They were happy to discuss Bhagavad-gita with us and also took some books. Next day, 26 Feb 2018, we started for Ladongi, driving almost three hours via the mountains, where we have the Gaura Nitai centre and which is also conducting Jagannatha ratha yatra every year. Although the number of devotees are less, they are nonetheless very enthusiastic… taking into consideration the fact that the small centre is situated in a forested area and before, due to misjudgement, the local people there used to throw stones at the temple… but after the first ratha yatra in the year 2014 which was fully supported by the Mayor of the locality and the Hindu Parisada there, the locals started to visit the temple and also bring flowers and fruits for the deities. Continue reading "International Seminar on Vedanta and Science, Kendari, Indonesia
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International Conference: Vaishnavism: Theory And Practice
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Hare KrishnaBy Rasika Raman Das

A two-day international conference on Vaishnavism: Theory and Practice was held on 18th and 19th December, 2017 at Jadavpur University, organized in collaboration with Stockholm University (Sweden). In this session devotees from various academic fields represented proper a understanding of Vaishnavism and the impact of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement. Pro Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University, Prof. PK Ghosh, spoke on the importance of interdisciplinary studies, religious embeddedness in society. He acknowledged the contribution of Prof. Ruby Sain in the formation of Centre for the Study of Religion and Society at Jadavpur University. Continue reading "International Conference: Vaishnavism: Theory And Practice
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A Monk in England
→ SivaramaSwami.com

http://bit.ly/2E9E1DI

A Day in The Life

Ever wondered what the life of a Monk looks like? Last month, Sivarama Swami spent 2 weeks in the UK. Here's a taster of what he got up to! He'll be back in May! :)Comment below if you'd like to meet Sivarama Swami! What wouldyou talk to him about ?#monklife #dayinthelife

Posted by Sivarama Swami on Thursday, February 8, 2018

No more motorcycles or petrol scooters within Iskcon Mayapur. As…
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No more motorcycles or petrol scooters within Iskcon Mayapur.
As of October 1, 2019, motorcycles, petrol scooters, and personal use e-rickshaws/totos (over 2 meters long / 80 cms wide) will not be permitted inside any of the following gates and areas:
- Prabhupada Bhavan gate - BBT gate
- Gammon gate - SMIS road
- Gurukula Road gate - Goshala/Vaisnava Academy road
- Gita Bhavan gate - The path between government road and MCS community hall
- Namahatta gate - The road between Nityananda Kutir and Govinda’s
Some parking areas will be available on the perimeters of the campus.
As of February 20, 2020, motorcycles/petrol scooters will not be permitted on East/West road, which will run from Bhaktisiddhanta Road, passing Sakhi Nivas, and connecting with Taranpur Road.
You should expect that eventually, motorcycles/petrol scooters will also not be permitted on most ISKCON owned roads.

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami: Caitanya Caritamrita – Adilila Chapter 8 Text 42
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Caitanya Caritamrita – Adilila Chapter 8 Text 42 Date: 05 February 2018 Verse etāvaj janma-sāphalyaṁ dehinām iha dehiṣu prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā śreya-ācaraṇaṁ sadā SYNONYMS etāvat—up to this; janma—of birth; sāphalyam—perfection; dehinām—of every living being; iha—in this world; dehiṣu—toward those who are embodied; prāṇaiḥ—by life; arthaiḥ—by wealth; dhiyā—by intelligence; vācā—by words; śreyaḥ—eternal good fortune; ācaraṇam—acting […]

The post HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami: Caitanya Caritamrita – Adilila Chapter 8 Text 42 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Gita 16.16 Desires and fears cover our consciousness completely with illusion
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 16.16 Desires and fears cover our consciousness completely with illusion appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

If a Muslim wants to study the Gita but can’t accept God’s personal form, what to do?
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Answer Podcast

The post If a Muslim wants to study the Gita but can’t accept God’s personal form, what to do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Mohanasini Devi Dasi: Well, the Mardi Gras Marathon has…
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Mohanasini Devi Dasi: Well, the Mardi Gras Marathon has begun…lots of Fortunate People this weekend. Please click on the pics for all the nectar!
Book totals for this weekend: 9 Perfection of Yoga, 10 Chant and be Happy, 86 Higher Taste Cookbooks, 1 Science of Self Realization, 78 Bhagavad Gitas, and 4 Srimad Bhagavatams Total: 188 books.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mY497v

All the video-recordings from the glorious Chakra installations today in the TOVP
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur.tv

A beautiful ceremony, attended by thousands of vaishnavas from the international community of Iskcon and from more than 1 million viewers through the TV stations which broadcast the Mayapur.tv's live transmissions, was concluded successfully this morning in Mayapur. The Central Government of India sent their congratulations for the event from New Delhi. Continue reading "All the video-recordings from the glorious Chakra installations today in the TOVP
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Hundred people start regular chanting after week-long discourse in Surat
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Das

Over 100 new people committed to chanting at least one round of the Hare Krishna mahamantra everyday at a week-long Bhagavata Saptah discourse from 9th January to 15th January in Surat. Almost 1500 devotees thronged to hear the discourse based on the story of Prahalada Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam, delivered by Chandra Govinda Das, an eminent exponent of Srimad Bhagavatam, who is a disciple of His Holiness Radha Govinda Swami. “The lectures started with melodious kirtan and bhajans every day,” said Ramanatha Das, one of the organizers of the discourse. “People listened to the story of Prahlada Maharaja and the glories of Lord Narsainghadev with rapt attention. We also served a sumptuous vegetarian prasadam dinner every day after the discourse.” Continue reading "Hundred people start regular chanting after week-long discourse in Surat
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Captured by Krsna
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 September 2017, Petite Riviere, Mauritius, Lecture)

Srila Rupa Goswami said, “Do not go to Kesi Ghat if you have material desires.” But when Krsna plays his flute in Vrindavan how can one not go. We should all go to Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupada used to tell the story of the thief in a village…

Krsna is unlimitedly beautiful. One of His flutes is called sammohini, the bewildering flute. Krsna is always dressed beautifully and on His chest He has a big Kastubha jewel. Once a thief heard about that and he thought that his life would be made if he would have that jewel. He fantasised about stealing that jewel from Krsna. He searched for Krsna everywhere near Govardhan. He walked near Govardhan every day and then one day he saw Krsna covered with jewels. He said to Krsna, “Come on now! Give me all your jewels!” Krsna refused, he said, “Mother Yashoda will be angry if I give you my jewels.” Still the thief insisted that Krsna should give him all the jewels. Then finally Krsna gave him all His jewels and all desires that the thief had were fulfilled and he said to Krsna, “Would it be alright if I decorate you with these jewels!” When Krsna returned home, Mother Yashoda looked at him and said, “I did not dress you like that.” Krsna replied, “It was my devotee who did!”

Krsna does not look at what we give but He looks at what we are holding back.

ToVP Chakra Installation
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Devotees from all over the world travelled to Mayapur to see the Chakras of the ToVP installed on the domes of Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Madhava/Panca Tattva and Lord Nrsimhadeva.

The ceremony started around 9.00am with a welcome from Braja Vilasa das, (chief fundraiser) and speeches from many of the leading devotees of the movement.

This was followed by a maha-yajna and abhiseka of the Sudarsana Chakras themselves. Finally, the Chakras were lifted by a giant crane and installed on each individual dome.

God is not so bad!
→ Servant of the Servant

Someone asked me questions and below are my answers.

God would not allow me to suffer
God does not want you to suffer. He wants you to come to Him but He will not force you. You have a choice to go to God or enjoy here without Him. We reap what we sow, why to blame God for my behavior. You touch fire, you get burnt why is God responsible? We have to take responsibility for actions.

God will not arrange for suffering unless He hates me
God does not hate or like. He is impartial to all. He rewards us as we approach Him. We can approach Him in a favorable way or unfavorable way. Regardless, He arranges according to our propensity. Yes,  God created this world with laws. For example, God created fire to burn but we play with fire and get burnt. Is God the reason for my burn because He created fire to burn or my irresponsibility I play with fire? Similarly we are inherently spiritual by nature but we want material happiness (nonconforming). God created this material world with laws because we want to enjoy here. But laws come with dos and donts. We ignore it and get burnt. So yes God arranged for us the cosmos with the laws but we misuse and get burnt by the laws. God is not to be blamed for creating the laws. We have to be blamed for breaking it. It is exactly like a citizen breaking Government law and is punished by the Justice System. To blame the Government for arranging laws is childish otherwise without laws there will be chaos and no one (including the law abiders) cannot be happy. So laws are needed for a happy society and that is why we have cosmic laws. Choosing to follow it or not will result in our happiness or suffering (difference between a good citizen who is happy versus a person breaking the law who will eventually suffer in jail). So God is neutral (neither hate nor like). He reciprocates according to your desires. Basically, my point you are the architect of your destiny (good and bad), 

To inflict harm and fight his own living entities because he designed the material world for us to suffer because he felt like it,Iam just not impressed by it.
Not sure how you got this idea. He did not design the world to suffer. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says this world is suffering because it is temporary ( a factor of time). That is His definition of suffering. The suffering you are referring to is because of hate towards one group and love towards another group. This intense polarity or duality is created by man and God is not the cause of this polarity. Material world is suffering from the standpoint of birth and death (time/temporary) not from the standpoint of hate and love which man has created. Hate and love is different from temporariness of this world.

I know we are all affected by karma but why would it even be possible?
Why not? Who should take responsibility for his or her actions. If you pay and hire a building contractor to repair your door and window and he does a poor job. Who will you hold responsible? Can the contractor tell you I am not responsible? Can any institution or society operate without people being accountable to one another? A social body cannot operate without laws and a governing body to enforce these laws? This is the only way we can be held accountable for our good and bad actions. This same idea exercised at the universal level is called Karma. Karma is a mechanical system to enforce the reactions for our previous actions. It is not biased or judgmental (in a negative way). It is an operating system for this world and its' inhabitants.

Why not make sure things were always perfect?, but then again, is it that God needs someone else to do bad so he can look good,another part of His design? 
This world is perfect as it is from God who is perfect. When we eat properly as designed to fit the human body, then we live a long and healthy life free from disease. This can happen only if our diet is in harmony with the construct of the human body. So in that sense if the diet is perfect (harmony) with our body, there is no disease. Similarly as humans or any living being when they live in harmony with nature ( as a whole), then there will be peace and happiness. God created nature and man created industries. So we are reaping the result of this artificial economy which is based on industrialization of nations. By artificial I mean paper based currency. As a result, we have poverty and affluence. Otherwise, in God's world, everyone was rich as long as they had good food and a decent place to stay. But with influx of money we have rich getting richer (greed) and poor getting poorer. This gap or imperfection that is a result of a deeper sociological, economical and political issue is a product of man and not God. So please do not blame God for our imperfections. God is perfect, His creation is perfect, we are perfect as long as we align with God's plan to love and serve but by misusing our freedom we encroach upon other's property, draw boundaries, exploit, kill, rape and claim victory and ownership and leave the losers with scrap. This is our history and current affairs for the past 5000 years. Your complaint should be directed towards the misplaced leaders of this society and not towards God. By the way, Krishna means all-attractive He does not need to look good by making us look bad. He is Super Beautiful and Good on His own. He designed nature for us to live in harmony with it. Man's design is to exploit nature and usurp it unceremoniously (every industry and gadget and product and energy we use and invented is based on exploiting nature and people - again man made design).

Its just sounds horrible to me, we are pawns and God will throw us around as he pleases. I dont want to accept this. I dont want God to throw me around and I am not going to butter up to anything like that. That's my point, we are all pawns here,
God does not throw us around, In fact God facilitates our desires so we can be happy. This is the thanks He gets for being a perfect Gentleman. He has to facilitate not only your desire but the desire of all trillions and trillions of living entities and He has to do it such a way that there is order and not chaos and that everyone deserves what they are eligible. If you can manage even 50 high productive people in a company without politics, i will bow my hat. Why 50, we cannot even manage one person, that is why there are so many divorces. One husband and one wife cannot manage each other. This is common. It is easy to fight and destroy but to tolerate and create is very difficult. God is not an impulsive Hero like figure where like Robinhood He has to come to save damsel in distress and if He doesn't we blame Him for not caring. This sort of Super Hero mentality is childish. God is Supreme in His own right and purely He plays by His rules. It is childish to expect Him (the Supreme Controller of all beings) to cater to the whims and fancies of my mind. God is not expecting you to butter up, but it is gentlemanly of you to give back to God since your very existence such as water, light and air is provided by God. If we have little gratitude then common sense tells us that we have to serve God since without Him we cannot exist for a second. 

We are inferior energy hence the suffering
We are not the inferior energy. Dull matter like earth and water and fire etc is the inferior energy (lacks consciousness). We are the superior energy as we have consciousness and like and dislike. The superior energy when it comes in contact with the inferior energy becomes an incompatible situation. This incompatibility or discord is evidenced as struggle for existence in this world as wars, hate, crime,corporate greed, natural destruction,animal slaughter, abuse of all kinds etc etc. This struggle also presents itself as what we call positive things such as love, romance, loyalty etc. Both are incorrect (incompatible) as both are for possessing the inferior energy (matter). True happiness can come when the small superior energy (you and me) interact with the Supreme superior energy (Krishna or God). This interaction is founded on love and love is founded on freedom. We have to make a free, voluntary and conscious decision to divert our attention from matter (inferior energy) to Krishna (Supreme superior energy). Then only,can we be happy!

Think about what I have said versus taking emotional decisions. Learn to separate God from Institutionalized religion. Perhaps you will see the light!

Hare Krishna

Monday, February 5th, 2018
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Mayapur, West Bengal

Food Unites Us

Food unites people. This was so when the Canadian delegates got together.  I mean to say, “We pilgrims from Canada!” We made that connection, a bond which rarely happens.  In fact, because we are a group of people in a land spread so far and wide, we can only come together once a year and that’s right here in Mayapura.

It was Keshava, Mayapura Hospital’s dentist, who organized our lunch at 1:00 p.m., the venue being at the Gauranga Garden and sponsored by my own doctor, Jagannatha Misra, also of Canada.  It was a special day on our calendar, on top of our little gathering of fifty people.  Our grand guru or param guru, Bhaktisiddhanta, whose birth anniversary was today, was honoured with a half-day fast, then feast.

From as far east as Newfoundland, to as far west as Vancouver, we Canucks got together, to get to know each other.  Mind you, a few extras came on board from the U.S. and abroad.  Banu Swami, originally from B.C., is of Japanese descent, and he also came, in addition to Gopal Krishna Goswami, originally from India.

Young Dustin Hines, the opera singer, was there and he let me know that he was the first person to formally sing the new Canadian National Anthem, or rather the new version which is now gender neutral.

You could tell by the happy conversations and a certain plate and cutlery language that pervaded the shaded room at the restaurant, that food does it, and even better still—prasadam.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Krishna-kripa Das: I show and tell about chanting Hare Krishna…
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Krishna-kripa Das: I show and tell about chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee at a home program, Florida State University, and Lake Ella. I show videos of devotees chanting Hare Krishna before, during, and after the first-ever Gasparilla Parade of Pirates Ratha-yatra in Tampa. I share all kinds of kirtans in temples and in public on Lord Nityananda’s Appearance Day. I also show kirtans at Krishna Lunch and tell about a visit to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville with Adikarta Das. I share insights from Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures and notes on classes by Sacinandana Swami and Adikarta, Kalakantha, and Tamohara Prabhus and others. Please at least glance at my last report: https://goo.gl/dR4hPD

Srimad Bhagavatam class in Mayapur by Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, 05 February 2018
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakti Rasamrita Swami

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was the president acarya and also the founder Acharya of the gaudia mutt. In the gauida magazine it was described that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta is the instrument and the counterpart for the gaudia mutt rather, for the gaudia mutt is the instrument in the counter part of the Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and that the mutt lives and moves and has its very being in the founder Acharya. The institution is identical to the founder Acharya and the associates and devotees who are within the institution are the limbs of the founder Acharya. Continue reading "Srimad Bhagavatam class in Mayapur by Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, 05 February 2018
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The glorious “Krishna Lunch” and “Krishna…
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The glorious “Krishna Lunch” and “Krishna House” in Gainesville, Florida (Album with photos)
Giridhari Swami: After the Dallas Kirtan 50, Rtadhvaja Swami Maharaja, Nitai Caran and I traveled to Gainesville, Florida. We stayed with Brahmatirtha Prabhu and his good wife Bhakti (who won’t allow us to call her mataji or prabhu for three days.) They are such wonderful devotees! For those of you who don’t already know, Brahmatirtha Prabhu met Srila Prabhupada in India, while working for the US Peace Corps. His conversation with Srila Prabhupada was later immortalized in the book, “Perfect Questions Perfect Answers.” Gainesville is also home to the University of Florida, where devotees led by Kalakanta Prabhu have established “Krishna House.” There, students rent rooms, follow certain aspects of sadhana -bhakti, get good association and have the opportunity to progress in their practice of Krishna consciousness. Krishna House is also the base for the amazing “Krishna Lunch”, which has been distributing 1200-1500 prasadam lunches to students for more than 20 years. From Gainesville, we drove to Daytona Beach to visit my two sisters and their families. We had one big and lively family get together, and our dear Malati and her good husband Radha Raman Prabhu drove two-hours from Gainesville to personally cater the event with excellent Italian fare. Suffice to say that the prasadam was a big hit and we thank Malati and Radha Raman for helping us out with this. It really made all the difference in the world!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9qoh9R