MT's teaser on Janmastami in Moscow

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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/11/108.html

 

The Moscow Times

11 August 2006

 

A Taste of the Subcontinent

By Svetlana Graudt

 

The Days of Indian Spiritual Culture

Hare Krishnas celebrate last year's Janmastami.

 

It is Krishna's 5,234th birthday next week, and the party is on, right here

in Moscow. A festival called The Days of Indian Spiritual Culture is set to

run from Sunday to Wednesday, encompassing religious ceremonies, a sari

fashion show, lectures, musical and theater performances, a photo exhibition

and film screenings, not to mention food tastings, yoga sessions and an

Oriental bazaar.

 

The festival is jointly organized by the Moscow branch of the International

Society for Krishna Consciousness -- commonly known as the Hare Krishnas --

and the Association of Indians in Russia, with the support of the Indian

Embassy.

 

It will be the largest festival to date organized by Hare Krishnas in

Moscow. Similar celebrations have been discreetly marked in the city since

the late 1980s, when Krishna believers were first allowed to register their

organization, said Yury Pleshakov, a spokesperson for the group's Russian

branch, speaking by telephone Monday.

 

Pleshakov said the first Krishna followers appeared in Moscow in 1971 after

the visit of the Hindu religious leader Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the

movement's founder. "At the time, relations between the Soviet Union and

India were intensifying. The Soviet Union had strategic interests in India,

and ordinary people were actively interested in Indian culture, including

spiritual culture, as the friendship ties went a long way back. However, in

Soviet times, the atmosphere was saturated with extreme suspicion and fear,

especially when it came to contacting foreigners, so Prabhupada's visit was

very brief."

 

 

In the ensuing years, believers were persecuted, so their numbers stayed low

during the next two decades. The fall of the Soviet Union allowed for

greater religious freedom, and Pleshakov estimates there are now 100,000 to

150,000 Krishna followers across Russia.

 

The festival will kick off Sunday at noon at the Krishna Temple near the

Dynamo metro station with astrologers, Ayurvedic doctors and psychologists

giving free advice. It will take in India's Independence Day on Tuesday and

culminate Wednesday with a celebration of Janmastami, Krishna's appearance

day and probably the most popular festival in India. Organizers promise a

variety of religious ceremonies, such as the traditional bathing of Krishna

in water, milk, honey and fruit juice, as well as music, fireworks and a

fire-dancing show after it gets dark.

 

Many of Moscow's Indians are expected to attend the festival's events.

Sanjeet Jha, president of the Association of Indians in Russia, said his

organization held several celebrations throughout the year in cities such as

Vladimir, Vladivostok and Tyumen, to name just a few. "Wherever Indians

live, they try to observe their traditions, religion and culture -- in the

same way as they would in India," he said by telephone Tuesday. "Our aim is

to help them to feel at home away from home."

 

Although many events at the festival are religious in nature, the organizers

emphasize that everyone is welcome.

 

"We are very pleased to have organized the festival not just for ourselves

but for our Russian friends also," Jha said. "We hope they will enjoy

themselves."

 

 

The Days of Indian Spiritual Culture run fron Sun. to Wed. at the Krishna

temple, located at 39 Leningradsky Prospekt. Metro Dynamo. For a schedule of

events and a map to the temple, visit http://2006.veda.ru , or call at 772

62 95