Mayapur Today E-Newsletter - Aug'06 Edition

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Aug'06 Content

 

 

1.Sri Krishna Janmasthami

 

2.Festival of Enthusiasm

 

3.Five Fantastically Fun Days of the Swing Festival

 

4.Uttisthata Jagrata Students Conference 2006

 

5.Radhastami Celebrated

 

 

 

1. Sri Krishna Janmasthami

 

The appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna was celebrated with great glamour and

festivity here at the ISKCON world headquarters in Mayapur.

The day started in the morning with Mangal Artik and Darshan where the Deities

display wonderful new outfits.

For most of the morning there the samksara ceremonies were performed for the

Bhadra Balaram das and Ahladini Radha devi dasi as Nanda Maharaja and Mother

Yasoda pleasure of the Lord as well as for the assembled vaishnavas.

Different devotees enacted the roles of Nanda Maharaja, Mother Yasoda, and

Sandipani Muni.

Throughout the day various cultural programs were presented on the main stage

which included dramas, lectures, sweet bhajans and even a hilarious stand up

comedy performance. A well staged drama on the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna

was enacted by the school children of Bhaktivedanta National School.Despite

the news of the attack in Manipur and the main temple being closed for a short

period the festivities continued without lack of enthusiasm.

The fireworks display lasting almost an hour created an exciting mood. Once

the temple finally opened devotees rushed in like waves of the ocean to take

darshan of their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhava.The Abhishek began accompanied

by the chanting of vedic hymns.

Afterwards there was also a flower abhishek. After the program was over the

devotees had grumbling stomachs after fasting all day so they wobbled outside

to enjoy delicious prasadam.

2. Festival of Enthusiasm

Bhadra Balaram das and Ahladini Radha devi dasi as Nanda Maharaja and Mother

Yasoda On 13th August 2006 in Mayapur, the ISKCON Youth Forum (Youth Preaching

Department for College/University students) organized â?oUtsaha-- The Festival

of Enthusiasm festival for students from all over the district of Nadia.

The program was held in Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi auditorium. Bhadra Balaram

das and Ahladini Radha devi dasi as Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda At 11 in

the morning it started off with Vaisnava bhajans led by Kamal Gopal prabhu and

his assistants at. Then at 11:30 Sankarshan Nitai das gave a lecture on The

Art of Mind Control with accompanied by a slide show. The lecture finished

with a question and answer session. Afterwards, Sastra das (from Ghana) and

Keshav das (our temple commander) started an ecstatic kirtan. It continued up

to 2 O'clock in and was concluded with sumptuous prasadam for all

participants. Later on the IYF took all the students on a tour of Mayapur.

Bhadra Balaram das and Ahladini Radha devi dasi as Nanda Maharaja and Mother

Yasoda.

A total of 522 students came for the festival, enjoying the lecture, kirtan,

and prasad. For them it's totally new experience, and certainly beets their

normal syllabus studies

 

 

3. Five Fantastically Fun Days of the Swing Festival

 

When these young men were kids in gurukula they held this festival each year,

but as they all grew up and graduated the festival faded out. Feeling again

inspired to serve and please their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhava they pulled

together and decided to restart this program.

The area outside of our internet cafe (the Cyber Mansion, also run by the

vaisnava youth) was transformed into Sri Vrndavan Dham for the swing pastimes

of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. The same deities that had been swung in previous

years, are lovingly served by Apavrita dd and her husband Mahasringha das. 2

Each night they appeared resplendently dressed in different outfits. The

divine couple swung, decorated with flowers and leafy vines that were placed

opposite a delightful fountain. Further away outside, Radha and Krsna look

upon their many sevaks from a hill which is surrounded by another fountain

which was also made by the youth.

On the first night sweet bhajans were sung for their Lordships pleasure as

many devotees lined up to pull the rope of the swing. The devotees were then

given a plate of prasadam. Each evening started this way.

The second night was a busier version of the first. The bhajaneers, having

lost their shyness, enthralled the audience until 10 o'clock that night.

Night three and more wonderful bhajans and kirtan. An expert musician, Prabhu

Gauranga das from Bengal, played the flute, filling our minds with thoughts of

Krishna's very own flute. If this Prabhu could play so wonderfully, then

imagine what it would be like to actually hear Krishna play?

The fourth night a traditional Bengali band was in attendance with tablas,

harmonium, mridanga, kartals and an electric keyboard. This was really a fun

night as different singers would accompany the band with bhajans. One Sri Hari

Kanta das sang with such honesty and humility that he definitely placed

himself firmly in the devoteesâ?T hearts as a favorite. The ashram boys and

their friends danced with ecstatic enthusiasm as he sang along.

The fifth and final night which was Lord Balaramaâ?Ts appearance day, some

devotees went on harinam to the boat ghat, back to the temple, and then over

too 'Vindavana' where the children were re-enacting a favorite pastime of Lord

Balarama's breaking the honey pot. They were blindfolded, then spun around,

handed a big stick and directed by the very loud audience to hit a clay pot

filled with sweets which was suspended from the ceiling. They would swing at

the pot until they smashed it and then all the children would scamper around

picking up the scattered sweets. It was great fun.

4. Uttisthata Jagrata Students Conference 2006

 

ISKCON has been organizing Navadvipa and Vrindavana dhama parikramas for many

years, giving the opportunity to devotees from around the world to spend time

visiting and glorifying these holy places. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu considered

three places very dear: Navadvip dhama, Vrindavana dhama and Jagannatha Puri

dhama. Jagannatha Puri was so dear to Him that He spent the final 18 years of

His time on this planet there. Puri is the home of Lord Jagannath, the most

worshipable Lord of the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thousands of

devotees from all over the world visit Puri every year, despite the fact that

Westerners are not allowed to enter the Jagannath temple. Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhuâ?Ts devotees are attracted to Lord Jagannath and therefore it is

with extreme pleasure and spiritual enthusiasm that they visit Puri annually.

Even though so many devotees visit Puri, still not all of them have the

opportunity to know the glories of Puri dhama and see all of the tirthas there

due to lack of proper guidance.

Just as the scriptures recommend Vrindavana parikrama and Navadvipa parikrama,

they also recommend participating in the special Puri parikrama known as Sri

Kshetra parikrama. In the Skanda Purana it is mentioned that when Vidyapati

went to Nilacala (Puri) dhama for the first time, after taking darshan of Nila

Madhava (Lord Jagannath), he also engaged in parikrama of Nilacala dhama.

We find that great Vaisnavas state that this Sri Kshetra parikrama is very

potent for our spiritual growth. It has been said that one will get the same

result of observing Chaturamasy vrata, Kartik Vrata and Bhisma panchaka just

by performing Sri Kshetra parikrama on a particular tithi.

Nowadays, this parikrama of Nilacala dhama is not very famous among the

general public, but there are still some groups of Vaisnavas who perform this

Sri Kshetra parikrama on a particular tithi (holy day). The pancami-tithi just

after Kartika purnima is the day ascribed for Sri Kshetra parikrama. This

year, in order to obtain the mercy of the previous acaryas and to facilitate

the devotees, ISKCON Puri, with the support of some of the local leaders, has

planned to hold a well-organized Jagannath festival and Sri Kshetra Parikrama.

 

As the date of the pancami-tithi falls just after Kartika purnima, it will be

a good opportunity for devotees to visit Puri just after completing their

Kartika visit to Vrindavana. For full information please download the festival

brochure If you would like to contribute to this festival the please download

the sponsorship form.

 

Srila Prabhupada

"The Krishna consciousness movement has established its center in Mayapur, the

birthsite of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

to give men the great opportunity to go there and perform a constant festival

of sankirtan-yajna, and to distribute prasad to millions of hungry people

hankering for spiritual emancipation. This is the mission of the Krishna

consciousness movement."

His Divine Grace

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada

 

Mayapur Today

An E-newsletter from

Sri Mayapur Project

P.O. Sri Mayapur, Nadia

West Bengal, India 741 313

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