Guest guest Posted July 18, 2003 Report Share Posted July 18, 2003 Dear Maharajas, Prabhus, Matas, kids, etc., Namonamaha. Jaya Srila Prabhupada! The 22nd annual Sri Jagannath Rathayatra Mahotsav was observed in a grand way here at Baroda on Tuesday, 1 July, 2003: the auspicious day of Aashadh Shukla Dvitiya, when Rathayatra is observed annually at Sri Purushottama Kshetra, Sri Jagannath Puri Dham. Since seeing is believing, as the old adage goes, along with this report are several pictures of the Rathayatra procession. The Rathayatra was attended by H.H. Bhakti Vikas Swami, H.H. Bhakti Vishrambha Madhava Maharaj, and Sriman Mahaman Prabhu (co temple president of ISKCON Vrindavan). Devotees from Vrindavan, Chandigarh, Jhansi, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Vallabh Vidyanagar, and even a group of five devotees from Salem, Tamil Nadu, came, besides many local congregational devotees. Several visiting devotees from abroad also participated in Rathayatra. The Mayor of Baroda, Sri N.V. Patel, and the District Collector/District Magistrate, Sri Bhagyesh Jha, led the dignitaries who joined in inaugurating the Rathayatra. Several MLAs: Sri Bhupendra Lakhawala, Sri Jitendra Sukhadia, Sri Diluba Chudasama, BJP City President Shabdasharan Brahmbhatt, Ex-Minister Nalin Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the City Council, Sri Dalsukhbhai Prajapati, and many Municipal Councilors were present too. The Rathayatra went off peacefully, as usual, and there was participation and observation by thousands, even lakhs (hundreds of thousands). The local print and electronic media— television is big in India these days— gave extensive coverage to the procession. The procession was led by two elephants, four horses, and eight camel carts— some which had children in costumes— as well as two brass bands. There was ecstatic kirtan led by various devotees throughout the five-hour, eight-kilometer procession. After the Rathayatra, 10,000 people took full prasad at ISKCON's Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar Mandir on Gotri Road, Baroda, where many thousands of people came for darshan in the evening. Hope this finds you well. Vaishnava dasanudas, Basu Ghosh Das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.