Preaching & Sri-Sri Radha-Gopinatha Deities Installation in Ballarat, Australia in the Summer of 2009

The city of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia hosted devotees from Sri Krishna Mandir. The devotees were invited there by Vrndavan Das and Syamsundari Devi Dasi. The two devotees were originally from Singapore but have resettled in Australia along with their four children. Motivated by the instructions of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, they intended to open a preaching centre in Ballarat. The family decided to install Radha-Gopinatha deities with close consultancy with Sri Krishna Mandir.

With the sun starting on its course for the northern hemipshere on 14th January 2009, which marked the anniversary where Bhismadeva left his body, the deities installation was originally planned to be held on the very auspicious day itself. However, due to the delays in clearing the devotional paraphernalia customs on time, the subsequent day was chose for the ceremony. The ceremony was to be concluded on Friday, 16th January 2009. Following the deities installation, the first ever preaching program consisting of kirtan, Bhagavad-Gita discourse and prasadam distribution will be held in the evening of the same day.

Devotees at Lake Wendouree Olympics memorial

Five devotees from Sri Krishna Mandir touched down in Melbourne and were received by the family on 12th January 2009. Arrangements were made by the gracious hosts to accommodate the visiting devotees in their house and prasadam was constantly in plentiful supply. After honouring prasadam heartily, the devotees then took an evening walk along the famous Lake Wendouree which, hosted rowing, kayaking and canoeing in the 1956 Olympics. A cool breeze blew as some devotees chanted their rounds while the host gave a short tour of the area. The gracious host then brought the visiting devotees to the highest peak in Ballarat named Black Hill. From there, devotees got a glimpse of a beautiful sunset on the horizons beyond the city of Ballarat. As it was summer, someone then remarked with the setting of the sun that it was 9pm in the evening and that it was time to go back for rest.

At the summit of Black Hill overseeing the city of Ballarat

The devotees were up before 5am the next day for mangala arati and this was followed through with the entire morning program as prescribed by Srila Prabhupada. The subject of the Srimad Bhagavatam class was on “The Passing Away of Bhismadeva” which, coincided with the changing of the course of the sun to the northern hemisphere. Obviously, the devotees accepted that the chain of events were not merely coincidental but was due to the will of The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. At the conclusion of the Srimad Bhagavatam class, prasadam was served. Thereafter, everyone got busy to prepare for the deities installation ceremony and the preaching program scheduled for later in the week. From calling authorities on the outcome of clearing customs for the devotional paraphernalia to making long trips to Melbourne to buy ingredients for prasadam distribution, abhishek ceremony (bath of the deities) and fire sacrifice to rushing off to the library to put together a presentation to encourage people to chant the holy names of Lord Krishna, everyone was heavily but joyfully engaged in the service of the Lord.

Srimad Bhagavatam class

By Wednesday, 14th January 2009, nearly all the devotional paraphernalia had cleared custom authorities and all the other necessary items were gathered for the ceremony including a brand new clay mridanga that was received in a pristine condition. After the morning program on the 15th January 2009, the first half of the deities installation ceremony took place. Led by chief priest, His Grace Saci Suta Prabhu, the president of Taman Daya temple in Johor, the deities of Radha-Gopinatha were taken out to a veranda within the residential compound where their blindfolds were taken out and dressing changed for abhishek. As the abhishek ceremony started all the devotees gathered around and glorified the eternal couple through kirtan. With the conclusion of the first half of the installation ceremony, the devotees broke their fast.

First day of installation of Sri-Sri Radha-Gopinatha deities

With the stage set for the full day program the next day, the devotees decided to relax a little by going on a short tour on the outskirts of Ballarat. Their first stop was a walk through Hepburn springs nature trail, followed by a relaxing stopover at the Lake Daylesford. En route to the lake, devotees came across an apple tree that cannot be found in the tropical region of Singapore and Malaysia. After plucking a couple of apples, everyone made their way to the lake where devotees sat on a man-made wood jetty and dipped their feet into the cool lake munching away their crunchy green apples with the summer sun shining brightly above. One devotee joked that the lake has been turned into a tirtha similar to the Ganga and Yamuna river due to contact with devotees and playfully scooped up a bottle of lake water for distribution.

Devotees at Lake Daylesford

Thereafter, the devotees then made their way to Hanging Rock (Mount Diogenes). Before that they made a quick stopover at a small valley that hid a waterfall. It took another half hour before they reached the base of Hanging Rock. The devotees hiked for approximately forty minutes before they reached the peak of Hanging Rock, and got a beautiful view of the plains of the small towns of Newham and Hesket. The devotees then made a final stop at Baccus Marsh; a small town that comprises of a series of vegetable and fruits farms. According to Vrindava Prabhu, his family sometimes visits a this town to acquire fresh fruits. The way they select their fruits is to go down to the plantation and pluck the fruits themselves. However, the farm that Vrndavan Prabhu frequents was closed for the day and so the devotees were brought to a large store run by Italian migrants where they made cheap purchases of organic fruits and products. They also took a brief stopover at a vegetable farm before deciding to return.

Approaching the peak of Hanging Rock

The second half of the deities installation ceremony took place the subsequent day on Friday, 16th January 2009. After the morning program, the deities were brought out to the veranda again for another abhishek. Upon its conclusion, the deities were dressed nicely and the yajna or fire sacrifice ceremony then was invoked. The deities installation ceremony was concluded with the end of the fire sacrifice with everyone present circumambulating the fire sacrifice pit. The deities were placed at the altar in the temple room after which, the devotees started to prepare for the evening program.

Yajna (fire sacrifice) on the second day of the deities installation ceremony

From cutting vegetables, cooking and baking cupcakes to setting up sound system, everyone was fervently engaged. With the stage set, the guests started to stream in steadily and on time at 5pm. Guests were made up of various races, from Chinese to Caucasian to Indians. And on top of that most of the guests were distinguished members of society working in Ballarat city councils, to managing waste water recycling projects in the state of Victoria to officers from the multi-cultural society as well as professors from the local University of Ballarat.

Bhajan session led by His Grace Raghupati Prabhu as guests prepare to offer lamp (on the right)

Kirtan began at 5.30pm led by His Grace Raghupati Prabhu as everyone made their way to the temple room. During the Narasimhadeva Pranama, guests were invited to offer lamps to the deities and for whatever reasons cited whether it be for a happy and prosperous year or as part of a tradition, majority of the guests queued up to wait for their turn to offer lamp to the deities of Sri-Sri Radha-Gopinatha. A discourse of the Bhagavad-Gita took place at about 6pm at the lounge beside the temple room given by His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu. From the looks on the faces of everyone, it was an eye-opener for them as none of them has heard such descriptive and authoritative pastimes of The Supreme Lord. Understandably, the reactions of the guests were justified as His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu was merely repeating the words of his spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

Bhagavad-Gita discourse given by His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu

During the distribution of the sumptuous prasadam that included biryani, bee-hoon, tofu curry, fruits and strawberry cupcakes, guests spoken to were pleased with the program based on its uniqueness and the joyful spirit that it was held. Many remarked that the Bhagavad-Gita discourse was very informative and assured the devotees that people will become devotees easily if this preaching occurs on a mass scale. Obviously, the main attraction was the prasadam with guests packing up to five take-away boxes. Several guests also remarked of a permanent temple housing the deities with the same program carried out would have been truly spectacular. Some of them even went on as far as speaking about land acquisition and temple construction and encouraged us on ways to do it. One common thing reflected by everyone was that this congregation should be held more frequently. This encouraged Vrndavan Prabhu and his family as they were eager to plan out the next preaching event that will most likely be held on Gaura Purnima in March.

Honouring prasadam while watching Sri Krishna Mandir video presentation

After the first preaching program, the devotees visited several houses of guests who in turn invited the devotees to their homes. On 18th Jan 09, devotees made their way to a cheese farm in Tampone where they had met a Caucasian lady named Anna who asked many spiritual questions. She excused herself saying that the reason she was asking many questions was that she lived in Kashmir, India for a year and grew interested and inspired by the Vedic culture. She also confessed that she was given a picture of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and was unfailingly chanting the following mantra together with her daughters:

namo maha vadanyaya
krsna-prema pradayate
krsnaya krsna caitanya
namne gaura tvise namah

She continued to query on the background of the devotees and continued with her questioning. Finally after being very much enlightened and contented, she invited the devotees to her house to meet up with her family the subsequent day. Owing to the fact that she lived in a six hundred acre farm and looked after two hundred cows, she assured the devotees that she does not kill any of her cows. Unfortunately, the devotees were unable to accede her request as they were flying back to Singapore the next day. However, Vrndavan Prabhu made arrangements and brought his family over to visit them in the weekend. Anna and her family were given prasadam as well as taught the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. She was inspired and wanted to take up Krishna consciousness seriously. She was eager to setup a temple for The Supreme Lord in the rural area and will be willing to assist in spreading the holy name of Krishna.

To say that the preaching in Ballarat to be successful is an understatement as the devotees managed to touch the lives of many people through their compassion and their warm reception. The preaching proceeded on even when returning from Melbourne to Singapore where devotees met with a lady who was traveling to London. She was inspired enough to acquire the original Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. As the devotees had exhausted themselves of preaching resources, she was encouraged to acquire the transcendental book from London.

More preaching to appreciative guests

With Sri-Sri Radha Gopinatha in the centre and with our spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada as the captain and guiding light, all who came into contact with the devotees have gotten tremendous pious assets. And only with association with devotees and hearing and chanting of the holy names will these people gradually become devotees as Lord Krishna has promised in the Bhagavad-Gita (7.28):

yesam tv anta-gatam papam

jananam punya-karmanam

te dvandva-moha-nirmukta

bhajante mam drdha-vratah

Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination

Furthermore, the devotees did not expect such a rousing reception and optimism from the people whom they had met. The Supreme Lord Krishna works in mysterious ways and although we are trying to know Him, we will never get to know Him in full. Thus, we only need to follow the instructions of the bonafide spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, to serve Lord Krishna with full faith in that He engineers everything that we have experienced, are experiencing and are bound to experience.

Jai Sri-Sri Radha-Gopinatha ki Jai! Jai Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!