Europe Preaching Tour [15-Nov-08 to 30-Nov-08] Diary by Bhakta Vinay

Note: For photos on the Europe Tour please visit the Photos page.

Holland

Amsterdam & Rotterdam

            Our Temple President, His Grace Sundar Gopal Das was invited by a devotee, Sriman Sarasa Kanai Prabhu, in Antwerp (Belgium) to preach in Europe and at the same time see whether there is any prospect to open a centre there. When I heard about the news, I asked Sri Sudar Gopal Prabhu if I can join him for the tour. I have always heard from my friends and relatives from Europe about the magnificent temples that Prabhupada had established in Europe and I always had the desired to take darshan from the Deities there. So it was really a dream coming true for me.

            We landed in Amsterdam Schipol Airport on Saturday, 15^th of November 2008 and our friend from Antwerp came to pick us from the airport. The very first thing that I appreciated in Europe was cold weather; it was really a good break from the hot humid climate in Singapore. From Amsterdam, we drove all the way to Rotterdam where we had some preaching programme at a devotee’s house.

             Holland has the second largest population of Indians in Europe and most of them have their roots in Utter Pradesh and Bihar in India. They were initially brought to work on the sugar cane plantation in the previously known ‘Dutch Guyana’ (now Surinam) in the Latin America. After Surinam gained independence from the Netherlands, many of them migrated to Holland. Thanks to Prabhupada’s mission, many of them have embraced Krishna Consciousness in their life.

Belgium

Antwerp

             We arrived in Antwerp on Saturday itself and were soon captivated by the nice monuments and scenery of the city. The streets are bordered on the two sides by a series of Renaissance-style guildhalls, many of which been renovated in the recent century. Belgium is home to two main linguistics groups of people, the Flemings (Dutch speakers) and the French speakers. Antwerp is situated in the north part of Belgium and most of the people living there are Flemings.

           Our preaching in Antwerp was very successful, people were really interested to know the alternative system that we were presenting and were embracing it. Our devotee friend in Antwerp, Sriman Sarasa Kanai Prabhu, is very keen to assist us in the mission of opening a centre there. We are currently in the process of securing a unit in a four-storey building in the centre of the city where we will have deities worshiped daily, book distribution, Sunday programs and a vegetarian restaurant. We can proudly say we have finally made a breakthrough in Europe through our first ‘Ritvik’ centre there.  

France

Paris

         Of all the cities in Europe, Paris is considered to be one of the most important and famous one. It was Prabhupda’s desire to preach Krishna Consciousness in these important cities of the world. Our guide in Paris was my friend Gary, a Mauritian student, who has been staying in Paris for the past eight years. Although not a practicing devotee, Gary was indeed very pleased to receive some good devotee association from our Temple President Sri Sundar Gopal Prabhu. We took him to the Krishna Temple in Paris and he had darshan of Their Lordship Sri Sri Radha-Parisisvara. By taking darshan from the deities, honoring Krishna Prasadam at the temple and rendering some service to the devotees, Gary was introduced to Krishna Consciousness during the few days Sri Sundar Gopal Prabhu stayed in Paris.

             Paris is a cosmopolitan city where we came across people from all over the world. By Krishna’s mercy, we also have encountered other like-minded devotees who were surprised and pleased to meet us on the streets of Paris. During our short stay in Paris, we felt that we could have achieved more if we had more time. However, we can always come back in the future to continue the work that we have started.

England
London

             We arrived in London early in the morning on Saturday 21^st November and the weather was freezing cold. My uncle, who has been staying in London for decades, was there to receive us at the station. He was our guide and brought us to visit the famous places there. London is one of the world’s business, financial and cultural centre. The central London itself is the headquarters of more than half of UK’s top 100 listed companies. Our mission there was first to meet one of our main supporters in London and secondly to explore the opportunity of setting up a centre in London.

             I was really thankful to my uncle who brought me to have darshan of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara, the deities at the Krishna Temple in Soho, London. These are the deities that Srila Prabhupada installed when he came to London in 1969. The temple itself is located in a strategic location and has a very nice restaurant in the busy city area.

Scotland
Edinburgh

             From London, we traveled all the way to the north of England and ended up in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. With its vast collection of Medieval architecture, castles and stone tenements, Edinburgh is considered to be one of the most picturesque cities in Europe. Its rich cultural settings have earned it the vote of being one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We stayed in the central part of the city, where all the main attraction like the Edinburgh castle, St Hiles Cathedral, Scottish Museum and Edinburgh Zoo are just a walking distance away.

                          While walking on the street in Edinburgh, we were very pleased to come across devotees who were distributing books on the street in Edinburgh. Despite the freezing cold weather and the chilling wind effect, they were relentless in the devotion. They were very jubilant to recognize the saffron dress of Sri Sundar Gopal Prabhu and were impressed to see him, being the Temple President of Sri Krishna Mandir, walking humbly on the streets of England and trying to find ways on how he can please his spiritual master and Lord Krishna.

             Edinburgh was our last city to explore and from there we traveled all the way back to Amsterdam where we flew back to Singapore. The whole tour was indeed, a very memorable event for me where I had to chance to associate more with more advanced devotees, chant with them in the early morning, listening to the daily classes of His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu. At the same time I was trying my best to help him in his desire to serve his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna. It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam that devotees’ association is so powerful that it can immediately awaken us, the conditioned souls and makes us progress in Krishna Consciousness.

Hare Krishna,

Bhakta Vinay