Sri Krishna Mandir celebrated a host of festivals at the end of August beginning with Jhulan Yatra. The details of the festivals are reported as follow:
Jhulan Yatra
The transcendental swing festival was hosted by Sri Krishna Mandir from the 24th to 28th Aug 07. For each of the five days, numerous devotees were allowed exclusive rights to decorate the transcendental swing. Whether it was decorating the ropes holding the swing or the stage where the transcendental swing resided, the decorations were done whole-heartedly for the satisfaction of the eternal couple Sri-Sri Radha Madana-Mohan.
Jhulan Yatra
The transcendental swing festival was hosted by Sri Krishna Mandir from the 24th to 28th Aug 07. For each of the five days, numerous devotees were allowed exclusive rights to decorate the transcendental swing. Whether it was decorating the ropes holding the swing or the stage where the transcendental swing resided, the decorations were done whole-heartedly for the satisfaction of the eternal couple Sri-Sri Radha Madana-Mohan.
A daily crowd of a hundred people with a weekend crowd of nearly six hundred graced the festival. All who stopped by eagerly awaited their turn to rock the transcendental swing. There were also many others who could not get enough and enthusiastically went forward either to again rock the swing or provide some cooling effects to the divine couple with the use of the peacock fan or the ‘chamara’.
The vibrant setting of the stage was made to replicate the cool green settings of Vrindavan. The lighting used for the stage was subtle and thus this made the transcendental swing stand out with its elaborate lighting and decor. It brought out a pleasing atmosphere that was picture perfect to everyone who was present. Many devotees gave feedback that the entire setup was very beautifully done and with the bhajan being played gave a blissful feel to the occasion.
Janmastami
The appearance day of Lord Krishna fell on 4th September 07 and many devotees were seen coming early to the temple and trying to help in whatever ways possible to mark the day as one of the biggest festival celebrated for The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.
The deities were earlier fitted with brand new cream white coloured dresses and the temple hall was beautifully decorated all over with pleasantly fragrance flowers. More devotees started to stream in just before 7pm. Those who were present in the temple eagerly waited to see the deities in their glorious transcendental splendor. Everyone’s desire was fulfilled when the curtain opened at 7pm; devotees let out a silent gasp as they offered their obeisances to the deities. The kirtan then started along with the arti. At the same time other groups of devotees were busy in greeting people, looking after the prasadam distribution as well as stage and sound setup for the cultural show. As the kirtan wound down in an hour, the cultural show began in the cultural hall one floor below the temple hall.
Pandit Charan and the Kashyap family entertained the audience with bhajan in commemoration of Lord Krishna. The atmosphere was spiced up with the performance of a live band that played to the tunes of George Harrison and Boy George with songs like “My Sweet Lord” and “Bow Down Mister”. Everyone joined in the sing along of the Hare Krishna backed up by the unconventional combination of electric guitars, mrdanga and kartals.
With the audience fired up and eager for the next performance, the children made their way to the stage to exhibit costumes that depicted the incarnation of Lord Krishna during different yugas that included Lord Ramacandra, Lord Nrsimha, etc. The finale of the cultural show was the drama depicting the pastimes of Lord Krishna and more specifically His birth and the slaying of His demonic uncle, Kamsa.
The audience was then ushered to temple hall where kirtan and abhishek or milk offering to the deity of Lord Krishna started at approximately 11pm. With just half an hour remaining to the midnight hour, the president of Sri Krishna Mandir, His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu was then invited to say a few words on the significance of Lord Krishna’s appearance and pastimes in this material world. Laying out slokas from the scriptures such as Bhagavad-Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sundar Gopal Prabhu very elegantly and with much conviction roused everyone present with an excellent speech on Lord Krishna supremacy and causeless mercy and how we as insignificant entities can go back home, back to Godhead by following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada. Just before the stroke of midnight, the discourse of Lord Krishna’s appearance was concluded and everyone enthusiastically rose to their feet and waited to greet the deities.
As midnight hour came symbolizing the appearance of Lord Krishna in this material approximately 5000 years ago, the curtains opened and the song Govinda, which is one of Srila Prabhupada’s favourite was played. With the end of the song, a short session of kirtan then followed. As more and more people started to come in to the temple hall, it was almost impossible to move so much so that even devotees playing the mrdanga had no space to manouver their hands to properly play the percussions. Even then, the devotees were not deterred and maximized whatever space that was left and started to dance and chant enthusiastically.
The celebrations concluded with the masses queuing for prasadam. Devotees who had observed a day long fast formed another beeline for the caranamrta (milk mixed with various niceties that was used to bathe the deity of Lord Krishna) to break their fast. Thus, the celebration of the appearance day of Lord Krishna wound down with an unexpected turnout of a thousand people reported showing up for the five hour festival. With the temple recently relocated away from the hustle and bustle of Little India and being distant from major public transportation service stops as well as the festival falling on a weekday, it was a welcome surprise that many turned up. This comes to show that such is the inconceivable power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He sometimes bewilders His own devotees.
Appearance Day of Srila Prabhupada
The vibrant setting of the stage was made to replicate the cool green settings of Vrindavan. The lighting used for the stage was subtle and thus this made the transcendental swing stand out with its elaborate lighting and decor. It brought out a pleasing atmosphere that was picture perfect to everyone who was present. Many devotees gave feedback that the entire setup was very beautifully done and with the bhajan being played gave a blissful feel to the occasion.Janmastami
The appearance day of Lord Krishna fell on 4th September 07 and many devotees were seen coming early to the temple and trying to help in whatever ways possible to mark the day as one of the biggest festival celebrated for The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.
The deities were earlier fitted with brand new cream white coloured dresses and the temple hall was beautifully decorated all over with pleasantly fragrance flowers. More devotees started to stream in just before 7pm. Those who were present in the temple eagerly waited to see the deities in their glorious transcendental splendor. Everyone’s desire was fulfilled when the curtain opened at 7pm; devotees let out a silent gasp as they offered their obeisances to the deities. The kirtan then started along with the arti. At the same time other groups of devotees were busy in greeting people, looking after the prasadam distribution as well as stage and sound setup for the cultural show. As the kirtan wound down in an hour, the cultural show began in the cultural hall one floor below the temple hall.
Pandit Charan and the Kashyap family entertained the audience with bhajan in commemoration of Lord Krishna. The atmosphere was spiced up with the performance of a live band that played to the tunes of George Harrison and Boy George with songs like “My Sweet Lord” and “Bow Down Mister”. Everyone joined in the sing along of the Hare Krishna backed up by the unconventional combination of electric guitars, mrdanga and kartals.
With the audience fired up and eager for the next performance, the children made their way to the stage to exhibit costumes that depicted the incarnation of Lord Krishna during different yugas that included Lord Ramacandra, Lord Nrsimha, etc. The finale of the cultural show was the drama depicting the pastimes of Lord Krishna and more specifically His birth and the slaying of His demonic uncle, Kamsa.
The audience was then ushered to temple hall where kirtan and abhishek or milk offering to the deity of Lord Krishna started at approximately 11pm. With just half an hour remaining to the midnight hour, the president of Sri Krishna Mandir, His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu was then invited to say a few words on the significance of Lord Krishna’s appearance and pastimes in this material world. Laying out slokas from the scriptures such as Bhagavad-Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sundar Gopal Prabhu very elegantly and with much conviction roused everyone present with an excellent speech on Lord Krishna supremacy and causeless mercy and how we as insignificant entities can go back home, back to Godhead by following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada. Just before the stroke of midnight, the discourse of Lord Krishna’s appearance was concluded and everyone enthusiastically rose to their feet and waited to greet the deities.
As midnight hour came symbolizing the appearance of Lord Krishna in this material approximately 5000 years ago, the curtains opened and the song Govinda, which is one of Srila Prabhupada’s favourite was played. With the end of the song, a short session of kirtan then followed. As more and more people started to come in to the temple hall, it was almost impossible to move so much so that even devotees playing the mrdanga had no space to manouver their hands to properly play the percussions. Even then, the devotees were not deterred and maximized whatever space that was left and started to dance and chant enthusiastically.
The celebrations concluded with the masses queuing for prasadam. Devotees who had observed a day long fast formed another beeline for the caranamrta (milk mixed with various niceties that was used to bathe the deity of Lord Krishna) to break their fast. Thus, the celebration of the appearance day of Lord Krishna wound down with an unexpected turnout of a thousand people reported showing up for the five hour festival. With the temple recently relocated away from the hustle and bustle of Little India and being distant from major public transportation service stops as well as the festival falling on a weekday, it was a welcome surprise that many turned up. This comes to show that such is the inconceivable power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He sometimes bewilders His own devotees.Appearance Day of Srila Prabhupada
The day after Janmastami, 5th September 07 was Srila Prabhupada’s appearance day. The celebrations started an hour before noon where devotees gathered for offering abhishekam to the deity of Srila Prabhupada. This was then followed by kirtan that heightened the mood of about fifty devotees present. At the same time an offering of more than three hundred different food stuff was prepared for the satisfaction of His Divine Grace along with a large sun-flowered shape birthday cake. All of the prasadam was then distributed freely to the public after the festival. The president of Sri Krishna Mandir, His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu eulogized Srila Prabhupada in a manner befitting the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
With everyone around the world coming to know Lord Krishna through Gaudya Vaishnava sampradaya will undoubtedly come into contact with Srila Prabhupada’s book. These books are transcendental and will easily propagate the eternal knowledge of the Supreme Lord and our long forgotten eternal relation with Him will inadvertently start to develop. Srila Prabhupada has a given us all the gem through his books as well as his vani (instructions) and through them we act accordingly to purify ourselves through the chanting of the Holy name of the Lord and be eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. Thus, Srila Prabhupada authority as the spiritual master is rock steady and unquestionable as his instructions will always live on through the form of his books.Jai Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! Jai Sri-Sri Radha Madana-Mohan ki Jai!
