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Jagannath Rathayatra festival at Baroda 2011

Thirtieth annual Jagannath Rathayatra festival at Baroda by ISKCON

[To view pictures of the 2011 Jagannath Rathayatra festival, click on the link/URL, below or cut & paste the link/URL into your web browser]

https://picasaweb.google.com/basughoshdas2/30thAnnualJagannathRathyatraBaroda#

By Basu Ghosh Das

On Sunday, July 3, 2011, corresponding to “aashaadh shukla dvitiyaa” (the second day of the waxing fortnight of the month of aashaadh), ISKCON Baroda observed the thirtieth annual Jagannath Rathayatra mahotsav (“festival of the Chariot”).

The Rathayatra began at 2:30 PM, the traditional time, at the traditional place, the Baroda Railway Station. The Honorable Mayor of Baroda, Smt. Dr. Jyotiben Pandya, inaugurated the Rathayatra by performing arati to Their Lordships, Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi, and then sweeping the road in front of the Rath cart with a golden handled broom. Many social and political leaders of Baroda attended the inauguration of the procession at the Railway Station.

Jasomatinandan Das, ISKCON Gujarat Zonal Secretary addressed the crowd before the inaugural function.

Senior ISKCON devotees Bhakti Vikas Swami, Deena Bandhu Das of ISKCON Vrindavan, Jasomatinandan Das, Zonal Secretary of ISKCON Gujarat, Basu Ghosh Das, President of ISKCON Baroda, Priti Vardhana Das, Co-Director of the Bhaktivedanta Academy, Mayapur – with 20 gurukula students, Murli Mohan Das, Co-President of ISKCON Vijayawada, Surapati Das, Temple President of ISKCON Lucknow, Radha Ranjan Das, Vice President of ISKCON Kanpur, Rajasuya Das, President of ISKCON Ludhiana, Bhaktivinod Das, President of ISKCON Chandigarh, and Damodar Dulal Das of the ISKCON Juhu Bombay farm project at Talasari, Thane, Maharashtra, all joined in the Rathayatra, along with a number of other devotees from various places.

Fifteen tons (fifteen thousand kilos) of halava (“shiro”) all cooked in “deshi ghee” were distributed to the crowds of devotees lining the streets from the back of four trucks, which followed Lord Jagannath’s Rath.

In front of the Rath, there was continuous kirtan performed by devotees. In addition to the “harinam sankirtan”, the crowds shouted “Jaya Ranchod, Makan Chor” (Glories to Lord Krishna, the Ranchor, Glories to Lord Krishna, the “butter thief”), in reference to the popular Deity of Lord Krishna here in Gujarat, “Ranchodji”.

Also there were several horse carts with children dressed as Lord Krishna and Lord Ramachandra, etc., depicting various “lilas” (pastimes) of the Lord as described in the Puranas, Mahabharata and Valmiki Ramayana.

This year the Rath experienced mechanical failure for the first time in the thirty year history of the festival, and pulling of the Rath by ropes was suspended when the bearing in the drive shaft of the steering wheel broke. The Rath was then pushed and pulled by a small group of persons for most of the length of the procession.

This did not dampen the enthusiasm of the public to have darshan of (“to see”) the Lord’s Rath, but in fact the delay in the procession due to the problem increased the eagerness of the public to have darshan of the Rath and Their Lordships.

Local print media suggested that more than two hundred thousand citizens of Baroda lined the streets to have a darshan of Their Lordships.

At the conclusion of the Rathayatra, Bhakti Vikas Swami of the UK and Deena Bandhu Das of the USA addressed the crowd, both speaking in Hindi, just before a concluding arati was performed by ISKCON Baroda head pujari Seva Vilas Das.

After the Rathayatra, full bhojan (meals) prasad was served to thousands of visitors at ISKCON Baroda. The temple grounds (six acres campus of ISKCON Baroda) was packed with visitors on the evening and into the night of the Rathayatra day.

Pictures of the Rathayatra as well as scans of local newspaper clippings of the Rathayatra appear at the URL/link, above. You can click on the link or cut and paste into your internet browser to see the pictures of the Rathayatra.

Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra, Sudarshan chakra ki jaya! Jagannath Rathayatra mahotsav ki Jaya! Jagannath Swami ki jaya!

Sri Krishna Janmastami 2011

Sri Krishna Janmastami festival ISKCON Baroda report

By Basu Ghosh Das

[To view more pictures of the festival, click on or "cut & paste" the link/URL below into your web browser]

https://picasaweb.google.com/106959775035518989656/SriKrishnaJanmastamiISKCONBaroda2011

Thousands of faithful devotees thronged ISKCON Baroda for Sri Krishna Janmastami on Monday August 22, 2011 and again for Nandotsava and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja on Tuesday, August 23, 2011.

Lines for darshan of the Deities at ISKCON Baroda, Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar, Sri Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadradevi and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai stretched far down the “ISKCON Mandir Road”, as the divided road that runs in front of the six acre ISKCON Baroda temple complex is now popularly known.

The Deities and temple room were elaborately decorated with flowers and leaves.

IYF and Bhakti Vriksha devotees manned book stalls, a slide show stall and gift stall. There were other volunteers at life membership and donation stalls.

Hari nam kirtan and bhajans were performed by local devotees in the temple room continuously.

The rush of devotees for darshan became greater in the evening after five P.M. Those who came for darshan on Janmastami day were all given a banana, a peda and “panjiri” prasad.

Several important Government and Police officials and elected representatives visited the temple on Janmastami, including the Municipal Commissioner, Sri Ashwani Kumar, District Collector Sri Vinod Rao, Police Commissioner Satish Sharma, Additonal Police Commissioner Patel, DCP Bhatt, and DCP Yadav.

Local MLA and Minister of State in the Gujarat State Government, Sri Jitubhai Sukhadia, Member of Parliament Sri Balkrishna Shukla, Vadodara Urban Development Corporation Chairman Naranbhai Patel and and number of other Municipal Councilors, and political leaders from the various parties visited Hare Krishna Land.

Police officials told me that there was maximum rush of devotees at ISKCON Baroda, amongst the many temples here.

At midnight, there was a tremendous rush of devotees to have darshan of the abhishek ceremony. ISKCON Baroda senior devotees and pujaris performed the abhishek, chappan bhog naivedya and arati, at that late hour, much to the delight of the huge crowd of visitors.

The 115^th Vyasa Puja of Srila Prabhupada was performed by temple devotees who made offerings of appreciation for Srila Prabhupada and his mission. Prabhupada disciples Purnaprajna Prabhu and Basu Ghosh Das spoke. Offerings from Srila Prabhuapda’s official Vyasa Puja book were read to the assembled devotees as well. Thereafter the “pushpanjali” ceremony was observed, followed by bhog and arati offered to Srila Prabhupada’s “murti”.

During the Vyasa Puja ceremony, lunch prasad was served to five thousand ISKCON Baroda life patron members and their families. In the evening there was an “open bhandara” (prasad/bhojan/meals for all) behind the temple on the one acre lawn. Countless thousands were served full plates of prasad, consisting of seven items, consisting of puris, two subjis (vegetable and bean preparations), phulwadi (a savory/salty preparation), kadi (yogurt soup), rice and shiro/halava (roasted semolina sweet preparation).

Two new art panels installed in temple room

Two new relief art panels were recently mounted on the walls of the darshan mandap at ISKCON Baroda.

One (above), depicts Srimad Bhagavatam being recited by Shukadev Goswami (aka "Shuka Rishii" here in Gujarat) on the bank of the Ganga.

The other, below, depicts the journey of the atma (soul) within the body from birth until dealth as narrated by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita (2.13).

New “relief art” picture panels installed at ISKCON Baroda

By Basu Ghosh Das

Six new ten by ten foot "relief art painting panels" have just been installed here at ISKCON Baroda, in the temple room/darshan mandap, of the Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar Mandir, Hare Krishna Land, Gotri Road, Baroda.

Thirty three pictures of the panels have just been posted on the internet. To see the pictures, go to the following link/URL. Click on the link or cut & paste the link into your web browswer

http://picasaweb.google.com/basughoshdas1/NewReliefArtPicturePanelsInstalledSriSriRadhaShyamsundarMandirBaroda#

There is a picture of Lord Krishna's famous “lifting of Govardhan Hill”, Lord Shiva drinking the “halhala” poison from the Eighth Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna revealing his “Vishwarup/Virat Swarup” from the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Panchatattva performing harinam sankirtan at Navadvip, and Srila Prabhupada and his disciples performing sankirtan at the Jagannath Rathayatra festival at San Francisco, back during 1969.

Descriptions of panels appear in captions below some the pictures just posted the internet. Captions are to be installed below the actual pictures themselves.

Three such panels were recently installed in the “Govinda's restaurant” dining hall area here at ISKCON Baroda (news had been posted earlier on the internet).

“Govinda's” should open shortly, just around Diwali day, coming up on October 18, 2009.

We are planning to install two more such "relief art panels" where space is already available in the temple room here at ISKCON Baroda.

Comments and suggestions are most welcome. Please write to me directly with any: .

Many thanks to Samba Prabhu (JPS), Temple President of ISKCON Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh, India) for introducing us to the artist, Sri Raj Kumar Mallick of M/s. “Model House” at Krishnanagar, Nadia District, West Bengal, who executed the work while residing here these past four months.

Govinda's Restaurant

Govinda's restaurant is located on the first floor, above the snack bar, gift shop and book stall, next to the road on the East side of Hare Krishna Land.

Govinda's restaurant is presently functioning for lunch and dinner, daily, every day! Lunch timing are 11 AM to 3 PM and dinner from 6:30 PM to 10 PM. Takeaways are available as well.

The "prasad snack bar", where many sumptous items are available daily from 5:00 PM until 9:00 (9:30-10:00 PM on Sundays and holidays) is located in the Northeast corner of Hare Krishna Land. The samosas, alu (bataka) wadas, dahi wadas and gulab jamuns are famous throughout the town. There are many other savories and sweets available daily there.