Out of his kindness and mercy, Sri Radha Govinda Maharaja agreed to do 3 days of Bhagwat Katha in Agra Central Jail last week. All the prisoners and jail authorities thouroughly appreciated Maharaja's lectures and the ecstatic kirtana of the ISKCON devotees.

It's been nearly a month since we first posted our story and an announcement calling for preachers to help us spread the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya. And what an incredible month it's been!

Students of Mayapur Academy are excited about their new experience of learning the art of deity worship. The first batch of students in the newly opened Mayapur Academy has recently completed classes on deity dressing, cooking and learning samskaras.

Two years ago I was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer. Being born with only one kidney the doctors announced there was nothing they could do. My devotee wife and I had just been married two months prior.

Everyone agreed that the kirtana was magical, more ecstatic than ever before, and knew it was due to the presence of the Lord Himself in His Deity form.

The team and I were scanning the surrounding to avoid being ambushed. It was three of us in my vehicle. Ahead I notice another US convoy, coming our way. I just turned my head for a moment, but as I looked again, I saw a flash of light and the boom that always follows. Almost instantly the vehicle went into flames.

This year, Bhaktivedanta Gurukula and International School of Vrindavan, India, celebrated this holy day in a unique and as one guest observed, “Most novel!” way.

The minute I surrendered my personal gratification for the sake of glorifying Krishna, He reached out and extended His energy to include us all, regardless of our commitment to Him.

At about 5.30 we heard that there was a big harinam outside. I went down and it was incredible. There were over 100 young party people all dressed as Santa Claus chanting Hare Krsna and dancing blissfully! (with short videoclip )

Today marks the official end of the 2007 Irish festival period and this year has been a very special year for all of us. It marks the end of a year full of wonderful Krishna Conscious festivals including numerous small hall programmes by visiting senior devotees. 2007 has been one of our most active years for festivals in recent time.

Enchanting chanting and a powerful discourse of His Holiness Radhanath Swami kept the congregation spellbound. He said among other things: "Without love there is no happiness. Sri Krishna is all attractive universal God. Srila Prabhupada said that he had come to America to enlighten, and not to convert.

I just want to personally thank you and all the other devotees involved in staging Srila Prabhupada's Vyasapuja for making such a wonderful two days of offerings. I had so many devotees come to me to say thanks. Some of them said it was the best Vyasapuja they have ever been to.

Everybody had a memorable time and felt great respect for the Los Angeles crew including Ratna Bhusana, Bhagavat Akinchana, Divya Drsti, Svavasa, Mayapur, Rabindranath, Krishna Pada, and others who work so hard to mount this impressive spectacle.

Bhaktimarga Swami is putting his heart and soles into an inspirational trek across Canada, walking for spiritual and personal growth, to inspire and be inspired. A journey that recently took him down the Mile of Gold.

Jhulan Yatra is an important Vaishnava festival. It is one of the eternal Astaka lila pastimes that Radha Madhava and Their associates perform daily in Goloka Vrindaban. As recommended by Parasara muni in the Parasara Samhita, one should observe this festival every day, or at least from the day of ekadasi to Balaram purnima.

The children of New Goloka community in Hillsborough, North Carolina organized and lead the annual Ratha Yatra festival on Saturday 21 July. This is the only childrens Ratha Yatra festival that is held in the state of North Carolina for the past 3 years.

We never know what plan Lord Caitanya has in store for us. But we always know He inspires the service in many ecstatic ways. This time there were a group of hatha yogis that just decided to join us right in the middle of the outdoor 3rd Street Santa Monica Prominade mall.

Please just abandon all varieties of services, take a break from your busy schedule and come join the Mayapur Nagara sankirtan and bathe in the blissful kirtan of Lord Nityananda and Mahaprabhu.

One thousand Namahatta devotees, over seventy five Mayapur community devotees along with the devotees from 24 parganas and Kolkata happily engaged themselves in preparing Cida-Dadhi using 1010 kgs of Cida or flat rice, 400 kgs of mangoes, 100 big jack fruits, 280 kgs of jaggery, 100 kgs of sugar, 85 litres of milk, 410 kgs of Dahi or yogurt, dryfruits and nuts.

In June 2007 we experienced that the dreams of many come true: the Mahabharata, the most famous Indian epic, is being performed on a theatre stage. The result? A fantastic blend of singing, ecstatic dance, music and theatre.

On June 22nd, six graduates of Bhaktivedanta College, at Radhadesh, Belgium, received Bachelor of Theology degrees from the University of Wales Lampeter, through a partnership with Bhaktivedanta College. This is a milestone in ISKCON history: Srila Prabhupada had recommended this sort of relationship between ISKCON and an outside university.

With the mercy of Sri Sri Radha Giridhari and the blessings of all the Vaishnavas, the devotees in Auckland could perform a total of 114 home programmes during the just concluded Purushottam month.

Doesn't Dandavats One-Year Anniversary come up soon? Anything special planned to celebrate?

Last summer, 75 youth from around the world gathered in New Vrindavan for three days to perform an extreme makeover of Srila Prabhupada's Palace of Gold. Watch the 10-minute video by clicking on one of the links below.

World famous Bondi beach, Christmas day 2006. 25 devotees descend amidst the thousands of beach combers with their surf boards and numerous other gadgets for trying to find happiness. The kirtan begins winding our way along the promenade. Then into the bar areas, onto the grass, with bodies lying everywhere in different states of awareness. The kirtan reaches higher and higher peaks raising the fallen to their feet.

Would Vaibhavi have to lie on her back on a high scaffold for years, like Michaelangelo, painting by hand the vast surface?

For Vaibhavi and I this was a landmark day. Thanks to Justin (16 rounds, 4 months) and Mikela (16 rounds 1 year), and Cary, their connections in the community, their energy and enthusiasm to share, we tasted one very sweet fruit of 20 years habitation in Spanish Fork, the “Livestock Capital of Utah County”.

The festival in Ireland was very successful. Manu prabhu had arranged things very nicely. The main tent had dancers from Bhaktivedanta Manor and dramas by Parividha Prabhu. His version of the "Boatman" was superb. There was a very big inflated playground that kept the many children very happy. There were several prasadam tables that were busy all day and all the guests were very happy to be in such a pleasing atmosphere .

Krishna devotees had much to celebrate Saturday as hundreds held their first-ever Festival of Chariots in downtown Orlando, turning Lake Eola’s surroundings into a kind of “Little India” for several hours.

Finally I came to understand. The devotees there have the deities as their only possession and only wealth. Gradually, as I came to think about the tremendous austerity there coupled with the unprecedented attraction of the Deities, I concluded that Krishna reciprocates with this intense one-pointed devotion by revealing His beauty and sweetness to a great degree not experienced elsewhere.

Suddenly all we heard was explosions and firecrackers in the distance and this was almost midnight. I couldn’t figure out what was going on and, seeing the puzzled look on my face, Laxmimoni said, “Pakistan lost.” Everyone was rolling with laughter. That’s why no one was on parikrama, they were all watching cricket!

So, with all this love and care Their Lordships got well again and off They went on Their yearly parade-country style! No fancy big Rath carts, no big skyscrapers to gaze at, just lots of nice hillbilly countryside and lots of excited devotees having kirtan for the pleasure of The Lord.

So, I would like to ask all of you to please write a personal letter to Mother Caitanya Rupini that is filled with Krishna katha, your service and realizations, favorite verses and purports, Prabhupada lila, and all things glorifying the Supreme Lord and His devotees that will inspire her to persevere in her difficult service.

On Sunday 18th June, the three 40 foot high Rath Carts left Hyde Park on their intrepid journey to Trafalgar Square. In front of each cart was a sea of devotees and pilgrims, swarming the streets and filling the sky with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and the beating of drums.

Even in temple and other religious gatherings I have seldom seen the type of welcome we received. Sri Dangi himself entered our names and particulars in the register, a formality that we always have to do before entering any jail. They have these huge wooden doors and inside is like a vestibule with offices on either side and then another set of huge wooden doors.

Then what we had been waiting for all week began: the carts began to roll. Everyone, even onlookers, started moving in response to the parade's movement, which initially was slow, like jets entering a runway one by one. The anticipation we had all been feeling reached a climax.

Audio files of Sally Agarwal giving her memories of Srila Prabhupada’s first steps on American soil. Gopal and Sally discuss Srila Prabhupada’s fascination with frozen foods and other sweet memories.

Here in New Vrindavan we have 500 plus Gurukulis from all over the world gathered for an unprecended event. It started wednesday 14th June and will finish on sunday 18th. They have come with a mood of wanting to help us make a difference in our society.