Yogeshvar das
Today, 22nd September 2024 was a very special day as the East London & Essex Congregation got an opportunity to organise the very first ever Chariot festival at Southend-on-Sea. This was a new spiritual beginning as the Lord of the Universe was going to shower His mercy in a new place. There had been a lot of planning and management going around for more than 3 weeks to make this festival successful and a joyful experience for the First Timers.
At 9:30 am today, the Tent Setup team enthusiastically started setting up the tents for different teams. All the different teams reached around 10:00 am to setup their tables inside the tents for serving the people of Southend-on-Sea.
This festival was graced by Councillor Maxine Sadza. The Temple President of ISKCON Soho temple HG Dayal Mora Dasa was also seen along with a group of Brahmacharis from the temple. Rathayatra or the Chariot festival as it is known was scheduled to start at 12:00pm today from the Southend Victoria Mall and finish around 1:00 pm when the Chariot reached its final destination at Royal Terrace. Before the Chariot started, a traditional ceremony of breaking coconuts, performing an Arati to Lord Jagannatha and sweeping the street was performed by Councillor Maxine Sadza for the Southend-on-Sea Rathayatra festival.
As the Chariot of the Lord of the Universe started, there was dancing in front of the chariot and singing of Hare Krishna Mahamantra by the devotees. Security personnel/Stewards were also there all the times ensuring that there was smooth movement of the Chariot as well as the people.
Once the Chariot reached Royal Terrace, there were different activities for all the age groups starting from 1:00 pm till 5:00 pm. There were various tents set up to host these activities. The Main tent was the center of attraction for hosting cultural performances. The Henna, Face Painting and Magic shows tents were meant for both Young as well as the Old. The Yoga and Meditation tent/Congregation tent was actually meant for giving insights to all the new comers about the various programs that East London & Essex as a congregation have been doing for many years. The amazing Youths setup the Kirtan tent as well as the Harinama for spreading the holy names across Southend-on-Sea. The Book Table tent showcased different books on Yoga and Meditation.
Last but not the least, was the sumptuous Vegetarian Feast that always forms an integral part of this Rathayatra festival.
HG Parasuram Prabhu was phenomenal with his magic performances as well as he led a rocking Kirtan along with his team of devotees. We really thank HG Parasuram Prabhu for supporting us throughout this Rathayatra festival.
Today we witnessed the mercy and the power of the Supreme Lord, by His blessings there were more than 600 people who participated in this wonderful Chariot festival. As a Congregation we served more than 1000 prasadam plates to all the people.
As a token of our gratitude, we expressed our heartfelt thanks to the Council who supported us in our initiative of conducting this Rathayatra festival. We also thanked all the respectable dignitaries who took out time from their busy schedule to participate in this festival.
As the time came to bid an adieu, we saw that the entire team gathered to dismantle the tents, clean up the area and ensure that as a Congregation we left the best impressions on the minds of all the people who attended this festival.
We pray to the Lord of the Universe that this new beginning of the Rathayatra festival in Southend-on-Sea should continue for many more years to come, with every year bringing in something new to this festival.
Jai Jagannatha!!!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada (Founder Acharya of ISKCON)