By Adi Kesava das
Yesterday commemorated the 27th Anniversary of the Krsna-Balaram Mandir 24 hour kirtan mandali. With Kartik around the corner many devotees have already started flocking in. Special guest kirtaniya Madhava Naidoo, a member of the 24 hour kirtan during the 90′s was present as well as Amala Harinam prabhu who both led wonderful ecstatic chanting.
See our Media Downloads section for the mp3′s.
Krsna-Balaram Mandir 24 Hour Kirtan Mandal was inaugurated and is sustained by the express will of ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It functions to help generate a pure, spiritually surcharged atmosphere conducive to the advancement of pure devotional life.
After the inception of 24 hour kirtana in 1975, the kirtana-yajna continued in a somewhat disorganized way for some diminutive period. In 1978, however, less than a year after the disappearance of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, 24 hour kirtana at the Krsna-Balaram Mandir was unfortunately ground to a halt.
Reinaguration commenced eight years later, during Kartika’s eve on Vijaya Dasami 1986, by the determined efforts of His Grace Sriman Aindra prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, with the assistance and support of a few other soft-hearted devotees. Aindra prabhu, recognizing the common sense in organizing a core group of kirtana enthusiast to ensure its continuance, reconstituted ISKCON Vrndavana’s 24 hour kirtana as a distinguished department of service. In the beginning, upon suggestion and sponsorship, hired singers and musicians formed part of the kirtana group. Within the first 6 months, however, Aindra prabhu, disgusted with the obvious escalation of material motivation amongst the kirtana party members, politely dismissed all the hired kirtaniyas, and since then till today, members of the Krsna-Balaram Mandir 24 Hour Kirtan Mandali receive no monetary remuneration. Pure sacrificial engagement intended to propagate a mood of cent percent selfless devotion to Krsna, that is the 24 hour kirtana ethic. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana. Our only real goal is vraja-krsna-prema. We keep body and soul together simply to facilitate this aim.
