By Karunika dasi
In Mauritius, December is hot and sunny and in the south of the island, at Mahebourg, is a beautiful esplanade by the sea where a cool breeze blows. A perfect place and a perfect time of year for a festival! Sundara Lala Prabhu, co-Temple President of the Sri Sri Radha Golokananda temple and coordinator of a two-day annual festival on the Mahebourg waterfront explains, “ December is a month of enjoyment. Everyone is attracted to the festivities of Christmas and New Year, so this festival gives a spiritual alternative: hearing, chanting, dancing and feasting for Krishna! The devotees and guests, especially the youth, who attend this festival, become fully satisfied by the spiritual enjoyment they experience that they are no longer attracted to the mundane end of year fever. The wonderful thing about this festival is that it is organized by a team of devotees, including many ISKCON youth. That creates a blissful family mood.” His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja (GBC for Mauritius) likes the festival so much that he tries his best to attend. This year both he and His Holiness Bhakti Dhir Damodar Maharaja (from West Africa) graced the event.
The festival began on the afternoon of Saturday the 14th of December with a Ratha-yatra procession from Beau-vallon to Mahebourg, two kilometers down the road. It was a magical scene indeed; Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva and Subadra riding high in Their rath cart, arrived at the waterfront in the early evening, against a back drop of stars accompanied by the loud melodious chanting of the maha-mantra and dancing devotees. The waterfront was decorated with a large main tent surrounded by smaller ones where different activities were hosted: darshan of Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra, Julan of Sri Sri Radha Krishna deities, questions and answers booth, children’s activities and book distribution. A prasadam feast was served to all. The atmosphere was filled with spiritual energy and happiness.
The Honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Bunwaree, and his son attended the cultural programme that evening. His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja spoke and The Goloka Players performed “The Lifting of Govardhan Hill”. Syama-Gauri and Mrsaka, who played the roles of Krishna and Balarama respectively, stole the show and after the drama many of the guests posed for photos with them.
On the second day, devotees and guests gathered for a very unique boat festival. The local fishermen cleaned their boats to take the devotees on a boat ride in the bay. Deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishna travelled in a swan boat and all the other boats circumnavigated Them, taking darshan and accepting maha flowers handed out by pujaris in the boat. Different kirtan parties on the boats filled the air with the holy names. With the help of a megaphone, His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja gave a short talk to the devotees who were cruising around and he named the bay, “New Manasi Ganga”!
As is the tradition of the Mahebourg Waterfront Festival, the second day cultural programme is marked by Krishna related songs offered by local devotee bands: the Karuna Band and the Vaikuntha Vibes. Saraswati opened the evening with her beautiful and powerful voice and when it was time to end, the main tent was still full. Everyone, guests and devotees alike, was dancing and as the last song came to a close, shouts of “more! more!” filled the tent. It was only when everyone heard, “fireworks” that the tent quickly emptied and kirtan continued in the open air of the esplanade. While His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja sang, beautiful fireworks lit up the night sky. It was a fitting end to a wonderful weekend!
Photos of the event may be viewed here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103910011066538887470/MahebourgWaterfrontFestival2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP_zx-jkt5fiSw&feat=directlink