By Ekalavya Das
Question: What do a 75 year old Sannyasi, a team of Japanese kirtan singers and 8,000 Russian devotees have in common?
Answer: They are all blissful engaged in the sixth annual celebration of World Holy Name Week!
This year, World Holy Name Week, which began in 1996 as a one day celebration as part of ISKCON’s Centennial Celebration of Srila Prabhupada’s birth, is bigger and better then ever before.
Social media and internet have allowed us to access a large portion of the world of ISKCON. Never before has there been this capacity to spread a message to the world in such a short amount of time.
H.H. Satsvarupa Das Goswami Maharaja, who, with the mercy of Lord Krishna, will be celebrating his 75th birthday this year, is daily sending posts out on Facebook and other social media glorifying the Holy Names. Maharaja is writing poems with deep realisation about his practices of chanting. He is also posting unique paintings portraying the current social climate of chanting Hare Krishna in public.
In Japan, devotees have scheduled public chanting of Hare Krishna every day of WHNW in different localities of Tokyo including Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Mon Ginza.
We have already received reports of WHNW activities from Sri Vrndavana Dhama, Tamil Nadu, Noida, New Jersey, Bali, Indonisia, Japan, Russia, Auckland, New Zealand, and many others.
The most exciting report so far is from Russia, because the celebration there is on such a large scale.
H.G. Narada Prabhu, our World Holy Name Week co-ordinator for Russia, writes:
“I was preparing long before and spoke with our Russian leaders. WHNW is coming at the same time with the biggest Russian vaishnava festival called the Sadhu-sanga Festival.”
“We are dedicating the entire festival to the chanting of the Holy Name. It the main theme of the festival.”
“Almost all the devotees are coming to participate in the festival. For those who will stay at their respective temples, we are planning local WHNW activities for them.
“We made announcements on the most popular social media – Facebook and so on, and there is information on official ISKCON Russian website. Moreover I’ve spoke with my friends from different places and got their support in this service.”
“In Kiev, Ukraine, devotees doing are doing a Holy Name seminar, including kirtan and japa sessions.”
“In Riga devotees are making every day kirtan for all Holy Name Week.”
“Big communities, like Moscow, are also doing kirtans and harinams for WHNW.”
“Our main focus is the Sadhu-sanga festival. We are expecting 6000 – 8000 devotees.”
Please let us know, for World Holy Name Week 2014:
What are your plans?
What transcendental adventures do you experience?
Visit our website:
www.worldholyname.com
Contact us:
worldholyname@gmail.com