By Gaurangi Devi Dasi
A very feasible goalÂ
The Padayatra Ministry is still very much active, and padayatras are happening in different parts of the world. Less talks definitely does not mean less walks. The immediate goal of the Ministry, from March 2014 till the end of 2016, is to celebrate ISKCON’s 50th birthday with 50 padayatras. We are inviting you to participate in this glorification of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. This goal of 50 padayatras is very feasible, as Padayatra is basically a low-cost project of variable duration that can be carried out in many different styles – a one man venture like Bhaktimarga Swami; a weekend padayatra as an outing for the congregation around your city or your farm; a summer padayatra ; an annual walk or a continental or trans-continental walk. Padayatra can be done in different ways, according to the geography of your country, your available time, resources and manpower : with or without a bullock cart, with a horse to pull the cart, or just as an extended harinama. You can walk and drive if you live in a country with long empty or desert stretches, or you can walk and fly (or take a boat) if you want to move from island to island. You’ll be able to get more ideas, tips and practical guidelines from our Padayatra website.
Another reason why we think this goal of 50 padayatras is very feasible is that the Padayatra Ministry already achieved a much larger goal in the past. At the time of Srila Prabhupada’ Centennial in 1996, we offered 105 padayatras, some of which took place during the Padayatra Week which was scheduled just before World Holy Name Day. The Silver Jubilee of ISKCON could well be the occasion to revive the Padayatra Week. Every year the World Holy Name Week is gaining more and more momentum and scope. What better way to celebrate it than with a padayatra, as devotees in Mauritius are already doing ?
Unlimited benefits for you, your temple, your congregation, yourfamily and your yatra
Here are a few of the numerous benefits of going on padayatra :
– Uniting different devotees around Srila Prabhupada and the holy names
– Getting purified and rejuvenated by chanting all day long
– Fulfilling Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s desire to see the holy name resounding in every town and village of the world
– Engaging the oxen in serving Their Lordships instead of being kept idle on our ISKCON farms and goshalas
– Getting in shape by walking, helping to set up the padayatra camp, etc
– Escaping the daily routine, either at home or in the temple
– Seeing the hand of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai in daily happenings and miracles
– Traveling in the company of devotees and a cart carrying the Deities and Srila Prabhupada
– Trying out new services : cooking, advance party reporting, organising, contact with the media, etc
– Distributing books the easy way, with the harinama party in the background
– Having lots of healthy spiritual fun
Already 25 padayatras done, on the road or planned
The last reason to be very optimistic about reaching that goal is that to this day there are already 25 padyatras done, on the road or scheduled. The way of counting the walks differs from the way we did it at the time of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial. At that time we counted the number of countries where a padayatra took place. For ISKCON’s 50th birthday each different padayatra in the same country is counted as one, unless they are continuous or annual walks, like in Slovenia, Czech Republic, Mauritius, and Guyana, etc. This new system allows us to honour the various padayatras taking place in India and other large countries. Besides Padayatra India, on the road since Radhastami 1984 and now on its sixth tour of the country, there are several other padayatras going on there. The party of Visnuswami Dasa has been travelling with bullock cart in Andhra Pradesh for almost 2 years. Every year four dindi yatras are taking place in Maharashtra and a well-attened padayatra in Orissa. A two week-walk took place in Tamil Nadu a few months ago and other walks are planned in Tirupati, Kanya Kumari, Kerala and Goa.
Please help us achieve that goal of fifty padayatras for the pleasure of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. . Let’s all have a grand celebration for the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON by chanting, dancing, feasting, preaching and enjoying together on padayatra ! Do not hesitate to contact us, we are here to assist you.
Gaurangi Dasi (Padayatra Worldwide Ministry coordinator): gaurangi.lok@gmail.com
More news, information and resources on the Padayatra Website
What you’ll find on this website :
Recent reports from different countries
Inspiration from Srila Prabhupada
The Padayatra manual (How to organise your own padayatra)
Padayatra newsletters (that can be downloaded)
Updates on the 50 Padayatras project
Worldwide schedules and contacts
Photo gallery
Videos and films
And even some padayatra songs !