By Desh Deepak Das
Chandigarh, August 13.
Thousands of residents marched together in the city of Chandigarh, capital of Punjab and Haryana, while loudly performing kirtan and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra to usher in the year long celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
The Founder of ISKCON, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, boarded a ship called Jaladuta on 13th August 1965 to begin a prophetic journey that would later see the founding of ISKCON in 1966. The grand procession called a ‘Shobha Yatra’ marked the 50th anniversary of Swami Prabhupada’s historic journey, which was celebrated all over the world.
The co-president of ISKCON Chandigarh, Nand Maharaj Das said, “In October 1976, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada visited Chandigarh, the city beautiful and spoke to a large audience which included many dignitaries for 5 days at Nehru Park in Sector-22, Chandigarh. To commemorate the historic and auspicious visit of Srila Prabhupada to New York by Jaladuta, we organized the Shobha Yatra. Today, ISKCON is engaged in preaching unalloyed pure devotional service to the Lord all over the world through chanting of His holy names and preaching the message contained in Bhagavad Gita.
The Shobha Yatra began from parking area of Nehru Park, Sector-22 and concluded at Sri Satya Narayan Mandir, Sector-22C Chandigarh after passing through Sector-22B, Dividing road Sec-22B & 22C, Shastri Market, Dividing Sec-22A & 22D, Sector 22D, Sector 22C.
Several newspapers including the Daily Post, Dainik Bhaskar, Punjab Kesari, Dainik Savera, Dainik Jagran, Ajit Samachar, Amar Ujala
Aaj Samaaj, and Satya Swadesh covered the event.
