By Mina Sharma
ISKCON UK National Head of Media and Communications
ISKCON 50 UK Media Coordinator
Celebrations for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary kicked off to a musical start in Birmingham, where devotees held a special eight-hour kirtan event at the Shri Pashupatinath Mandir of the UK.
Taking place just days after the formal inauguration of ISKCON’s 50th anniversary celebrations in Kolkata, the eight hour kirtan event brought together top kirtaneers from all over country, which really embodied the spirit of a whole UK yatra. HH Prabodhananda Saraswati Goswami Maharaj from Sri Vrindavan Dham also participated in the programme as a special guest.
Organised by Birmingham Pandava Sena, hundreds of devotees from all over the UK attended the event.
ISKCON Birmingham is renowned for its annual 24 hour kirtan event, which is attended by thousands of devotees. HDG Srila Prabhupada wrote the following about kirtan in one of his purports in the Srimad Bhagvatam: “In Kali-yuga, if this Vedic maha-mantra is chanted regularly and heard regularly by the devotional process of shravanam kirtanam, it will purify all societies, and thus humanity will be happy both materially and spiritually”, so it was a very fitting way to celebrate the start of the ISKCON 50 events in the UK.