By Romapada das
Madhudesh Yatra, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the country with a programme in a port city in the country on 3rd September 2015.
After Srila Prabhupada departed Kolkata in August 1965 on board the Jaladuta, the ship docked in Colombo, Cochin and a port city in Madhudesha on 3rd September, before arriving in Boston.
“The special program was celebrated in a factory on the banks of an international canal,” explained Govardhandhari Das. “Several hundred people attended the celebration which featured kirtan, aratik, a lecture on Srila Prabhupada’s life, and how he stopped in Madhudesha on his way to Boston. Madhudesha is the only Arabic country that Prabhupada visited, and therefore this is a very important place for ISKCON.”
After visiting the port city in Madhudesha, Srila Prabhupada made several positive comments about the country.
“Last year I went to Madhudesha, spending twenty five days,” said Magudi Subramaniam, who preaches here. “During this period, I visited several Indian families, who got together to establish a yatra in this country exactly a year ago. Thus, the 50th anniversary celebrations coincided with the first anniversary of the Madhudesha Yatra.”
The ISKCON congregation in Madhudesha caters to both Indian and Arabic speaking devotees.