Atlanta Annual Ratha Yatra festival.
2016 being the 50th year for ISKCON, we have organized our Annual Ratha Yatra as “MARCH FOR UNITY” inviting 50 organizations to participate in the event.
ISKCON Atlanta will be celebrating the Festival of Chariots and the eagerly awaited Panihati Festival from June 3 through June 5, 2016.
This is a memorable year for our temple. Not only will we be celebrating the 50th anniversary of ISKCON, but we will also commemorate the 40th year of Atlanta’s Rath Yatra. The organizers are not holding back, to make this a most exciting and remarkable festival yet.
Inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s mood to unite a diverse group of people from various nationalities, faith and background through communities and service, we will facilitate the biggest cultural extravaganza of the year, ”MARCH FOR UNITY” during the Rath Yatra parade on June 4 this year.
For the pleasure of their Lordships, Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra Devi, 50 different cultural and social organizations will be participating in the parade to be held in Downtown Atlanta. The parade will end with a delicious, free vegetarian feast at Woodruff Park. We are hoping to attract several thousands for this event.
In 1975, Srila Prabhupada blessed our temple with a memorable visit. He named the temple New Panihati Dham. Through the weekend, we will be preparing for our blissful Panihati Festival under the guidance of His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaj.
As the pastime goes, Vaishnava saint Raghunath Dasa Goswami organized a feast in Panihati at the order of Chaitanya’s closest associate Nityananda Prabhu, comprising of hundreds of chipped rice dishes in clay pots. When the brahmanas and other villagers heard of this, a crowd soon gathered. All the town’s merchants heard of the festival and they all brought their goods to be used in the service of Lord Nityananda.
Through this festival, we want to distribute the mercy of Lord Nityananda to all the conditioned souls, who will have the great opportunity to see their Lordship during Rath Yatra festival.
Schedule:
June 3rd: 5:30 pm. Adivas Ceremony, wonderful Kirtan followed by Prasad
June 4th: 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Ratha Yatra in Downtown Atlanta near Centennial Park, followed by Prasadam at Woodruff Park
June 5th: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. – Panihati Festival
All are welcome to dive into this exciting and transcendental pastime, which will be celebrated this weekend. Please visit our website at www.festivalofchariotsatl.com for more information.