Return Ratha Yatra in Myitkyina, Myanmar (Album of photos)
Iskcon Myanmar: Myitkyina is situated North of Myanmar, 70km from the Chinese border. Most of the population is Christian in the locality. As usual for the past years, devotees from around the country congregated in Myitkyina to celebrate the annual Ratha Yatra celebration.
‘For the present you endeavor to make Ratha-yatra festival grand and successful. You should arrange the procession and procedure so nicely that all the neighborhood people may be attracted to join the procession.’ Letter 1st June 1968
It was a great delight to the devotees that HH Subhag Swami also attended the festival this year being invited by the local authorities. Maharaj reached Myitkyina the day before the festival and inspired the devotees with two enlivening classes and an ecstatic kirtan.
The festival started around 4pm. Although in the morning there was heavy rain; by around 12pm the clouds cleared off and the sun came out which allowed the festivities to carry on smoothly. This was surely the causeless mercy of the Lord of the Universe. After Their’ Lordships entered the chariots; an arati ceremony was performed by His Holiness and coconuts were broken in order to remove inauspiciousness.
After that the Lord was on His way. The devotees danced along with the melodious kirtan and locals distributed fruits and water to the devotees although belonging to different faiths.
Rathe ca vamanam drstva punar janma na vidyate. ‘Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot, one makes advancement for stopping the repetition of birth and death.’ Lecture July 13th 1972
At 7pm the Lord reached the ISKCON temple just in time for Sandhya arati. A grand feast was then distributed to all.
We express our deep gratitude to all the devotees headed by HG Srivas Pandit das who were working day and night for the festival to be a grand success. We are very thankful to HH Subhag Swami for traveling to this remote place to enthuse the devotees despite his present health conditions. We thank His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami, the GBC of Myanmar. And finally we pay our obeisances again and again to His Divine Grace, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who started the Ratha Yatra festival outside of India and by His mercy is now being celebrated in every major town and city in the world.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/c62XVV