By Gaura Krishna das
Inauguration and Jagannath ratha yatra in Sri Dham Pandharpur
A small beautiful newly constructed sandstone kutir on the bank of the Candrabhaga river in Pandharpur, India, was the venue for the installation of the all auspicious lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Viswarupa Prabhu. On this day, Makar Sankrant, 500 years ago Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and shortly after started His Preaching tour of South India which also took Him to Pandharpur in His search for His elder brother Viswarupa. Sri Viswarupa Prabhu who is non other than Sankarsan came to Pandharpur and actually ended His earthly pastimes her. Sri Nityananda Prabhu was also here so there is great significance to this place which we want to immortalize by installing Their Lordships Lotus feet in this beautiful little Chatri Kutir
(umbrella kutir). We expected 200 hundred devotees to attend but over one thousand devotees gathered and it was a very beautiful event. H. H. Lokanath Swami, H. H. Param Gati Swami, H. G. Sikhi Puchha Dhari Prabhu and H. G. Sarvabhauma Prabhu performed the abhisekha ceremony and aratik accompanied by Sweet kirtana. Many of the local leaders such as Mr. Bharat nana Bhalke, MLA (Member of legislative assembly), Mr. Sudhakarpant Paricarak, former MLA, , Mr. Gopichand Kadam , sub collector of Pandharpur and Mr. B. N. Utpat and Mr. Balasaheb Badve, members of Vitthala Rukmini temple committee also attended the program. We ended the first part of the Makar Sankranta day with a full Prasadam feast cooked by the ISKCON Pandharpur devotees. After the feast H. H. Lokanath Swami welcomed everyone to the first ever Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Sri dham Pandharpur and then we took of. Lord Jagannath’s cart was driving through the busiest streets in town, beautifully decorated in red, yellow and blue colors. 12 meters tall and 4 meters wide it was an impressive sight and Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Srimate Subhadra Devi were happily residing on Their altar. Pandharpur is the city of Lord Vitthala and He is non other than Dwarakadish, so Vitthala is an integral part of the Dwaraka lilas and there is a Part of Pandharpur, Gopalpur, which is non different from Vrindavan. There are footprint of Krishna and His cows and gopa’s imbedded in the rocks there. It was therefore completely amazing to take Lord Vitthala-Dwarakadish from Pandharpur (also known as Bhuvaikuntha) back to Vrindavana. The streets were packed with thousands of people and H. H. Param Gati Swami was very enthusiastically dancing with H. G. Sikhi Puchha Dhari Prabhu. I am still after so many Ratha Yatra pastimes amazed to see the power, enthusiasm and happiness which prevail around Lord Jagannath. I asked one bystander of his opinion and he replied: “This is amazing and beautiful; you must do this every year from now on”. So I guess that this was a blessing for the future. For hours we were going on, and just as it looked like we where out of energy H. H. Lokanath Swami stepped down from Jagannath’s cart and started to sing and all the way back to the pandal we were jumping and dancing like anything while responding to Maharaja’s chanting. This most powerful festival ended in a very nice evening program at the bank of Holy Candrabhaga river. It was such a wonderful way to introduce Krishna consciousness to the residents of Pandharpur and what a perfect way for Lord to connect His Dwaraka lilas in Pandharpur with His most confidential pastimes of Vraja. The circle is complete and we send a big thanks to the devotees of ISKCON Pandharpur for struggling so hard to glorify Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on His 500th Sannyasa Anniversary. Jagannatha Swami nayana patagami bhava tu me.
Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu Ki Jay! Sri Nityananda Prabhu Ki Jay! Sri Viswarupa Prabhu Ki jay! Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra Ki Jay! Srila Prabhupada Ki Jay!