By Madhavendu (das) SSM (Vrindavan – IN)
This is a description of the 35 years of ISKCON Vrindavans Krishna-Balaram temple anniversary festival. There was a gorgeous Transcendental Sobha Yatra the day before Räma-Navamé, the birthday of Lord Rämacandra: As every year Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, Sri Sri Radha-Shyamsundar Lalita Vishakha, Sri Sri Gaur-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada come out on Royal Palanquins from Their respective Alters and visited all different departments to accept delicious offerings and Aratiks.
23rd March, 2010: at 4:30 pm, Srila Prabhupada was carried by palanquin to the main Temple accompanied by a Kirtan procession. After taking darshan of Sri Sri Gaur-Nitai, Krishna-Balarama, Radha-Shyamsundar Lalita Visakha, Srila Prabhupada proceeded to the courtyard and waited until after the Aratik so that Their Lordships could board the different Palanquins. Then accompanied with the harinäma-saìkértana party Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada came to the Bhaktivedanta International Gurukula. On the way Devotees were throwing rose petals and spraying rose water in the air. The Gurukula gate was very nicely decorated and the road was fully covered by rose petals. During the delicious offering and Aratik, Janardana prabhu was leading a very sweet Harinam Kirtan along with the Gurukula students, leaving everybody enchanted.
Then the huge procession came back to Srila Prabhupada Samadhi followed by enthusiastic dancing Kirtan and many hundred of devotees including Gurukula students. There Srila Prabhupada’s female disciples headed by Parvati Mataji offered bhoga and Aratik to His Divine Grace.
After that the Processions passed through the information center, NamaHatta, Guest house, Govinda’s Restaurant, Account office, Bakery and Sankirtan department and finally reached the MVT garden at 6:45pm. At 7:00pm delicious offering and Aratik took place along with a kirtan lead by HG Pancha Gauda Prabhu, which made everyone dance up and down. Then Their Lordships, returned to Their respective Alters and all the devotees were served lots of delicious Prasädam in the Pandal.
A Message from Srila Prabhupada: “Tomorrow is Çré Räma-navami. The tapasya will be that all the devotees will observe fasting from morning till evening. This is called tapasya. Just like Ekädaçé day-there is no eating sumptuously. Simply you take little fruits and flowers. Try to avoid that also. You don’t take even water. That is really ekädaçé. But because we cannot do it-in the Kali-yuga the time is different-therefore we are allowed to take little fruit and milk, which is called anukalpa.” Pandal lecture, Bombay, April 7, 1971. Hare Krishna!
24th March 2010 ISKCON Vrindavan, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Temple anniversary and Rama Navami festivals are enthusiastically celebrated. To get the blessings of Their Lordships, today’s Mangal Aratik was fully packed up and the very sweet melodious Vibhavari sesa and Hare Krishna Mahamantra kirtan accompanied by the sweet smiles of Their Lordships went deep into the hearts of everyone. Everyone was enthusiastic in Chanting, dancing and meditating on Lord Rama. Simultaneously everyone was remembering the unique mercy of the Lord exhibited by Srila Prabhupada as a gift for the whole world “Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Temple”. The whole Temple was gorgeously decorated with flowers and all three alter were very artistically decorated with fruits and flowers. Darshan Aratik flaunted new outfits and the evening flowers outfits of Their Lordships enchanted the eyes of beholders. Srila Prabhupada’s Guru Puja Kirtan was lead by H. H. Loknatha Swami. Maharaja’s ecstatic Kirtan in the morning along with Aindra Prabhu’s ecstatic Kirtan at Abhishek and in the evening (before Gaura Aratik) made the festivals complete.
8:00am to 8:20am: Live videos of Krishna BalaramTemple history with remembrance of the devotees, took all the audience 35 years back. Then HH Loknatha Swami, HG Daivi Shakti Mataji, HG Smarahari Prabhu, Her Grace Anada Mataji, HG Ap; urva Prabhu and HG Prithu Prabhu recalled their memory of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Temple opening of 1975.
10:30 am: Simultaneous Abhisekha started in all the three Altars along with Aindra Prabhus ecstatic Kirtan during which everyone experienced the Spiritual World.
3:00 to 5:00pm: A RamaKatha lecture was given by HH Probodhananda Saraswati Maharaja. After Sandhya Aratik Kirtan, at 7:30pm Live videos of Krishna BalaramTemple history with remembrance of the devotees was again shown in the old Prasadam Hall and simultaneously another cultural program of Hare Krishna Rock and roll Music + Bharat Natyam was organized at our MVT Garden. At 10:00pm all the programs were over. May Lord Rama bless everyone with unalloyed devotional service. Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, Radha-Shyam Sundar Lalita Visakha, Gaura Nitai Ki Jay!!!!!!!!!!!!! Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya!
(Please see pictures at the following web URL) http://www.facebook.com/album.php? aid=17335&id=100000041026824&ref=mf
Hare Krishna
Please see pictures at the following link for photos–
http://picasaweb.google.com/106652055478422838217/35YearsOfISKCONVrindavansKrishnaBalaramTempleAnniversaryFestival#
Gurudas Prabhu, a very simple hearted and charismatic and much beloved vaishnava, along with others was there when the steel and concrete and marble was just beginning to manifest. In the usual magic way that Indian construction takes place, with bamboo scaffolding, men and women carrying materials about in bundles upon their heads, the temple slowly took shape. I was there when Gurudas and I went to Jaipur, about 2 months before the temple opening, on Srila Prabhupad’s order, to encourage and see the final manifestation of the Dieties in the murtiwalas place. We lived in their home, daily watching the sculptors finish their service, all the while realizing that we were on a deadline to have the Divine Family of Dieties arrive on time in Vrindaban. Without the Dieties, there would be no temple opening. Then Gurudas, several weeks before the opening, returned to Vrindaban while I stayed behind with the Dieties at the murtiwalas place. Daily giving encouragement to meet the deadline. When I was with Gurudas in Jaipur, we sometimes would go to the Sri Sri Radha Govindaji Temple in Jaipur, the original Dieties of Srila Rupa Goswami had long before gone there to avoid the invasion of Vrindaban centuries before by Muslim raiders. The bhaktas in Jaipur worshipped Sri Sri Radha Govinda in a small temple set back off the main street in Jaipur. These were sweet days in Krishna consciousness for me. And, it was in Jaipur one evening at dusk when on the main street which was about 50 yards or more wide, I looked to the left and to the right and saw an ocean of people and it struck me that India had such a large population of people.
Desperately, I encouraged the murtiwala to push his workers to complete their work, place the Dieties in their wooden straw-padded boxes for the trip to Vrindaban. The Dieties, how they manifest, are incredible and wonderful…Starting from a hugh block of marble, the workers chip and shape the material in dramatic manner. Then the marble is smoothed and shaped, finishing touches to delicate Hands, Feet, Face…and then painted. Each step performed by specialists in their particular skill. Finally when the paint is dry, the Diety is packed into large wooden boxes padded with straw. At last, and with great anxiety to complete the service for the satisfaction of Srila Prabhupad, Their Lordships are all packed up for the trip, about 10-12 hours on a single truck, to Vrindaban. Continued Pusta Krishna das
Continued….I accompanied the Dieties in the truck. I stayed in the open area above the cab of the truck. We drove all night. The truck drivers chewing some kind of white substance contained in green leaves seemed very much awake. Again and again, I caution them to drive safely, they were driving a very important “cargo” to Vrindaban. It was a very long drive and a very long night. We finally arrived in Vrindaban, just in time for the final preparations. We drove up along the side of the ashrama to a gate on the temple wall around where the Samadhi Mandir of Srila Prabhupad would later manifest years later. My service was complete. It really was nerve-racking to try to encourage the prompt work by the murtiwalas. Truly, one knows was “Hindu-time” is all about, and if you knew the habits of the murtiwalas, you could understand why they did not get hung up about ‘anything’.
The opening day of the Krishna Balaram Temple was the installation of Their Lordships. Srila Prabhupad performed the very first artika. Our South African yatra had sent me along with a Super 8 camera. I filmed much of that artika which are the films we see of Srila Prabhupad performing that artika. Things were very different in Raman Reti part of Vrindaban then. When the temple was first being planned, there was so much open space. Gurudas and I and others would do parikrama often barefoot in the soft fine white sands of Raman Reti, remembering where Krishna and Balarama would play with Their friends. There were often peacocks around. The peacocks would frequent the temple building site in its early days, often looking for some food, which we happily gave them. Those were very simple and magical days. When many years later I visited the Krishna Balaram Temple in 1996, I could not believe the changes. Buildings were everywhere, near and far. The only remnant of semi-open land appeared to be the goshala of ISKCON where I saw the only peacock in Vrindaban at that time.
Each experienced Krishna Balaram Temple’s early days differently. Yashodanandan and Gurukripa and his men collected much of the money to build the facility from years of dedicated, and some would say crazy, service in Japan. Their single-minded desire was to accomplish the final product for Srila Prabhupad. It would be difficult for many to understand the intensity of those days, the first days in ISKCON, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced through Srila Prabhupad. Pusta Krishna das