By Yudhistir Krishna Das
ISKCON Delhi celebrated its first ever ‘Boat Festival’ of Sri Radha Parathsarathi at its ‘Glory of India’ premises of Saturday.
The festival, which coincided with the Indian RGB meetings, saw several temple presidents and 14 sanyasis with the likes of Gopal Krishna Goswami, Radhanath Swami, Bhakti Caru Swami and Loknath Swami, attending the event.
The festivities began with the Deities being taken on an artistic palanquin around the temple along hundreds of devotee performing the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord.
Procession commenced at the foot steps of the Kaliya Krishna Pond, the site for the boat festival. The Multitudes of flower petals wafting gently on the water forming decorative designs proved to be the show stopper. The surrounding which looked equally appealing decorated with balloons and flower garlands added to the beauty.
“The artists for decorating the pond were specially brought in from Vrindavan. We used 6 different kinds of flowers weighing nearly 200 lbs” said Vrindavan Vinod Das, Manager for ISKCON Delhi.
Prior to the Lordship being taken onto the boat, a ceremonial worship was performed by Radhanath Swami. The deities were then taken on to the elegant boat and were given the ‘First Push’ by Gopal Krishna Goswami.
With Lokanath Swami’s kirtan roaring in the background, the Lordship went around the pond, all the while being showered with flower petals by more than 1000 devotees, who eagerly witnessed the water pastimes of the lord. But as the kirtan reached its peak, several devotees plunged into the water to tag along the boat.
As the festival neared its end, the deities were taken back to the altar and were again given a ceremonial worship. The pond was then thrown open to the public, several devotees were seen collecting remnants of the water left in the pond.
The event ended with ISKCON’s trademark style: A sumptuous feast of Sanctified food.
“This is just the beginning, we are planning to hold this kind of festival after every 3 months, you can expect the next one to be even bigger” added Vrindavan Vinod Das.
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