We hope this newsletter finds you, your family and friends in good health and spirits.
This month it has been our pleasure to re-open the gates and welcome guests back to the farm.
We are now allowed to have 15 guests at a time in the temple and visitors have been enjoying taking darshan of the beautiful Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda.
The winter weather has been bright and sunny and visitors have been taking a walk around the farm to see the cows, goats and peacocks that we have here.
If you would like to come and visit the farm please register for your visit on the website www.newgokula.com
If you would like to come and stay overnight in our guesthouse please visit our website newgokula.com to
make a booking.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Best regards,
The New Gokula Team
What has been happening at the farm?
This month it has been wonderful to see guests coming to visit the temple after such a long break. The temple has been filled with visitors taking darshan, enjoying kirtan in the temple, helping out in the kitchen, feeding our cows and peacocks and even taking the goats for a walk. Many guests are now taking the opportunity to bring their families and stay overnight in our guesthouse.
Guests enjoying their time at the farm
Deity Maintenance
Bhakti devi dasi, a devotee from Melbourne, has recently visited the farm to do some maintenance on the large deities.
Along with her husband Bhakta dasa, Bhakti joined ISKCON at 19. She started her service with the deities at the Melbourne temple where she has maintained the Lord Jagannatha deities for approximately 40 years. Bhakti has painted and revitalised many devotees’ home deities as well as temple deities in Adelaide, New Govardhan and Beijing.
Her favourite service is sewing for the deities, making jewellery for them as well as deity dressing and teaching others how to perform these services.
Bhakti devi dasi spent her time at New Gokula focused mainly on repainting Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda. This work involved a lot of research into eye and pupil shapes and shading, especially how to paint the eyes so it appears the deity is looking directly at the devotees. Work was done in close collaboration with the management team. Her service has definitely paid off with Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda looking divine.
Bhakti Devi Dasi
Cow of the Month
Meet Yamuna!
Gentle, friendly, easy-going, submissive and nice natured all describe lovely Yamuna. She is a quiet and sweet girl but has a big personality when you get to know her.
She will look at you with interest and excitement and walk forward to greet you, but if she realises you don’t have any treat for her, she might dramatically throw her head up and back and walk away to make a point! She is very food focused! She especially loves carrots and fruit like bananas.
Purchased pregnant from a neighbouring dairy farmer, unfortunately she miscarried at New Gokula Farm. She did not get pregnant again.
Although a member of the older herd, one day she decided she’d prefer to live with the milking cows and not the older ones. She continues to blend in with them, following them around the pastures even though she moves quite slowly now.
She is named after the Yamuna river, a sacred river in India and the main tributary of the Goddess Ganga (Ganges), the goddess of all sacred water. According to the Varaha Purana as quoted by Srila Jiva Gosvami, there is no difference between the water of the Ganges and the Yamuna but when the water of the Ganges is sanctified one hundred times, it is called the Yamuna.
Flourishing Gardens
Jared works in the garden
This is the second garden which devotees are working on. This garden uses permaculture principles with a prime focus on companion planting. A wide range of vegetables and flowers are being grown here along with a boarder of lemongrass which serves as a weed barrier. Plants are being grown to attract beneficial insects.
The garden beds are formed in a contour shape, which ensures the water will flow passively so that it can soak into the beds. This also allows for flood irrigation. By leaving the hose running at the top of the garden bed the whole garden will be watered.
At present the devotees are in the process of putting up hoop houses for the upcoming frosts. There are also plans to install a worm farm.
Volunteers Needed!
Some of our enthusiastic sunday volunteers have been helping out doing a shift on the fire weed pandemic. We will be recruiting workers at every opportunity to help fight this pervasive enemy
as we reinstate the grazing pastures for the hungry cows. Please offer a half or full hour when you next visit.
The Bhakti Tree
The Bhakti Tree is now able to accomodate 20 guests in the restaurant so come on in and enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal!
They are open 6 days, TUESDAY to SUNDAY 11.30-2pm and 6-8pm
Scruptious South Indian Specials are also on the menu SATURDAY and SUNDAY.
The Bhakti Tree is located at 410 Maitland Road, Mayfield. Call Brett on 0448 908 612 to make a booking.
Devotee Spotlight
Brajamandal das
Brajamandal das, originally Bijaya Kumar, was born in 1991 in Orissa, India. Born into a family of devotees, he started chanting the Maha Mantra when he was 12 years old. He joined Iskcon when he was 14 years old. In 2008, at 17 he took initiation from his Guru Radha Govinda Maharaj and in 2009 he received his second initiation. Brajamandal has had a life full of service and for 4 years he travelled around on a Sankirtan bus; preaching, distributing books and prasadam. He has done service at the Iskcon temple at Tirupati and also at the Bhubaneswar Temple where he became head pujari. He was serving at the Iskcon temple in Mumbai before obtaining a visa to Australia to stay at the New Gokula farm. Brajamandal has become a much loved member of the New Gokula Team, he is a wonderful Pujari, cook and mridanga player. He says his favourite service is dressing the deities. Mahesh, a regular visiting devotee at the farm is teaching Brajamandal to read and speak english and this is something he hopes to continue while he is here in Australia.
