Hare Krishna!
After months and months of preparations, the day finally dawned. It was Janmashtami! Again! As always, it was as fresh as ever. The Supreme Lord is unlimited and therefore His every pastime is ever new and evokes ever fresh emotions of love towards Him. What’s more, in the Bhagavad Gita 4.9 the Lord says: janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna. His appearance is so auspicious that just by understanding it one can surpass the unsurpassable ocean of birth and death!
And yet, this Janmashtami was especially special because of the unprecedented amount of consciousness invested into preparing for it by the devotees associated with the Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari Temple, ISKCON, Pune. The zeal for swiftly bringing up the glorious new temple for Sri Sri Radha Vrindavanchandra fueled on the preparations for this Janmashtami. The fund raising marathon drive that started 3-4 months ago culminated gloriously this day. The celebrations were grand, spanning two locations – the Temple itself and the Alpa Bachat Bhavan nearby – and it was hard not to admire the flawlessly professional execution of all the complex planning that had gone into this Janmashtami’s Maha Mahotsav.
Just to give you a glimpse, consider what kind planning is required to accommodate 25,000 well-wishers, each performing an abhishek of Sri Sri Radha Krishna, over a period of three days? What kind of planning is required to accommodate over 1 lac visitors and make sure that all of them are made to feel most welcome? Consider, that a wall was broken, among other elaborate arrangements, to facilitate simultaneous abhisheks of 25 Radha-Krishna deities. And what about the delicious Prasadam for all these visitors? And spare a thought for the preparations behind the colorful and vibrant cultural programs including dramas, kirtans, lectures etc. in the Alpa Bachat Bhavan.
What’s more, for this Janmashtami, Lord Balaji established Himself in a prominent location in the Temple just besides the main Temple hall to attract more and more souls to His lotus feet. To top it all up, the icing on the cake was that Lalita and Vishakha had arrived for serving the Lord of their hearts on His “Happy Birthday!”. All this, and much much more. Yes, it had to be seen to be believed. Everyone who visited was spellbound by this splendid exhibition of resourcefulness and management by the devotees of the Lord, without doubt the basis of which was their deep love for Him and Srila Prabhupada. Surely, love was in the air!
As always, this Janmashtami also featured a lot of stalls just outside the temple premises, where book distribution, Question-Answer sessions, introduction to chanting, Balaji Prasadam distribution, and many such pleasing activities were taking place. All the devotees were eagerly taking this rare opportunity of serving the Supreme Lord on His appearance day, a day on which He is most merciful! And not to forget, the non-stop kirtans, especially the ones that reached a crescendo at midnight, will be hard to erase from the memories of those who were fortunate enough to be present there on that glorious night.
Yours in the service of Krishna,
Abhijit.
After months and months of preparations, the day finally dawned. It was Janmashtami! Again! As always, it was as fresh as ever. The Supreme Lord is unlimited and therefore His every pastime is ever new and evokes ever fresh emotions of love towards Him. What’s more, in the Bhagavad Gita 4.9 the Lord says: janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna. His appearance is so auspicious that just by understanding it one can surpass the unsurpassable ocean of birth and death!
And yet, this Janmashtami was especially special because of the unprecedented amount of consciousness invested into preparing for it by the devotees associated with the Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari Temple, ISKCON, Pune. The zeal for swiftly bringing up the glorious new temple for Sri Sri Radha Vrindavanchandra fueled on the preparations for this Janmashtami. The fund raising marathon drive that started 3-4 months ago culminated gloriously this day. The celebrations were grand, spanning two locations – the Temple itself and the Alpa Bachat Bhavan nearby – and it was hard not to admire the flawlessly professional execution of all the complex planning that had gone into this Janmashtami’s Maha Mahotsav.
Just to give you a glimpse, consider what kind planning is required to accommodate 25,000 well-wishers, each performing an abhishek of Sri Sri Radha Krishna, over a period of three days? What kind of planning is required to accommodate over 1 lac visitors and make sure that all of them are made to feel most welcome? Consider, that a wall was broken, among other elaborate arrangements, to facilitate simultaneous abhisheks of 25 Radha-Krishna deities. And what about the delicious Prasadam for all these visitors? And spare a thought for the preparations behind the colorful and vibrant cultural programs including dramas, kirtans, lectures etc. in the Alpa Bachat Bhavan.
What’s more, for this Janmashtami, Lord Balaji established Himself in a prominent location in the Temple just besides the main Temple hall to attract more and more souls to His lotus feet. To top it all up, the icing on the cake was that Lalita and Vishakha had arrived for serving the Lord of their hearts on His “Happy Birthday!”. All this, and much much more. Yes, it had to be seen to be believed. Everyone who visited was spellbound by this splendid exhibition of resourcefulness and management by the devotees of the Lord, without doubt the basis of which was their deep love for Him and Srila Prabhupada. Surely, love was in the air!
As always, this Janmashtami also featured a lot of stalls just outside the temple premises, where book distribution, Question-Answer sessions, introduction to chanting, Balaji Prasadam distribution, and many such pleasing activities were taking place. All the devotees were eagerly taking this rare opportunity of serving the Supreme Lord on His appearance day, a day on which He is most merciful! And not to forget, the non-stop kirtans, especially the ones that reached a crescendo at midnight, will be hard to erase from the memories of those who were fortunate enough to be present there on that glorious night.
Yours in the service of Krishna,
Abhijit.
