Events
Sri Rama Navami
Sri Rama Navami is one of the important festivals celebrated at ISKCON . Devotees fast throughout the day and remember Sri Rama, by chanting His holy names or hearing from the Ramayana. They break the fast at sunset. You can also observe Rama Navami Vrata at home. The Deities of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama are decorated as Rama and Lakshmana. This special alankara happens only once in a year. Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, the cowherd boys of Vrindavana, accept royal robes and appear as the princes of Ayodhya holding bows and arrows in Their hands. In the evening the utsava Deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishnachandra are decorated as Sita Rama and taken in a procession around the temple. Devotees sing the glories of Lord Rama and chant His names. After the procession, devotees perform Rama Taraka Homa by chanting the Sri Rama Ashtottara Shata Nama. After the homa, a special shayana arati is performed. Devotees sing Nama Ramayana – a song which narrates the entire Ramayana.
The shayana arati is followed by a pallakki utsava. On this day panakam and kosambari are distributed as prasadam to all visitors to the temple. We invite you to visit the temple and take the blessings of the Supreme Lord on this auspicious day.
Jaganath Rath Yatra
Ratha Yatra, the Festival of Chariots, is celebrated originally in Jagannath Puri (Odisha) from time immemorial. Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON introduced this Ratha Yatra festival in ISKCON centers around the world. He said, “If you participate in these chariot festivals and see the Deities riding on these chariots, you will go back home, back to Godhead at the end of this life.” rathe ca vamanam drstva punar janma na vidyate: Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot, one makes advancement for stopping the repetition of birth and death. To give this opportunity to everyone in the locality, we celebrate the Ratha Yatra of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama every year in the month of January. The utsava Deities of Krishna and Balarama come out in the evening and ride on Their chariots to bless the citizens. The chariot is decorated with a colourful display of lights and flowers. The decorative light fittings are a sight to behold. Thousands of devotees pull the chariot, offer their prayers, join in the kirtana and partake the prasadam being distributed, all along the route of the Ratha Yatra. Our Ratha (chariot) is a perfect fusion of modern technology and ancient tradition. In spite of its traditional looks, it has several state-of-the-art features like air brakes and a steering wheel having a very good suspension which makes it feasible to traverse even over long distances by just replacing its wheels with tyres. The canopy of this Ratha is another unique feature, which, with the help of an electric motor can be moved vertically upwards or downwards. The height of this Ratha is about 26 ft from the ground level when the canopy is fully lifted. The Ratha has a hundred and ten feet long sturdy rope on either side of it (one for men and the other for women) making it possible for about 500 persons to pull it at a time. The temple staff takes adequate safety measures like deploying a wheel protection team (who ensure that people don’t come close to the wheels) and arranging a sound system to communicate and control the surging devotees which in turn would help in the easy progress of the Ratha. Prasadam is distributed to all the devotees who participate in the Ratha Yatra. Devotees fill their buckets with prasadam and distribute it in donnas even to the onlookers and encourage them to come and pull the chariot.
Sri Krishna Janmashtami
The entire world celebrates the divine appearance of Lord Sri Krishna. In our temple, the arrangements for the festival start well ahead. The entire temple is cleaned and painted. Electricians perch themselves at various places to hook up the lights which will dazzle the onlookers. The temple hall is decorated with flowers and festoons. Truckloads of vegetables, grains and fruits arrive at the kitchen. Numerous people are engaged in various culinary activities.
One of the specialties of Janmashtami is the offerings made to the Lord. The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is offered 108 different food items. With great care and attention, devotees prepare these food items to be offered to their beloved Lord. Tons of sweet pongal is prepared for distributing to the visitors who come to the temple on this most auspicious day to have the darshan of their Lord.
In another part of the temple, various types of brass lamps used for worship of the Lord are polished to shine like gold. Preparations for the worship of the Supreme Lord include several details. With great reverence, devotees prepare for the ceremonial bathing of the Lord. Kalashas are decorated with artistically wound threads and filled with water. The water is sanctified with items like cloves, cardamom, saffron, tulasi and rose petals. The Supreme Lord is invoked in the water. The kalasha is covered with a coconut on the top.
Various arrangements are made to take care of the necessities of the pilgrims who visit the temple on this day and to ensure their security. Thousands of devotees visit the temple on the day of Janmashtami to be a part of the festivities.