by Madhava Smullen
On Thursday September 17th, at 10:00am, Boston City Hall raised the Indian flag in honor of ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada.
It was on the same day fifty years ago in 1965, that Prabhupada arrived in Boston’s Commonwealth Pier on the steamship Jaladuta with his message of God consciousness.
This is the first time the City of Boston has ever honored India by raising its flag.
The Mayor of Boston also issued a proclamation for the occasion which read “I Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of the City of Boston, do hereby proclaim September 17th, 2015 as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Day in the City of Boston.”
Julie Burros, Chief of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston was the guest of honor at the event. The Nepal Consul General of New England also spoke, thanking ISKCON for its continuing humanitarian work following the earthquake there.
Fifty years on from Srila Prabhupada’s historic Boston arrival, his International Society for Krishna Consciousness has hundreds of temples, farms, eco-villages, restaurants, and educational institutions around the world. ISKCON has over 75,000 initiated devotees, and approximately seven million worshippers attend its centers annually.
“This was a unique opportunity to confirm that ISKCON is a key thread in the fabric of spiritual traditions that are now imbedded in the ever-changing cultural landscape of America,” said event organizer Amit Dixit.
More details on this story will be added as they come in.
