by Deena Bandhu das
February marks the auspicious 13th Anniversary of Vrinda Kunda Temple opening! To celebrate we are organizing special parikramas to the Holy Places of Braja. The culmination will be our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan procession with the ladies carrying water pots with coconuts on their heads. Parikramas will be going out from 19 Feb – 4 Feb with the main festival day on Saturday 27 Feb. Even after that there will still be some parikramas.
Gaura Purnima will be late next year, so better to come to Vrindavan first, and then go on to Mayapur Festival and leave after Gaura Purnima when it starts to get hot! February is the best weather of the year in Vrindavan. Everyone who has come before told me they never knew such nice weather existed in the Dhama! And our festival ends with plenty of time to reach for Kirtan Mela on 6 Mar, and Navadvipa Mandal Parikrama and Mayapur Festival after that!
We will leave almost every morning from Krishna Balaram Mandir by bus going on parikrama to different pastime places of Braja. There will be lively narrations of the different pastimes that happened in each place. Then we will return in time for lunch prasadam in the temple. And on all bus parikramas, Sannyasis and Prabhupada Disciples and their families will go free of charge.
Then on Saturday 27 Feb., we will be having the super ecstatic Kalash Yatra and sankirtan procession around Nandagrama. Kalash means water pot. All the ladies will carry water pots of water from the sacred Pavana Sarovara with colorful cloth and coconuts on top. We’ll have 108 pots and the Brijbasi ladies will train our foreign lady devotees how to carry them. Even some of our own ladies who go every year will train you! The Brijbasinis even dance with no hands with their pots on their heads! All the ladies who have participated told me it was the highlight of their Vrindavan experience.
After reaching at Vrinda Kunda, there will be Krishna Katha, butter churning festival, artika, and then feast for one and all. Then everyone can help feed all the Nandagram Brijbasis. That day all transportation and prasad will be free for all who come.
So start planning now to come relish wonderful Vaisnava association in the Holy Dhama. The majority of our parikramas will take place after Nityananda Trayodasi. We’ll publish the schedule soon, so watch for it.
For those who want to make arrangements to go from Vrindavan to Mayapur, these days you can book your train reservations on line.
Otherwise you can contact our Welcome Center for your travel needs as well as assistance for booking accommodation in outside guesthouses. They can also arrange a taxi to pick you up from the airport or train station. For booking in the Krishna Balaram Guesthouse, you can contact ganapati.gkg@pamho.net or +91 565 2540021. For MVT, MVT@pamho.net or +91 565 3207578.
See pictures of last year’s festival on Facebook.
In service of Srimati Vrinda Devi,
Deena Bandhu dasa
