Many of you remember that last year we organized an ecstatic Boat Festival in the Yamuna. This year on Saturday, 6th March it is going to be even more ecstatic! We will have a huge Sankirtan Procession through the town of Vrindavan with vijaya vigraha Radha Shyamsundara riding on a decorated elephant! The Sadhus have also agreed to bring their colorful embroidered flags again like we did for Srila Prabhupada's glorious entrance into the Vrindavan Kumbha Mela.
For years I have been telling the administration here that our boat festival has outgrown the temple room and we should do it in Yamuna. Every year we have ugly scenes with godbrothers and sisters being pushed from the temple room by the security as it is too crowded to enter. So lately they have taken to having it at times and dates when no outsider, especially the Delhi Devotees, can come. But what is the use of organizing a festival that people can't come too? So last year our Vrinda Kunda Temple did the Boat Festival on the Yamuna at Keshi Ghat. Everyone was thanking us afterwards that it was so wonderful and beautiful and no pushing and shoving.
This year we decided to make it an even better event. Our goal was to spread the glories of Srila Prabhupada and have a festival that would become famous in Vrindavan and which all can attend. Now because Keshi Ghat has been disturbed by this useless bridge construction (btw the stay order was extended another 30 days!) we decided to do it at a nice ghat where the Vrindavan Kumbha Mela took place. Beginning at 2 PM we will take the small Deities of Radha Shyamsundara on a decorated elephant and have a Sankirtan Procession through Vrindavan to the Yamuna. Since all the visiting devotees will be here, plus a few buses of Delhi devotees and congregation, we will have 2 or 3 kirtan parties in the procession, so it will be unparalleled. At the Yamuna accross from Devraha Baba's Samadhi from around 4 PM, to the accompaniment of Aindra Prabhu's majestic kirtans, we will take the large Radha Shyamsundara that we had made last year on a gorgeously decorated boat. As like last year, we will also make a Chappan Bhoga offering to Their Lordships.
Everyone please come and become spiritually enlivened in this wonderful Boat Festival of Radha Shyamsundara in the Yamuna. Here you can see the pictures from last year's festival:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Vrindakunda4/RadhaShyamsundarSBoatFestivalInYamuna#
In service of Srimati Vrinda Devi,
Deena Bandhu dasa
