by Deena Bandhu das
This coming February will be the auspicious 14th Anniversary of Vrinda Kunda
Temple opening! To celebrate we are organizing special parikramas to the Holy
Places of Braja. The Festival will culminate with our famous Kalash Yatra, an
ecstatic Sankirtan procession with the ladies carrying water pots with coconuts
on their heads. Parikramas will be taken out from 8 Feb – 21 Feb with the main
festival day on Sunday 19 Feb. Even after that there will still be some
parikramas.
Plan your trip to Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival by coming to Vrindavan first
and then 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 and there is no
crowds. 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 23 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 will go free of charge.
Then on Sunday 19 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. Most 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 at <http://www.irctc.co.in/>
Otherwise you can contact our Welcome Center at <wc.vrindavan@gmail.com> or
+918126698702 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. On Facebook, you can find a list of accommodations with prices and
contact nos. at <https://www.facebook.com/groups/209612779226878/files/>
For pictures of last year’s festival on Facebook:
<https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154560354344838.1073741860.7878148
37&type=3>
In service of Srimati Vrinda Devi,
Deena Bandhu dasa
