| Dear Devotees &
Friends Sri Jagannath Ratha
Yatra Mahotsava Ki Jai!
We are only 10 days away from Lord
Jagannath’s Ratha Yatra Festival, and everyone is getting ecstatic.
1) There are many renovation
projects that are going on in the temple, with new floors being
installed and paint jobs all throughout. Devotees are putting in
many extra hours getting the whole facility up to par to handle the
crowds of devotees all of Ratha Yatra weekend.
2) On Saturday June 5, 2004, we
will be celebrating a special Snana Yatra Festival for Lord
Jagannath to kick off the festivities leading up to Ratha Yatra on
June 12. The program begins at 6:00 pm and will continue till 9 pm,
as all the devotees will get a unique chance to bathe Lord
Jagannath, LordBaladeva, and Lady Subhadra.
3) Vaisesika Prabhu, North American
Secretary for Book Distribution, is offering seminars on how to set
up book tables. Classes will be given from Wednesday June 9 to
Friday June 11. Come any day or every day. Classroom discussions
start after breakfast prasadam in the Radha-Govinda Temple. Live
demonstrations on the streets of New York start at 1:30pm.
4) On June 10 and 11 His Holiness Radhanath Swami will be giving two
memorable presentations on the pastimes of Lord Caitanya at the
Ratha Yatra Festival.
5) At the Ratha Yatra Festival
there will be a one-hour Kathak dance presentation of Krishna Lila
given by Satyanarayan Charka and eight dancers from his performing
troupe.
6) Also our special guests, His
Holiness B.B. Govinda Swami and the Kazakhstan Silk Road (Hare
Krishna) Band, will take the stage Saturday afternoon at the park
and Sunday evening at the temple for kirtans which must not be
missed. If you want to know what it was like to be in Mayapur for
the Panca-Tattva Deity installation, then you will have to come to
New York Ratha Yatra and Sankirtan Festival.
7) On Sunday June 13, 2004, there
will be a special Remembrance Festival for His Holiness Sridhar
Swami starting at 11:00 am. His Godbrothers, Godsisters, and
disciples will share their remembrances and realizations about the
life and pastimes of a beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada.
8) Despite Sunday June 13 being
Ekadasi, Srikanta Prabhu and his team of devotee chefs have a list
of 22 Ekadasi preps for the morning and evening prasadam. Thus, no
one will leave the temple hungry that day.
As you can see, the festival plans
are underway, and will continue strong throughout this week and the
next, leading up to Ratha Yatra weekend. But there is still a
shortage of volunteers for the many services required, and there are
still chances for the devotees to give some donation for this
festival. Please send in your checks ASAP to the temple, and/or let
us know how you want to help in the service of Lord Jagannath.
For further information, please
visit us online:
http://www.radhagovinda.net
"We must take up the task of
self-purification by engaging in service to Krishna and His devotees
and thus be in the proper frame of mind to receive Lord Jagannath."
Your servants,
New York ISKCON
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