Radhastami 2014 fell on September 2nd. On this auspicious day a group of devotees celebrated Padayatra India’s 30 years on the road in ISKCON Pandharpur.
From the outset, Radhastami has always been a significant day for Padayatra.It was at the time of Radhastami in 1976 in Delhi that Lokanath Swami Maharaja and the newly initiated Atmatattva Dasa went to see Srila Prabhupada. At that time the permits for the two German buses had expired and the preaching of the Nitai-Gaura Travelling Party had come to a stand still. It was here that Srila Prabhupada had instructed Lokanath Maharaja to replace the two Mercedes German buses with two vedic oxen and preach from village to village by bullock cart. So it was not surprising that it was on Radhastami, September 2, 1984, that Lokanath Maharaja and his team commenced their phenomenal Padayatra from Dwarka, located at the westernmost point of India in Gujarat, to Mayapur in West Bengal, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Lord Caitanya’s appearance.
Many devotees had come from all over India, especially from the Maharashtra temples and preaching centres (Pune, Nagpur, Solapur, ,Beed, Latur, and so forth) to celebrate this anniversary. While the balance of the Padayatra India Party was travelling in Orissa, our leader Acarya Prabhu, tractor driver Parta Sakha Prabhu and I, the Padayatra’s correspondent, joined Lokanath Maharaja and the devotees in Pandharpur. The total number of devotees present, including the local ones, was estimated to be between 600 and 800.
During the morning Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, Lokanath Maharaja shared his personal realisations about Srimati Radharani, Her appearance and Her amazing relationship with Sri Krishna. As usual, this was accompanied by melodious bhajans glorifying Srimati Radharani. The celebration included a wonderful abhisheka of the big Deities of Sri Sri Radha Pandarinatha and of the small Nitai-Gaurasundar Padayatra Deities. Srimati Radharani was dressed in a beautiful, new blue outfit and Lord Pandarinath in a yellow one. The evening was set aside for Padayatra katha, during which Maharaja and senior padayatris shared their travel experiences and adventures. Among them were Akhiladhara Dasa, a Prabhupada disciple who has been on the road in India for many years, Acarya Dasa, Mohanrupa Dasa and Santa Dasa.
In order to fully understand what a wonderful and incredible experience it was, you definitely have to participate in Padayatra.