By Murali Vadhana Govinda Dasa
A small padayatra was held in Malaysia on August 14th. It was organized by ISKCON Teluk (Mayapur Baru) and commemorated ‘World Holy Name Week’ and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. Srila Prabhupada visited the town of Teluk Intan located in the Hilir Perak district of Malaysia in 1970. He also visited the Mariamman Temple here. Now, years later it was decided that this temple would be the starting point of the commemorative padayatra.
The padayatra was set to take place at 5:30 pm. There were around 50 devotees gathered at the Mariamman Temple. We also carried a murti i of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We had organized some media coverage from a local newspaper, ‘Tamil Malar.’ They were meant to cover the event from the beginning but unfortunately, because they had arrived late, it didn’t work out. They did, however; agree to publish the event later after we had completed the walk.
We made our way through housing estates, shops, and suburbs. There were many people who came to watch the procession. It was a happy event for all the devotees, even the children cheerfully carried around the maha-mantra signs. Our padayatris distributed small books, pamphlets, and souvenirs to the public.
At 10:00 pm that evening we ended the padayatra at the temple with puja, kirtana, and prasadam. The devotees that joined the padayatra saw their participation as special mercy. Everyone was happy to have had the opportunity to serve Srila Prabhupada.
