By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader
When leaving Amravati at the beginning of April, temple president Anantasesa dasa suggested that instead of taking the route of previous AIP tours towards Akola we could head for Chandur Bazar, and bring ISKCON and padayatra to people who might not have heard of them.
Padayatra at Wadala
About 40km from Amravati we reached the lightly populated village of Wadala, the home of one of our senior god-brothers, Abhinanda dasa. When he got the news that padayatra was coming Abhinanda was surprised but elated with our change of direction and started preparing a welcome.
Wadala appeared to be a well-trained village, its courtyards and roads sprinkled with cow dung water, which while aiding hygiene is also believed to be auspicious. As we arrived Abhinanda welcomed us with his sankirtan party, honoured each one of us with garlands and directed us to our accommodation in the Ram mandir.
Now we thought after some rest we would get ready for the evening sankirtan, but Abhinanda had a different plan. He had made a beautiful palanquin for the chota of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar. The deities were carried in the palanquin all over the village and as we sang and danced through the streets, we felt like it was the Diwali festival. Every house was decorated with oil lamps and the courtyards and roads with rangolis, and all the villagers were in Vaishnava attire with tilak. Everyone joined us for Gaura arati and mangal arati, all of them in a festive mood and each one doing one or another service for us.
Padayatra at Shirajgaon
The next day we reached Shirajgaon, another place padayatra had not been before and consequently the villagers were surprised to see us. As we addressed them saying “Hare Krsna,” they didn’t answer. However, the Bagadi Family live in Shirajgaon in a house with three initiated devotees, Dwarakawasini mataji and her twin brothers, Avatari Govind dasa and Acarya Chandra dasa, all disciples of Lokanath Maharaja. The family welcomed us and made arrangements for our accommodation and prasadam. They had also arranged to have a big pandal programme, and with the help of Dr Manoj from Amravati who had also been invited to the event, the family had everything prepared on time. All the villagers assembled in the evening and attended sankirtan and Gaura arati. A lot of books were distributed in Shirajgaon. In fact, Dwarakawasini and her brothers took a Srimad-Bhagavatam set for themselves, thus inspiring others. The following morning when we were leaving Avatari Govind was in tears as he thanked us for visiting, telling us that he always had a desire to have padayatra at his house.
A grand Ram Navami celebration
The padayatris were in Akot on the eve of Ram Navami. Upon seeing us entering the town a spiritually inclined person invited us to his house. He was a Marwadi, a member of the astute business-oriented community originating from Rajasthan. He shared with me his heart’s desire when he said, “I wanted to celebrate Ram Navami at my house, but nobody supported me and I didn’t know what should be done. Please stay here and help me in the celebration.” I was glad to hear this, and although on padayatra we don’t emphasise Ram Navami, I thought maybe it was the Lord’s desire to assist. Bhakta Ajay arrived from Lohara and helped us prepare for the festival the next day. All those attending fasted and we all sang bhajans glorifying Sri Ram, then everyone had darshan of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar and honoured prasadam.
The day was also special in that Jiva Swami dasa and his wife, Ayodhyarani mataji, visited padayatra. Jiva Goswami’s birthday is on April 11, and during the last AIP tour the padayatris were at his house in Akola on that day. He thus had a strong desire that on the current tour he should again have darshan of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar on his birthday, but poor health made it impossible and instead he and Ayodhyarani visited padayatra in Akot. We were glad to receive them and they also took part in the Ram Navami celebration. He brought water bottles for all of us, which will be of great help during this summer, along with a lot of groceries. Diranayak dasa said to him, “Prabhu, how did you know that we needed all this in padayatra.” Jiva Swami just replied with a humble smile. We felt like our parents had come to meet us with all the material necessary on padayatra. Several Marwadis also gave us fodder for the oxen. Now there was so much that our trollies were full, and to date we are still honouring the rice they gave us.
Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar “called rains” in Lohara
Bhakta Ajay and several devotees from Washim welcomed us to Lohara. In that city there is an old Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath temple where, unfortunately, the seva had declined recently and the pujari was worried how it would be carried forward. We had not planned to go to that temple, but while on sankirtan it started raining so heavily that finding ourselves close by, we ran to take shelter there. I entered the temple altar and kept Their Lordships face to face with Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath. It was like the meeting was pre-planned by both parties. The pujari was happy to see us and he expressed his concerns to me. I said, “Now don’t worry, Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar have Themselves come to solve your problem.” It now seems this temple will soon be handed over to ISKCON, so that the nice seva of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath can start again. A local person said, “Your God has called rains.” For a long time, there had been no rains in this area.
At Anantasesa dasa’s birthplace
The next day we reached Hiwarkheda, the birthplace of Anantasesa. His grandfather, Sri Vyasa Maharaja, was a great Vaishnava renowned in Hiwarkheda for his Srimad-Bhagavatam kathas. Anantasesa was with us as we entered this very pious village. As soon as they saw us, ladies came out with arati plates, washed and offered kumkum to the hoofs of our oxen, and offered garlands to all of us. The villagers were very happy to see Anantasesa, the grandson of Vyasa Maharaja. One of the elders said, “He is just like his grandfather,” and in honour Anantasesa was covered with bundles of garlands.
We were accommodated in Hiwarkheda in the Ram mandir, but every villager requested us to visit their house. The roads were bad in this area but the hearts of the people were soft, thus pulling Their Lordships towards them. I now understood why Their Lordships left Their normal route and went through these villages.
