By Damodarlila dasa, Maharashtra Padayatra leader
By the mercy of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar, Srila Prabhupada and our source of inspiration, our beloved spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, on July 16, 2021, the Maharashtra Padayatra completed two years of its preaching journey in the towns and villages of Maharashtra.
This two-year period has been a wonderful experience through which all of us always felt at home. Everywhere we went we would get devotees welcoming us, because Maharashtra is a land of saints and the Dindi festivals of the Warkari sampradaya are similar to our padayatra. People accepted padayatra in their villages and wherever the All-India Padayatra had already gone, as we entered that place people thought the same chariot had come again. As I was initially in the AIP and got trained under padayatra leader Acarya dasa, many devotees knew me and readily provided help.
Maharashtra Padayatra started on July 16, 2019, from Pandharpur dhama and in the next two years covered three districts, distributing 14,073 books, 3000 drona prasad and 3000 chanting beads while crossing 350 villages – staying in 220 of them – and walking for 2284km.
Padayatra’s third year started from Pandharpur dhama on July 27, 2021, taking the blessings of Lord Vithala and Lokanath Maharaja. Several temple devotees joined Maharaja in walking with the padayatris to the border of the Pandharpur preaching area while performing ecstatic kirtan. Spiritually charged, we thus headed to the future of our preaching mission.
Jai Srila Prabhupada.
