By Gaurangi Dasi (Padayatra Worldwide coordinator)
Only a few days before the 2016 Holy Name Festival starts on July 28th. This year it will last 2 weeks, till August 14th. You may have already read or heard Lokanath Swami’s appeal on the dandavats website, on the World Holy Name website or someplace else, so I will not repeat what he said. He listed 13 ways you could celebrate this event, both individually and collectively.
I will add a last item to this list which will allow you to combine two 50th anniversary celebrations in a most ecstatic way: celebrate World Holy Name Week(s) with Padayatra, which after all is a longer harinama, lasting one entire day, an extended week-end or more, whatever fits your situation,with or without a bullock cart, in large groups or even by yourself. For the past few years Mauritius devotees have been organizing padayatra for World Holy Name Week, to the satisfaction of Lokanath Swami, who is also the minister of the Padayatra Worldwide Ministry.
Besides, Padayatra is a perfect engagement for the members of the congregation as it easy to organize and unites everyone around the holy names –kids, teenagers, adults and older devotees. The Nama-Hatta group of Johannesburg, South Africa, is planning a padayatra for September, and we pray that many other groups will follow in their footsteps.
The Padayatra Ministry has pledged to have 50 padayatras by the end of 2016. We started early, on Gaura Purnima 2014, and since that time 34 have been done. Four are just about to take place and 12 remain de be done. You can make a difference to help us fulfill our pledge and offer the wonderful gift of the yuga dharma to more and more souls through padayatra walks.You’ll find guidelines, ideas and practical tips on the padayatra website: padayatra.com
PS: Thank you for your enthusiastic participation. Please keep us informed of your plans and accomplishments.
Email: gaurangi.lok#gmail.com
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