Summer 2014 : Our 21st Czech Padayatra was such a blissful and unforgettable event! We walked for sixteen days in the South Moravia region of the Czech Republic. This year’s padayatra was special in many ways. At the beginning of the walk approximately thirty devotees from the Euro Bus Tour joined us for three days. These enthusiastic young devotees from different countries were a great source of inspiration for us. During two evening cultural programs they danced, performed a mime show about a soul trapped in the material world and a mridanga show similar to the ones done by Mayapuris, with two drummers playing different techniques to entertain the public. One of the Bus Tour participants did an attractive show of different dancing styles ranging from bharat natyam to Bollywood dance. There was also some bharat natyam from our dancers, and the Shyam performance, which was more like a drama dance about the soul lost in the material world and finally reuniting with Lord Krishna.
Then, a historical moment occurred : after ten years, Lokanath Swami, the Padayatra minister, visited our Czech Padayatra. His holy presence was so transcendental and sweet that we were immediately transferred directly to the spiritual world! He also participated in two evening programs for the public, where he addressed the crowd and lead lively kirtanas.
When we arrived in Hodonin, the biggest town of this year’s route, there was a yearly folk festival , and our great bharat natyam dancer, Lila Mohini, had the opportunity to dance on the main stage for twenty minutes, while some 1100 visitors were eagerly looking at her performance, admiring her skills.
Altogether, we held 13 evening programs, with a total of approximately 1200 guests, we distributed around 2600 coconut sweets during these programs, 591 packs of prasada and 800 maha bananas thrown from the cart. Different TV stations came to shoot us three times. We distributed a record number of books -2862- which is almost the double of last year (1473 books). Another memorable fact is that our beloved ox Nanda, who is now fifteen years old, walked with us for the tenth time. That was his last padayatra though, he now deserves some rest on the Krsnuv Dvur farm where he will be well taken care of. He really did a great job throughout the years and we will miss him a lot.
If we look at our 2014 Czech Padayatra as a whole, it was simply wonderful, and we want to expand it even more for the next years! Padayatra bhakta vrinda ki jaya!
Kirtan with Lokanath Swami
The Shyam performance
Pantomime Krishna and the jiva
Bharat Natyam dance
