THREE DAYS PADYATRA BY ISKCON SURAT

Organized By LOK Disciples ISKCON Surat

By Padmamali Dasa (Youth preacher)

By the divine blessings of Sri Sri Radha Damodar, Srila Prabhupada, Lokanath Swami Maharaja and Vrindavan Dasa, ISKCON Surat LOK Disciples conducted a 3 Days Padayatra starting from 27th February 22 to 1^st March 22, covering nearly 16 villages over a distance of more than 40 kilometres. Many villagers got a rare opportunity to take divine darsana of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar, Jagannath Baladev Subhadra, & Srila Prabhupada seated on the Padayatra cart. The following is a rundown of our daily activities during the three-day Padayatra festival.

Day 1- 27th February 2022

The first day, the Padayatra set off from the village of Kasla, Olpad. It was inaugurated by the senior devotees of ISKCON Surat congregation. Mr. Krunal K Sailor, Corporator at Surat Municipal Corporation graced the occasion by marking his presence as the chief guest. The festival was also attended by other distinguished guests such as Mr. Champak Bhai Patel and Sarpanch Sri Bhogilalbhai Patel. On the first day, nearly 150 devotees took part in a full-day walk, spanning across villages. Radhesh Dasa delivered the morning class and encouraged all the padayatris to carry on this glorious mission of Lord Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada. The first overnight halt of the Padayatra was at Narthan village. The Evening program consisted of Harinam sankirtan and prasad distribution throughout the village. Pamphlets were circulated inviting the villagers to attend the evening program. Nearly 500 villagers gathered to attend the program. The evening class was given by Vrindavan Dasa, Temple President, ISKCON Surat. This was followed by the Sandhya Aarti after which the devotees were shown a short film on Srila Prabhupada’s life called ‘Prabhupada Jivan Gatha’. The evening culminated in a cultural program of Krishna lila dance and the devotees honouring prasadam. The devotees were happy and pleased to participate in the program.

Day 2- 28th February 2022

The next morning, we followed our regular temple routine of Mangala aarti at 4:30 am, followed by Tulsi pooja and chanting with Lokanath Swami Maharaja on his zoom japa session. Mangala arati was attended by more than 20 local villagers and they appreciated it a lot. As with our last experience of Padayatra, this time too when the cart was rolling many villagers were curious about the deity of Srila Prabhupada and wondered if it was actually a deity or were they actually seeing a live Swamiji! We resolved their curiosity by telling them about Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and his mission. The second overnight halt of our Padayatra was at Bhadut Village. We organized the evening program similar to what we did in the Narthan village. We did Harinam sankirtan throughout the village distributing prasadam and circulating pamphlets inviting the villagers for the evening program. More than 700 villagers gathered for the night. The class was given by Chandragovind Dasa which was followed by Sandhya aarti and showing the devotees “Prabhupada Jivan Gatha” and the night ended with a cultural program of Krishna Leela Dance and the devotees honouring prasadam.

Day 3- 1st March 2022

The last day of the Padayatra began with morning temple program- Mangala arati at 4:30 am, followed by Tulsi Puja and Zoom japa session with Lokanath Swami Maharaja. More than 25 local villagers joined us and were very ecstatic and pleased to attend the program. Being the final day and the auspicious occasion of Shivaratri, more than 200 devotees from ISKCON Surat took part in the Padayatra. Our destination was village Mor Tunda and to our surprise we received a grand welcome from more than 500 local villagers who were eagerly waiting to take darshans of the Lordships. The conditioned souls automatically get attracted towards Harinam Sankirtan and we witnessed this in the villagers. They were dancing and singing enthusiastically with the devotees and before they knew they had covered quite a few kilometres with the Padayatra! Such is the power of the Holy name! Gudakesh Prabhu glorified Shiva Tatva in his lecture and also encouraged the villagers to attend the monthly satsang program organized by ISKCON devotees and gave his blessings that they receive the mercy of Guru and Gauranga! The evening program was conducted as usual. More than 400 villagers gathered for the evening. Jai Govind Prabhu and Murtiman Dasa took the evening class. The villagers were highly delighted hearing the lecture, attending Sandhya aarti and watching the short film on Srila Prabhupada. Thereafter, they witnessed the Krishna lila dance and honoured prasadam!

By the divine mercy of Guru and Gauranga, the 3-day Padayatra was successful in reaching out to a lot of people and delivering the Harinam and the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! We need the blessings of all the readers to carry on the mission of our dear Guru Maharja, Srila Prabhupada and Lord Gauranga Himself- “Prithivite ache jat nagradi gram sarvatra prachar hoibee mor naam”.

Aknowledgements:

I thank all those participated in the padayatra making it a big success.

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