Different styles :
- Single walker: one lone walker, usually assisted by a support vehicle transporting him to accommodations and preaching engagements.
- Walking party (extended harinama) with deities on a palanquin
- Deity cart pulled oxen or horse(s) with walking party
- Walk and drive: walk only in populated areas and drive devotees, carts, oxen and equipment the rest of the way (was done in Australia, Siberia, Lithuania)
- Walk and fly: harinam walk with deities on palanquin in one place (country, city or island), then flying to the next one. (Siberia, South Pacific islands).
- Walk and take a boat: harinam walks in villages and cities along the bank of a river or on the coast of an ocean. (Carribean Islands.)
Different durations :
- A day
- An extended week-end
- A few days to one week
- A few weeks to a few months
- One year or more
NB : We encourage the organisers of World Holy Name Week to do it, partially or entirely, through a padayatra.
Different organisers:
- One or several devotees
- One or several families
- One or several temples
- One entire yatra
- Several yatras from neighboring countries
- An independent travelling Padayatra party
- Another group not related to ISKCON : join walks organised by other groups, religious (Ex : Pilgrimage to Assisi in Italy, Holy walk in Spain) or not (Ex :The annual walkers group in Holland, Days without cars in Bolivia)
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE EXTENDED WEEK-END PADAYATRA
- If possible choose a longer week-end, one that includes a legal holiday on Friday, Saturday or Monday. Cars can also be used to drop devotees where the walk starts and to pick them up at the end of the walk, which could solve the problem of accomodations for the night.
- Friday evening : holy name katha followed by a harinama or a mini kirtan mela, preferably at the location where the padayatra will start the next day
- Saturday : long walk, with an afternoon or evening program for the public (kirtan, bhajans, conference, exhibits, dance, cultural presentations, and prasada distribution)
- Sunday : start walking early in a place with many people around. End the program around 5 pm so devotees will have time to get back to their homes or temples and get ready for their next day of work and/or service.