The Padayatra Worldwide Minister presents the Ministry’s goals during two seminars
Besides the arrival of the Padayatra India Party and the usual distribution of about 600 Padayata Worldwide Newsletters during the Gaura Purnima festival, the presence of Padayatra Worldwide was very tangible in Mayapur this year. How ? Well, from February 16 to 23, we held seminars and also had a strategically placed booth on the occasion of the second ILS ( ISKCON Leadership Sanga), which had attracted 1000 devotees from all over of the world.
Among the 85 seminars offered to the participants, Lokanath Swami, Minister of the Padayatra Ministry, and myself, its secretary/coordinator, had two one hour sessions to present the Padayatra Ministry and its goals. By the time the participants arrived followed by a short kirtana, there was not much time left. Maharaja gave a brief introduction of the Padayatra program, sharing its historical roots, Srila Prabhupada’s instructions about padayatra – both general and personal- and the walks that had taken place since 1976.
I then presented the Padayatra Worldwide Ministry. Even though it does not as yet have a solid office, it still functions pretty efficiently through emails, skype sessions, and the website that is regularly updated with reports, photos and films. On a table the various resources offered by the Ministry were displayed: the Padayatra Manual, the ITV video on Padayatra, and the latest 2014 newsletter. Several padayatra leaders got to share a few memories, realisations, and nectarean stories. They wereSundar Gopal Dasa from France, Istadeva Dasa from India, Jagad-Vicitra Dasa and Kalakantha Dasa from Brazil, and Sundarlal Dasa from Mauritius.
The immediate goal of the Ministry is to celebrate ISKCON’s 50th birthday with 50 padayatras , which commenced in March 2014 and will go on till the end of 2016. The way to count the walks differs from the one we did at the time of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial when our offering was padayatras in 100 different countries (103 exactly). This new system allows us to honor the various padayatras taking place in the same country. India , being the craddle of the first padayatras, best illustrates the reasons behind the new counting system. Padayatra India has been on the road since 1984 and Padayatra Andhra Pradesh since the end of 2012. There are also the annual walks in Orissa and the Vraja Mandala padayatra in Vraj led by Parasurama Dasa. Tamil Nadu just started a new oxcart padayatra and other temples are planning more walks : Chennai, Tirupati, Kanya Kumari, Kerala and Goa so far. Added to this there are also the four main ISKCON Dindis taking place every year in Maharasthra. Walks taking place every year at the same time will be counted as one.
Before the ILS we had listed 21 padayatras and thereafter, 35. Let’s pray that those who committed themselves will come, or walk, through. This 50 padayatras goal is very feasible if we consider that it’s a low-cost project of variable duration that can be carried out in many different styles: the one man venture like Bhaktimarga Swami, the small team, the annual walks, the continental or trans-continental walks, padayatras with or without bullock cart, the walk and drive, walk and fly, walk and boat styles. The style list is endless. In this time of problems and conflicts within ISKCON, this project is capable of uniting all kinds of devotees around Srila Prabhupada and the holy names while fulfilling the desire of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Many contacts made at the Padayatra booth
We received a few pledges during the seminars, where the participants had to fill in a contact sheet, but most of the contacts were made at the padayatra booth, which was a new feature of this year’s ILS. The booth area was prominently positioned – directly in front of the main prasada/ meeting/ entertainment venue, so that each participants had to walk through it. Brilliant idea ! I had made many photo displays of all the previous padayatras, and charts of the future ones, but only a few devotees ventured inside the booth to look at them. Too shy.. or probably too much in a rush to look at all the other booths and not wanting to miss out on the the valuable items they were generously giving out for free – CDs, books, magazines, T-shirts and a variety of brochures. But, most importantly, hundreds of devotees received a free copy of our Padayatra Newsletter, and many new contacts were made, which would not have been at all possible during our two short seminars.
See you at the next Padayatra booth at the time of the 3rd ISKCON Leadership Sanga in 2016 in Mayapur ! And this time please venture inside and catch a visual glimpse into the lives of the padayatris
Attached is the list of all the padayatras already happening, and those planned. We’re just waiting to add your temple, zone or country to the list.
