By Jaytirtha dasa,
On January 3, 2021, the ISKCON devotees in Raichur, Karnataka, held their third one-day padayatra, the first padayatra in Raichur for three years.
I was feeling morose after India’s Covid-19 lockdown and with the new year dawning had started to think about what we could do to please our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja. Not having had a padayatra for so long, it was decided at a meeting of temple devotees to organize a one-day walk. Padayatras are very dear to Gurudev, who was instructed by Srila Prabhupada to start padayatra because it is the best way to preach and to communicate with people. Gurudev loves padayatra and the padayatris and our mission as his disciples is always to please him, thus he was the source of our inspiration for the event. Within three days our preparations were complete.
Padayatra Day
On padayatra day the devotees assembled at Raichur’s Laxmi temple early in the morning and with a roaring kirtan enthusiastically set off for the Mahalaxmi temple in Kallur about 20km away.
Along the way people were taking darshan and book distribution was going on apace. At one place we passed there were many mutton shops with people in queues. I approached some of the customers and said, “Why are you all waiting in line to go to hell? Join us to go back to Godhead!” Many of them stood with their heads down like offenders. I told them to chant the holy name, but they did not say anything. We all chanted aloud so those souls could hear the holy name of the Lord. When we later halted for breakfast prasadam people were coming to take darshan and honour prasadam, thus several were blessed by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
At Kallur we were surprised to be welcomed at the Mahalaxmi temple by a band party. I was wondering who planned this, but then we saw a bride and bridegroom walking behind. The timing was perfect and as we entered the temple grounds the band party came in too. It was Mother Mahalaxmi welcoming the devotees. We then had a devotee care seminar, so that devotees could come together and express love and affection for each other.
Glories of the Kallur Mahalaxmi of Karnataka temple
Kallur is known as the Second Kolhapur after the temple in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, home of the black stone, four-handed deity of Mahalakshmi. Kallur, where the temple has self-manifested deities of Lord Venkateshwara and Mahalaxmi, was the village of eighteenth-century pandit Sri Lakshmikanta Acharya, a staunch worshipper of Kolhapur Mahalakshmi, who made a tradition of visiting the Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple every year on the Ashtami day of the Navratri festival when he would offer sandalwood to Mahalakshmi. At eighty-eight years of age and no longer able to travel, the acharya had a dream on the eve of Ashtami Navratri in which he heard a woman saying, “Every year you came. This year I will come to visit you on the Ashtami day of Navratri.” The next day Mahalaxmi emerged as Kolhapur Mahalakshmi on the acharya’s sanekal (chandan grinding stone), the same deity seen in the temple today. A year later Sri Lakshmikanta Acharya intuitively discovered the deity of Lord Venkateshwara in a field in a nearby village which he established next to Mahalaxmi in the Kallur temple.
Realizations
The padayatra was a wonderful experience that pleased the devotees very much. They walked 20km but by engaging in sankirtan did not feel tired and their enthusiasm was ever lasting. Many children and matajis participated and several congregation members also enquired beforehand about the event, which became a grand opportunity to speak about the Lord and His glories. Gurudev was very happy when we shared the news of padayatra with him and when I proposed a monthly walk, he blessed us to continue with padayatras to spread the glories of the holy name.
Acknowledgments
Padayatra ratha preparation: Raseshwar Krishna dasa.
Sound system: Vansimohan dasa.
Kirtan team: Jaytirtha dasa, Shyam Gopal dasa and Pushpamali dasa.
Deity worship: Devamrit dasa.
Book distribution: all prabhujis and matajis including children.
Breakfast and lunch seva: Gunnidhi dasa.
Seminar on devotee care: Jaytirtha dasa.
Rath flex and design: Ramsakha dasa.
Sixty devotees participated in the padayatra from the Raichur Laxmi temple to the Kallur Mahalaxmi temple, distributing fifteen Bhagavada-gitas, thirty small books and 30kg of prasadam.
