By Ananda Gaurangi Dasi
You are all invited to participate in the 2016 Padayatra/Ratha-yatra in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Padayatra started in 1995. It usually takes place on the third week of June. We travel all over Lithuania by bus, having Ratha-yatras in different cities and staying for the night in rest houses. There is no oxcart. There are 50 devotees travelling by bus, 6 devotees with the Deity team, 3 devotees with the kitchen team, and 3 devotees with books in a separate car. The Sri Harinama Mandir Travelling Temple consisting of about 15 brahmacaris joins us every year. So there is about 80 devotees travelling, and in every city more devotees join us for Ratha-yatras, which amounts to a grand total of 100-150 devotees.
Our special guests every year are Bhakti Caitanya Swami and our two local sannyasis Bhakti Saran Santa Goswami and Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami. Last year Niranjana Maharaj joined us for the first time. Sometimes we have kirtaniyas such as Nruhari Prabhu as our special guests. This year, hopefully, Vaiyasaki Prabhu will be one of our special guests.
We have a morning program, a Srimad Bhagavatam class and breakfast, after which we go to the place where the Ratha-yatra will be that day. Usually we have one Ratha-yatra per day, and sometimes we have an additional harinama. During the Ratha-yatra we distribute books and prasadam, and in some cities we hold a cultural program. This year being ISKCON’s 50th anniversary, we’ll try to distribute more prasadam and also offer henna tattoos, if we get the permission from city governments. We plan to have cultural programs in more cities, and, if we don’t get back too late, we’ll also have kirtana in the evening.
Our biggest and final Ratha-yatra takes place in the resort city of Palanga on Saturday. The next morning we’ll have an acknowledgments program along with book distribution results and some gifts.
Special guests:
Bhakti Caitanya Swami
Bhakti Saran Santa Goswami
Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami
Schedule:
June 13, Monday
09:30 Departure from Vilnius temple to Kaunas
11:30 Ratha-yatra in Kaunas (from temple)
15:00 Lunch in Kaunas temple
17:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”
June 14, Tuesday
09:30 Departure to Vilnius
11:00 Ratha-yatra in Vilnius (from temple)
15:00 Lunch in Vilnius temple
17:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”
June 15, Wednesday
09:30 Departure to Druskininkai
11:30 Ratha-yatra in Druskininkai
14:30 Lunch
17:30 Maha Harinama in Alytus
19:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”
June 16, Thursday
09:30 Departure to Siauliai
12:30 Ratha-yatra in Siauliai
16:30 Lunch
18:00 Departure to rest house “Paulina”
June 17, Friday
12:00 Maha Harinama in Sventoji
15:00 Lunch
18:00 Maha Harinama in Palanga
21:00 Departure to rest house “Paulina”
June 18, Saturday
11:00 Maha Harinama in Klaipeda
15:00 Lunch
17:30 Ratha-yatra in Palanga
21:30 Departure to rest house “Paulina”
June 19, Sunday
08:00 Acknowledgments
12:00 Departure
Attached are some photographs from last year’s Ratha Yatra. Please join us.
