42nd issue - Nitya-seva Newsletter

 April, 2019.

Dear Devotees,

The warming days of March welcomed not only the blooming trees which decorate the paths and gardens of Krishna Valley but also one of the most prominent festivals in the Vaisnava tradition, Gaura Purnima or the appearance day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Like every other year, Gaura Purnima is celebrated twice in Hungary, once on the actual calendar day in Krishna Valley and then a second time on the Sunday which follows that, held at The Budapest temple. Krishna Valley’s Gaura Purnima festival, started with a wonderful kirtan. The packed temple room held eager devotees who were all awaiting to see the Deities appear in Their new outfits.

As soon as the kirtan came to an end, and all the devotees were satisfied with having viewed Their Lordship’s darshan, a lecture on Lord Caitanya’s pastimes took place. Given by one of our local devotees, the temple room was full with devotees eager to hear and learn more about the Lord on His special appearance day.

The morning went on as devotees participated in bhajans in the temple room. This was followed by wonderful plays about the Lord and His pastimes. Soon after, the most awaited part of the program arrived as the Lord was brought out for His special abhishek ceremony while a soothing and enlivening bhajan was sung by all devotees present.

In the afternoon, parts of the 2019 Maha abishek ceremony in Mayapur was shown on a projector screen, followed by a slide show presentation on Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. The day ended with an ecstatic Gaura arati kirtan and a wonderful feast.

The festival in Budapest was not any less exciting, with the presiding Deities of Sri Sri Dayal-Nitai Vijaya-Gauranga being the center of attention. The day started with a wonderful kirtan which culminated with the opening of the curtains and the darshan of Their Lordships in Their wonderful new outfits. As the day continued, a class on Lord Caitanya and His pastimes, an abhishek and yet another class all took place back to back, invigorating the large crowd which filled the temple room.

Honoring caranamrita and the blessings from Lord Nityanada’s shoes ended with a roaring kirtan that left all devotees present feeling enlivened and truly blessed by being able to be part of these festivities. The wonderful feast that followed was gratefully received by all devotees who then once again gathered in the temple room to sing the glories of Lord Caitanya, attend one final class about the Lord, and participate in an ecstatic Gaura arati kirtana.

During this month we were grateful to receive two new donors to our Nitya seva program. We were also extremely thrilled when a family from the USA who had been following Radha-Syama online came for a visit to our farm. We are always happy to meet people whose hearts have been touched and inspired by Radha-Syama but who have not yet had the chance to actually meet Them in person. We look forward to many more such future visits and hope to see all of you in Krishna Valley someday soon.

Finally please take a look into the Nitya-seva calendar, the following dates are available in April:
2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 30th.

In the name of the Nitya-seva team your servant,
Syamajiu Dasi

12th April, 2019., New Vraja Dhama