December 2005

Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Maharaja Visits South India
His Holiness Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Maharaja of VRINDA (URL) recently visited the devotees of Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Matha and also visited several South Indian holy places. Swami B.B. Vishnu and Gaura Nataraja Dasa took Paramadvaiti Maharaja and his disciple B.R. Swami Maharaja for darshan of Venkatesvara (Balaji) at the holy shrine in Tirumala (Tirupati).

Paramadvaiti Maharaja returned to Govindaji Gardens where he gave class to the devotees from the new book of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, Encounters with Divinity.

He also visited Gosai Ghat, a well known bathing spot on the holy Kaveri River, just adjacent to the ashrama, as well as the Rangantha temple and Melkote.

Some days later Swami B.G. Narasingha and Swami B.B. Vishnu took Paramadvaiti Maharaja to the new ashrama at Mulki. While in the area Paramadvaiti Maharaja also visited the Krishna temple at Udupi where he met with Visvesa Tirtha Swami of Pejavara Matha.

On the return trip to Govindaji Gardens Paramadvaiti Maharaja stopped for darshan at Kukke Subrahmanya. Paramadvaiti Maharaja also gave an enlivening class to the devotees in Bangalore before returning to Europe.

October - November 2005

Observance of Karttika Masa
The devotees of Sri Narasingha Caitanya Matha observed the month of Karttika from 17th October to 16th November.

Every evening, lamps were lit around all the temples and the devotees sang the Damodarastakam prayers recommended by Srila Sanatana Gosvami Prabhu in Sri Hari Bhakti Vilasa. Bhajanas by various mahajanas were also sung in glorification of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.

On the final day of the month of Karttika, a special feast was held to commemorate the anniversary of the opening of the asrama in 1994.

Govardhana Puja
Devotees and congregation celebrated the holy day of Govardhana Puja on Thursday 3rd November. The main festivities began at 10:00 when devotees accompanied the govardhana-sila to the snana-mandapa with kirtana. Srila Narasingha Maharaja spoke for some time on the ontological position of Sri Govardhana and His importance in the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. He also briefly described the lila of Krsna lifting Govardhana Hill.

After class, all the devotees took part in bathing the govardhana-sila with milk and rose water. Giriraja was then taken to the altar of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava where He was decorated with garlands and offered a sumptuous feast which was then honored by devotees and guests.

Srila Prabhupada's Tirobhava Mahotsava
Saturday 5th November saw the observance of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada's disappearance.

After darsana-arati and bhajanas glorifying guru-tattva, Srila Narasingha Maharaja spoke on Srila Prabhupada's eternal residence at Sri Sri Radha-Damodara temple, the subject of Prabhupada's eternal rasa, his world-wide preaching activities and how Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja and other senior Vaisnavas considered him to be a saktyavesa-avatara of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Guru-puja was offered to Srila Prabhupada and devotees honored prasadam at midday.

At 7:20 in the evening, after singing Damodarastakam, devotees congregated at Srila Prabhupada's Puspa-samadhi to observe the actual time that Srila Prabhupada departed from this world. Srila Visnu Maharaja offered arati to Prabhupada as H.H. Madhava Maharaja led everyone in singing the Prabhupada arati song. After the arati ceremony there was a debut showing of the new DevaVision film on the life of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, 'The Univesal Teacher.'

September 2005

Avirbhava Tithi of Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda
The holy appearance anniversary of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura was celebrated at the Matha on Friday 16th September.

After offering puspanjali and arati to the lotus feet of Thakura Mahasaya, the devotees sang bhajanas in his glorification.

Srila Visnu Maharaja then spoke something on the life of Srila Bhaktivinoda. He mentioned about his great contribution as a pioneer of the Krsna Consciousness movement and his influence on the life and preaching of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and his followers.

Bhakti Vijnana Giri Maharaja spoke on the songs of Bhaktivinoda, in particular he spoke about the section from Saranagati entitled Dainya (humility) and its application in the life of a sadhaka. He also explained Srila Sarasvati Thakura's vision of Bhaktivinoda as the personification of Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami.

Sri Radhastami
The divine appearance of Srimati Radharani was celebrated on Sunday 11th September at Govindaji Gardens by all the assembled Vaisnavas.

After the decorating of the Deities and the darsana-arati, Srila Visnu Maharaja gave a very enlivening class on the appearance of Srimati Radharani and the importance of balancing our personal sadhana with our seva. Maharaja’s class was followed by a short class by BV Giri Maharaja who spoke on the Holy Name of Srimati Radharani.

After the bhoga-arati there was a feast in honor of Srimati Radharani.

Reprinting of Follow The Angels and In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life
Gosai Publishers is happy to announce the re-printing of the popular book Follow The Angels by Srila Sridhara Maharaja - the first volume of the Path of Dedication series. Follow The Angels is divided into three chapters—The Krsna Conception, Follow The Angels and Higher Talks. Part One deals with the concept of Sri Guru and the Holy Name; Part Two explains how we should approach higher spiritual subject matters, and Parth Three concerns the unique position of Sri Gadadhara Pandita and other elevated topics.

Gosai Publishers is also reprinting In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada. This book was probably the first literary work by Srila Prabhupada after he accepted sannyasa in 1959. The book deals with the divine conversastion between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Raya Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari River, and is considered by Gaudiya Vaisnavas to be the acme of all theistic conceptions.

These two reprints, as well as the new book of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, Encounters with Divinity will be available during Karttika in Vrndavana, India from selected book stores as well as from Mandala Publishing or matha devotees.

August 2005

Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja Celebrations
The appearance of Nitya-lila pravista visvacarya Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada was celebrated by the matha devotees and members of the congregation from Mysore, Mandya and Bangalore.

In the morning, the assembled devotees offered puspanjali unto Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet as Srila Narasingha Maharaja sang Sri Guru Carana Padma and Srila Visnu Maharaja offered the arati to His Divine Grace.

After singing some bhajanas there was a class by Srila Narasingha Maharaja who spoke upon a variety of topics. Apart from speaking on the early pastimes of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Narasingha Maharaja also cautioned devotees about harboring a sentimental mentality towards guru and Krsna. He also explained that the duty of a genuine guru is to speak out against philosophical misconceptions, not simply to give generic blessings to all that cross his path.

After the class and kirtana, devotees honored the prasadam remnants of His Divine Grace.

Srila Narasingha Maharaja's Vyasa Puja Mahotsava
The Holy Appearance of His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja was celebrated on September 3rd by disciples and well-wishers alike.

The program began with the auspicious adhivasa-puja performed by Bhakti Vijnana Giri Maharaja and Nanda-kisora Dasa. Srila Narasingha Maharaja was presented with the new Vyasa Puja book which contained many philosophical articles written by our acaryas, news of the asrama and offerings and appreciations by disciples and followers.

Srila Visnu Maharaja was invited to speak first. Maharaja spoke on the many contributions of Srila Narasingha Maharaja and the various sevas that are going on due to his continous enthusiasm and inspiration.

Next, H.H. Bhakti Srirupa Madhava Maharaja gave his offering which was a song that he had written in Bengali extolling the transcendental virtues of Srila Narasingha Maharaja. Maharaja led all the devotees in singing this song and punctuated it by reading the meaning of each verse in English. Other devotees also read their offerings and Srila Narasingha Maharaja spoke in between each offering.

The program concluded with puspanjali and arati to Srila Narasingha Maharaja and a feast in honor of his appearance.

The film will be available in Karttika (mid-October).

New book of Srila Sridhara Maharaja
A new book by Srila Sridhara Maharaja entitled Encounters With Divinity is being published by Gosai Publishers. Some of the subjects discussed in the book include sannyasa, varnasrama, Deity worship, the form of Jagannatha, parakiya-rasa, and vipralambha-bhava.

The book will be available by Karttika.

Sri Krsna Janmastami Mahotsava
Sri Krsna Janmastami was celebrated in a grand style at Govindaji Gardens on Saturday 27th August. In the early morning, Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Madhava were dressed in a dazzling yellow outfit and decorated profusely with various garlands and flowers.

The pujaris also decorated Jagannatha, Gaura-Gadadhara, Yoga-Narasimha and the other asrama Deities in a similar way.

At 10:00am, Srila Visnu Maharaja gave a class from the manuscript of the forthcoming book of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, Encounters With Divinity, and spoke from each of the four sections of the book.

Devotees sang bhajanas throughout the morning up until 3:00 when nagesvaram played for the pleasure of the Deities. Throughout the day, from 4 p.m. onwards, more than five thousand plates of prasadam were distributed to guests in spite of heavy rain.

At 5:00 Sri Krsna abhiseka began and Srila Narasingha Maharaja bathed Govindaji in thirty different auspicious substances such as pancagavya, pancamrta, flower-water, fruit-juices etc as kirtana led by Swami Madhava continued.

After the bathing ceremony, the Deities of Gandharvika-Kanaka Govinda were taken out on Their palaki to the accompaniment of nagesvaram, flute and hari-nama sankirtana, circumabulating the temple five times.

When the Deities were brought back to the altar, Srila Guru Maharaja offered arati as H.H. Bhakti Srirupa Madhava Maharaja led the devotees in chanting the Holy Names.

Tirtham was distributed after the arati and, from 7:00 till 9:00, the carnatic bhajana singer Sri Vidyabhusana sang songs composed by Madhvacarya, Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa. This was followed by Murali-Krsna Dasa who played flute from 9:00 till 11:00.

The bhoga offering was brought to the altar at 11:30. This year, the devotees who cooked managed to make 117 preparations for the pleasure of the Lord. Despite the heavy rains, the midnight arati was attended by about 200 guests who stayed on to honor the prasadam remnants of the Lord.