VOL 2, ISSUE 4

TEMPLE MONTHLY

DEDICATED TO HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C.BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA

FOUNDER - ĀCĀRYA OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS

SEPTEMBER, 2012

Jhulan Yatra - Swing pastime of the Lord

carpenters and flower decorators

work tirelessly to chalk out the

theme for the festival and eventu-

ally translated it into reality by

hosting three novel decoration

concepts namely Sri Sri Radha

Krishna on the swing, Sri Sri

Krishna Balaram in Vrindavan

forest and Lord Krishna as a baby

eating butter.

Thousands thronged the temple to

participate in this festival, one of

the only time in the year when

one can personally swing Their

Lordships.

Dhwaja Aarohan - A new flag carrying the

embroidered picture of Garuda, carrier of the Lord, was

mounted on the dhwaja stambha on the auspicious occa-

sion of Balarama Jayanti. The devotees carried

the dhwaja in a basket on their heads and climbed up in

the fire engine bucket to the top of the dome and replaced

the old one with the new flaming orange Garuda dhwaja.

The magnificent five-day Jhulan

Yatra festival was hosted at Sri

Sri Radha Rasabihari temple from

29 July to 2 August 2012. Utsav

murtis of Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari

were placed on a flower bedecked

swing in the beautifully decorated

temple courtyard. A team of 40

people including devotees,

September

2012

Radhashtami - 23 September 6:00 am: Shobha yatra at Juhu beach, 7:30 am: Guru Puja, 8:00 am: Sringar darshan, 11:30 am: Maha-abhishek, 12:30 pm: Arati 5:00 pm: Special flower outfit darshan, 7:30 pm: Boat festival

Purushottama Adhika month - 18 Aug to 16 Sept Second month of Caturmasya continues after 16 Sept

Sri Sri Radha Rasabihariji From the Editor’s desk: Sri Sri Radha Rasabihariji’s Monthly Newsletter is here again after a brief sabbatical. We’re happy to have returned to cover the Janmashtami celebrations and offer the Janmashtami Special four-page issue.

Besides Janmasthami and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja celebrations, the month of August has also witnessed more

footfalls at the temple on occasion of an additional auspicious month this year – the Purshottama Adhika Masa. It is called adhika masa (extra month) because Sri Krishna has placed all His potencies, mercy, blessings in this month and one gets

additional results from any pious act performed during this month. Thus, we hope you shall take full advantage of this

auspicious month by engaging in devotional service and thereby make advancement in your spiritual life. – Parijata devi dasi.

Upcoming Events

“The holy name of the

Lord and the Lord

Himself are identical,

and one who chants the

holy name of the Lord

in an offenseless

manner can at once

realize that the Lord is

present before him.”

Srila Prabhupada

SB 1.16.32-33

pects of the celebrations. A festive atmosphere prevailed

in the temple which was exquisitely decorated with fresh

colorful flowers arrangement and special light effects.

ISKCON Juhu hosted its grand

Janmashtami celebration with much fervor

on 9th & 10th August. The festivities started

in the early hours of the morning with

mangala-arati. Thousands gathered to wel-

come the Deities in their hearts during the

Sringar darshan where the Deities worn new

fuchsia and yellow sequined and

embroidered outfits.

Special darshan arrangements were made

for the public, life patrons and guests to take

darshan. More than 500 volunteers, 100

police personnel and 500 workers were

pressed into service to oversee various as-

Several stalls exhibited the various facets

of spiritual and devotional life of which

the ‘Kaun Banega Krishna Bhakta’ stall

based on a quiz on Bhagavad –gita and

organized by Bhakti Lata group attracted

the maximum number of visitors. While

delicious lunch prasad was arranged for

all Life Patrons, every person who visited

the temple got a cupful of hot halava.

The evening festivities saw several citi-

zens of society perform the Kalash

abhishek which culminated in the

maha-abhishek and maha-arati at

midnight.

Nilachal Dham Farm hosts its first Janmashtami

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Janmashtami 2012 Celebrations

Srila Prabhupada 116th Appearance Day

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ISKCON Juhu celebrated the 116th Vyasa

p u j a o f H i s D i v i n e G r a c e

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

on 11 August, 2011.

The festivities were spread throughout the

day starting with mangala-arati sung by

Srila Prabhupada followed by Sringar

darshan and Guru puja. Several senior

devotees and well-wishers gathered to

offer glorification to Srila Prabhupada

which was followed by pushpanjali (offering

of flowers) and maha-arati. The highlight of

the morning festivities was offering of 1500

bhoga items (foodstuffs) to Srila Prabhupada

as an expression of love and gratitude from

various temple department and devotees.

More than 250 families came together in the

evening to offer Kalash abhishek to Srila

Prabhupada which was followed by a

spectacular 108 arati offering.

Sarva Shanti yajna Devotees performed a Sarva Shanti yajna as part of the Janmashtami celebrations on 9 August 2012. A total of 11 yajna kundas

(sacrificial arena) were prepared where more than 50 families and devotees performed the fire sacrifice.

This year saw scare rainfall throughout India and thus the devotees performed the fire sacrifice, by chanting the Hare Krishna

Maha-mantra, as a special prayer to Lord Vishnu who removes all scarcity and brings all auspiciousness. During the yajna,

members at ISKCON prayed for refinement of human society and all round peace and prosperity of the citizens of Mumbai.

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INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS

Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Mumbai—400049. www.iskconmumbai.com , www.facebook/iskconjuhu.com

From the office of ISKCON Communications (Sri Sri Radha Rasabihariji Temple) For feedback write to us at: SSRRmonthly@gmail.com

Talk on good health by Uttam Maheshwari Uttam Maheshwari, an expert on health care

and well being, addressed more than 200

people at ISKCON Juhu extolling the health

and spiritual benefits of cow, cow seva and

cow products.

In his two hour lecture, Uttamji urged people to lead a simple life. He

explained the importance of cow and how various cow products such

ghee, cow urine, cow dung, etc are antibacterial and antioxidants and

can counter all the harmful effect of modern stressful life. He urged

listeners to include these cow products as part of their daily life to cure

and prevent several diseases which are a result of irregular and

unhealthy lifestyles.

He emphasized how serving and connecting with cow leads to spiritual

advancement and helps one to relax physically and rejuvenate

mentally. He urged everyone to visit ISKCON Juhu’s farm Nilachal

Dham at Talasari (Maharastra) which houses more than 20 cows. He

shared simple house hold tips to ward off ill health and counteract

harmful diseases.

Vyasa Puja Celebration of H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj Senior devotees at the temple and disciples

of HH Gopal Krishna Goswami came

together to celebrate his Vyasa Puja on 13

August 2012. The celebration began with

disciples carrying a picture of Maharaj from

his room (on first floor of Guest House

Bldg.) to the temple hall accompanied by a

small musical band and showering of rose

petals. The celebrations at the Mandapam

Hall included offering glorification to

Maharaj by senior devotees and disciples,

cake cutting ceremony, offering pushpan-

jali, arati and concluded with a delectable

Ekadasi lunch feast for all. This year HH

Gopal Krishna Goswami was in New Delhi

for his Vyasa puja celebration. A live relay

of the Vyasa Puja celebrations from

New Delhi was arranged for devotees and

disciples in Mumbai.

A tribute to Jagjit Singh On 7 August

2012, as part of

its Janmashtami

c e l e b r a t i o n s ,

m e mb e r s o f

Bh akt i Ka la

Kshetra along

w i t h w o r l d

renowned artists offered tribute to late Jagjit Singh.

Jagjit Singh was a devoted bhajan singer. ISKCON Auditorium was

one of the few places where he regularly sang bhajans and mentioned

that in doing so he felt very close to Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari, the

presiding Krishna Deity at ISKCON, Juhu. He, along with his wife

Chitra Singh compiled their first bhajan album named ‘Samarpan’ as

an expression of offering to Their Lordships. This year the Radha

Krishna Utsav 2012 was dedicated to late Jagjit Singh.

Several prominent artists who attended the tribute were Chitra Singh,

Anup Jalota, Hari Haran, Bhupendra Singh, Sailendra, Dhavid

Dhawan, Peenaz Masai, Kumar Thaurani (Tips), Champaklal Jain

(Venus) and many more.

26 Wednesday

23 Sunday

Srimati Radharani appearance Fasting till noon

September

2012

Vaishnava Calendar 12 Wednesday

21 Friday

28 Friday

17 Monday

29 Saturday

30 Sunday

20 Thursday

Fasting for Parama Ekadasi Breakfast 13.08 6:25—10:31 am

Second month of Chaturmasya

continues

Srimati Sita Thakurani appearance

Srimati Lalita Devi appearance

Ananta Caturdasi Vrata

Fasting for Parsva Ekadasi Breakfast 27.08 6:28—07:58 am

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur appearance Fasting till noon

Third month of Caturmasya

fasting from milk for one

month

Other Happenings ...

Child Protection Seminar A Child Protection Seminar

was held at ISKCON Juhu

from 23 – 24 August 2012.

Champakalata devi dasi,

International Director for

I S K C O N ’ s C e n t r a l

Office of Child Protection

conducted the four day

seminar with inputs from

professional experts like

Ms. Samindara Sawant, Director of Disha; Ms. Sneha Kupekar,

ChildLine and Ms. Asha Bajpai, Professor and Dean at TISS. Inputs

from the professional psychologist, child care helpline member,

lawyer, etc helped participants understand that protection of children

is a fundamental requirement in any society and helped the partici-

pants to recognize and deal with complaints of child abuse, if any.

The seminar saw participation of more than 90 congregational

devotees and educators associated from various ISKCON centers

across India. The participants, who are involved with children related

services like Sunday School, Day School, etc and were proposed by

their respective temples authorities or management to attend the

course and play an proactive role in preventing any form of abuse at

any schools and children related services at ISKCON temples in India.

ISKCON’s Central Office of Child Protection was established by the

Governing Body Commission to proactively prevent abuse and

reactively respond to complaints of abuse.

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Chant HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE & Be Happy!

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