Hare Krishna festival
MIDRAND – International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) is preparing for the celebration of the Sri Krishna Janmastami celebration which will take place on 23 August.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) is preparing for the celebration of Sri Krishna Janmastami, a night of drama, discourses, delightful vegetarian dishes and more, to be held on 23 August at the Sagewood School in Midrand.
The society will host a festival along with other branches nationally and globally across 75 countries.
According to the Midrand Iskon temple president, RadheShyam Das, Janmashtami is the celebration of the appearance of Krishna on earth and is celebrated with great fervour by millions of people across the world
Das said throughout the day of the celebration, numerous people engaged in various culinary activities. “One of the specialties of Janmashtami is the offerings made to the Lord. The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, who is offered 108 different food items at midnight,” he added.
“With great care and attention, devotees prepare these food items to be offered to their beloved Lord. Tons of sweets are prepared for distributing to visitors who come to the temple during the day and attend the evening programme.”
Das said Iskcon Midrand had a wonderful night lined up which would include a free vegetarian feast to be served throughout the evening of the festival.
“This community-wide festival is free and open to all, a perfect event to invite neighbours and colleagues to showcase the rich Vedic culture which contributes to Midrand’s diversity.
“The festival, which commences at 7pm on 23 August will be held at the Sagewood School Hall, in Noordwyk, Midrand.”
And in honour of the Iskcon founder, Iskcon Midrand will celebrate the appearance day of its founder, His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, on 24 August with a programme commencing at 10am.
On 11 July 1966, Swami Srila Prabhupada officially registered Iskcon in New York, USA. At the time, said Das, he had one small storefront on New York’s lower east-side, and a handful of students.
“Today, Iskcon, popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement, includes over 500 major centres, temples and rural communities, nearly 100 affiliated vegetarian restaurants, thousands of local meeting groups [namahattas], a wide variety of community projects, and millions of congregational members worldwide.”
However, Das added that Swami Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution, apart from founding Iskcon, was his books.
“In the last 10 years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe 12 times on lecture tours that took him to six continents.
“In spite of such a vigorous schedule, he continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture that are available and distributed in almost every country across the world in different languages today.
“Swami Srila Prabhupada’s books are highly respected in the global academic community, and the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust [BBT] exclusively publishes the works of Srila Prabhupada. BBT has thus become the world’s largest publisher of books in the field of Vedic religion and philosophy as it is.”
For more information on the festival, residents who are interested can contact Bhakti-Rasa on 084 566 7459 or email brindaveni@iskconmidrand.org
Related article:
https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/100971/hare-krishnas-pay-tribute-to-tata/
