USA
August 23, 2003 VNN8296
A Transcendental Celebration
BY NY ISKCON
 NEW YORK, Aug 23 (VNN) — Sri Krishna Janmastami in New York- A Transcendental Celebration!
Dear Devotees and Friends,
Close to 1000 devotees made the pilgrimage to Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir to Celebrate the Transcendental Appearance Day of Lord Sri Krishna. It was a fun filled exciting festival, that began at 4:30am wiht a special Mangala-Arati darshan and kirtan. At 7:30am, Sri Sri Radha Govinda were offered a brand new dress which was sponsored by Rajesh Gulab, a congregation devotee, and his family. The dress was a fall themed dress with clusters of red sequin leaves, with gold trim. After the darshan, the deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishna were placed on their swing, for a special daytime Jhulan Yatra program. All day long, the devotees chanted and read from the Krishna Book, as well as making many food preparations which were offered to the deities every hour. Darshan in the new dress continued until 4:30pm after which time, the curtains closed, at which time the pujaris dressed Sri Sri Radha Govinda in another new dress.
At 7:00pm Sri Sri Radha Govinda were revealed in a stunning new flower dress. This dress featured 150 fragrant Gardenia flowers, and other varieties of naturally fragrant flowers. This was the best designed dress offered to Sri Sri Radha Govinda in many many years, and was designed by Vrinda Devi Dasi, wife of writer Satyaraja prabhu, as well as another long time NY devotee Caturvyuha Das, with the help of about 20 volunteers. This flower dress offering is by far the most famous part of the Janmastami festival, and is well known to Krishna devotees all over the New York Metro area.
The kirtana, which accompanied the 7pm arati went for 1 hour, and was followed by some traditional cultural performances of Bharat Natyam Dance, and a drama, entitled Krishna and Sudama, by the New Vaikuntha players.
Thereafter, the Second annual Golden Kalash Maha Abhiseka was performed with great excitement. More than 50 sponsors took the chance to assist the pujaris in the bathing ceremony of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. With their kind donations, the temple will be able to take up some needed building maintenance projects, including the installation a new temple room floor, purchasing a new AC/Heating unit, and the completion of the exterior wall rehabilitation.
After the Abhiseka, the competitive auction of Sri Sri Radha Govinda's Mahaprasad took place to the delight of the devotees. Many items which were used in the decoration and dressing of Sri Sri Radha Govinda over the years were bid upon and won by many devotees, including the just worn flower dress, deity crowns, ankle bells, and a special sliver flute which was used by Sri Sri Radha Madhava, at the ISKCON Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. Also, the midnight bhoga offering of close to 100 items, and a chance to offer midnight Arati, from the temple floor to Sri Sri Radha Govinda were sold to the highest bidder. Once again, as announced earlier, the proceeds from this auction will be used to cover some of the costs for the new Temple Room floor.
The Midnite Arati began a little later than 12:15am, and was the best part of the whole festival. The hundreds of devotees who stayed till the end pushed their way forward for a glimpse of the deities in their new Night outfit which was sponsored by Padmini Itwaru and her family. It was a sight to behold, as the deities shined in their new pink and green silk dress, covered with very fragrant flowers.
After the kirtan, everyone partook in a magnificent feast, of potato salad, paneer subji, plantain halavah, coconut burfi, and a nectar made of chilled rose syrup and milk. The feast was sponsored by Pijush Saha and his family, and was lovingly made by Srikanta Prabhu, and his team of kitchen volunteers. All in all, this festival was a sight to behold, as many devotees came together to celebrate the Appearance of the Lord. Many books were distributed, and prasadam was fed to hundreds of devotees, all evening long.
Please visit the NY temple website for some photos of this transcendental festival, and a report of Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja: http://www.radhagovinda.net/news
Your servants,
NY ISKCON
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