© 1999 VNN
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USA June 3, 1999 VNN4031 Comment on this story Prabhupada Festival Enlivens Devotees BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA  USA, Jun 3 (VNN) — Hundreds of devotees from around the world attended the 8th annual Prabhupada Festival here in LA. The devotees cooperated nicely to put on this great event in grand style. The street was blocked off and a nice pond and stage was erected along with many colorful tents. The pond was filled with floating gardenias, Srila Prabhupada favorite, and devotees made offerings to float on the water. The festival went on into the night with Srila Prabhupada in his murti form from his room brought down to his Vyasasana to watch the Vaisnava entertainment. One of the highlights was Lila Devi Dasi's inovative Dance performance. Hundreds of devotees attended and the nectar was flowing in waves. Krsna helped with the glorification by giving us good weather despite the cloudy forecasts. A Maha Harinama was performed on Saturday night in Santa Monica. Srila Prabhupada's garden was redone very nicely and now it is quite pleasant. The Prabhupada-anugas set up their own book table down the street and distributed many literatures in glorification of His Divine Grace. All parties got along quite well by the mercy of Sri Guru and Gouranga. I especially enjoyed the kirtans. They are more potent with more devotees involved. The best dancers were Vrajendrananda Prabhu and Bhusaya Prabhu and Vaisyaseka Prabhu. It's always nice to have Sruti Kirti's smiling face at the festivals and he shared more nectar about Srila Prabhupada. There were many others and I myself found myself jumping higher than I thought I could due to the potency of the kirtan and Vaisyaseka's drumming. There is nothing better than a kirtan that makes you sweat in my book. The medicine of kirtan heals all! I hosted 7 devotees including Jagadatri Devi Dasi who said she just loved the festival. She said that seeing her Godbrothers and sisters so Krsna Conscious has inspired her to get more fired up. She was one of the best dancers also. The maha room increased their Maha but still sold out everyday. The feast was also awesome and the devotees were enjoying spiritual bliss. What could be better than great kirtan, great prasadam and entertainment and talks in glorification of the greatest guru? I realized that even though Srila Prabhupada physically disappeared 22 years ago, he is still present more than ever and is deserving and receiving more worship than ever and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives and beyond. All glories to the jagat guru who can unite us all and take us back home if we just follow his instructions. All glories to all of the devotees who took part in this great festival. Best wishes, Gauridasa Pandita Dasa About the Author | Other Stories by this Author Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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