Crowd attends Hare Krishna festival

Bhaktivedanta Manor, England – March 24, 2013 (VNN) via Press Association

Members of the Hare Krishna congregation take part in a holy Hindu ritual called Yajna at the Bhaktivedanta Manor Krishna temple (PA)

Thousands of people have attended a colourful and rhythmic festival at a Hare Krishna temple.

Forty years after the religious group moved into a manor house bought by the c George Harrison, they celebrated with prayers, songs and ancient costumes.

Vinay Tanna, a spokesman for Bhaktivedanta Manor, said: “Although it’s been very cold, we have seen the best colours and thousands of people.”

The celebrations, which were timed to mark the start of spring, culminated with robed priests pouring clarified butter – called ghee – onto open fires in a ritual called a Yajna, and the guests throwing different colours at each other.

Mr Tanna estimated around 10,000 people attended the festival at Bhaktivedanta Manor, near Radlett in Hertfordshire.