All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

Day Four

20 March 2008

Text by Malini Devi Dasi
Pictures by Malini Devi Dasi and Dhira Krishna Prabhu

Adhivas | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Sri Gaura Purnima

Parikrama Day Four

Today is the Adhivas of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's holy advent day. Srila Govinda Maharaj sees the party off again just before sunrise, for the fourth and final day of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Nabadwip Dham Parikrama.

Turning right at the gate, and right again in the opposite direction from the Ganges and Gauranga Setu, the sankirttan party covers several kilometres before arriving at Samudragarh, where the party pauses for a while before proceeding to the ancient Sri Gaura-Gadadhar Mandir. The brahmachari at the Sri Gaura-Gadadhar Mandir takes lead of the programme and then the parikrama party receives breakfast Prasadam under the shade of the trees of the famed champak flowers.

A long walk along a road amidst bright green rice-fields brings us to the place of Gupta Radha Kunda, where the Bengalis throw themselves into a surprisingly wild kirttan, including the ladies who usually hold back a little from expressing themselves too evidently. It seems they are inspired by the freedom displayed by the Westerners when they unselfconsciously dance and sing the Lord's Holy Names!

Soon after we reach Vidyanagar Sarvabhauma Gaudiya Math, which is just beside Sri Vrindavan Das Thakur's appearance place. Lunch Prasadam is served here, with people pressing at the gates to take their seat since there is not enough space for everybody within the grounds - hardly surprising since the parikrama group is so large!

Again, several people take rickshaws back to the Math while the die-hard walkers return at around sunset. At that time, arati and the parikrama around the Temples is taking place as usual, with an attendance way beyond the capacity of the buildings.

We then return to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. In the evening in the Seva Ashram beside Sri Govinda Kunda, Sripad Janardan Maharaj gives a class, although Sripad Goswami Maharaj has generally been giving the evening classes during this festival time. Sripad Avadhut Maharaj translates the classes into Russian and a small group forms to simultaneously translate into Spanish. Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is always offering supreme spiritual nourishment to the devotees, both Indian and Western, during this festival period.

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