Forthcoming Festivals

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 7 February 2021, part 6

There is no problem with the accommodation in Sri Nrisingha Palli this year. Everybody will get many rooms now—Krishna has given us an opportunity to make a house this time. We have been doing the parikrama from Sri Nrisingha Palli for many years now, starting from 2017, and there was always a problem with accommodation—the temple accommodation is very small, and we had to always rent some houses outside, and the houses are not good, etc. It was a big problem. But this year by the mercy of Gurudev, by the mercy of all the devotees, by the mercy of Lord Nrisinghadev and Prahlad Maharaj, they have given some good accommodation to us. More than one hundred rooms should be ready before this Gaura Purnima.

Next week I am going for annual potato collection in Tarakeshwar area for four-five days starting from Tuesday. I will leave in the afternoon and stay there for four days. That is my programme. Actually, some devotees are collecting potato, but all these people want me to come to their house, they want to see me, that is why I go there myself. I can still walk, so it is not a problem—when I cannot walk anymore, then I can let others do this. I go door to door and this is also a good preaching for Gaura Purnima—we come and invite everyone to come for Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, and also the potato for the whole year comes in this way.

Actually, this year I had to give some potato to Mayapur temples, some to poor people, and some to devotees because there were not so many big festivals this year—Janmastami, Radhastami, even Srila Param Guru Maharaj's tirobhav festival was not so big. Festivals started actually from Srila Gurudev's appearance day. We did make all the other festivals in our temples, but only a small number of people could join (perhaps, one-two hundred people), and only Srila Gurudev's appearance festival was a big festival. That is why, we had to also sell some of the potato this year (this year, potato was very expensive).

Our Uluberia temple is now almost finished. I think we will inaugurate the temple of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar soon after Gaura Purnima festival. This is what I am thinking. Uluberia is a part of Howrah district, a very famous place, and there are so many devotees in Uluberia (many disciple of Srila Gurudev). That is why, I chose a place on the bank of the Ganges and made a temple there. I was offered another land, but that land was not quite suitable because the area was not good, and then one very old devotee gave his land for Srila Gurudev's mission and I chose to build the temple there, on the bank of the Ganges. That devotee is a householder, he took initiation when I had just joined Krishna consciousness.

When I lived in Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip, I sometimes went to swim in the Ganges. One time Gurudev also went to swim in the Ganges, and I went with him. I remember when we were swimming in the Ganges, Gurudev lost some stone [from his armlet or a ring]. When Gurudev came out onto the bank, he saw that stone came to his lotus feet. He said, "Oh, Mother Ganga Devi has taken it, and Mother Ganga Devi has given it back to me." I was swimming in the Ganges with Gurudev at that time... After I got diabetes, I started swimming in the Ganges, but later I had no time to go to the Ganges. Now I see we have got a land for a temple on the bank of the Ganges, and I was thinking I could sometimes go swimming in the Ganges—I could bathe in the Ganges instead of the bathroom. Anyhow, I chose that land, and now, within almost two years, the temple is finished. Almost everything there is clean now, only painting and the electrical wiring is left to do (there is electricity, but it is necessary to divide it).

You can come and join Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. You have a great fortune to do so. Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama starts from 22 March this year. 22 March is the adhivas, and the parikrama starts from 23 March. Come, you will get a special benefit. You can come alone or you can bring along your friends, relatives, it is not a problem. Everybody will get accommodation. Come for seven-eight days—the parikrama itself is five days, one day is Gaura Purnima (the main festival), and the next day is the mahotsav. Join, it is good for you.

Are there any questions today?

You can use cow dung as fertiliser—if you have cow dung, do not use any chemical fertiliser; if you use only cow dung, it is good. In Nrisingha Palli, Sri Prahlad Maharaj now has so many cows—there are ten-elven cows now in Sri Nrisingha Palli. One cow had a calf there, one cow had a calf in Hapaniya, one more cow had a calf in Bankura, and three(!) cows recently had calves in Ekachakra. We now have so many cows in Ekachakra too (more than fifteen!)—initially, I brought only one cow, Padmavati, and now Padmavati has a very big family. Three cows there are giving milk, and the temple is getting so much milk. Also, I received a phone call today from Hapaniya—one more calf was born. And it is actually a miracle—I do not really like bulls, and the miracle is that all the cows are giving female calves, not bulls. [His Divine Grace laughs.]

The holy appearance day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu is coming soon—there will be a big festival in Ekachakra on Nityananda Prabhu's trayodasi tithi. Ekachakra is the birthplace of Nityananda Prabhu, and we have a temple of Sri Sri Guru Gaura Nityananda Prabhu there. This temple was founded on the appearance day of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. We are inviting you all to join this festival—if you cannot come physically, you can join this festival through your heart, through your mind. I will try to make a live programme from there—if we get a chance and the signal is good, we can do that.

"Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe, dhara nitaiyer charana duhkhani—When Nitai bestows His mercy on you, you will reach Radha-Krishna in Vraja. Grasp Nitai's feet, O miserable soul!"

This festival will take place on 25 February, this month. I will go there five-six days before to arrange the grand festival. You know what a great festival takes place there every year—those who have been there, know it, they have seen it with their own eyes. Afraid of covid, the government told me not to make it four days—they asked to make it three days only. I agreed—there will be only a small festival on ekadasi, after that dvadasi, tryodasi, and chaturdasi will be a three-day festival. I told the officials that 25,000 people will take prasad every day—75,000 people in total...

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