By the time the party crosses the Gauranga Setu bridge, it gets quite
bright.
Sri Surabhi Kunja Math where Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur wrote some of his
books and where Surabhi, the divine wish-fulfilling cow, eternally resides
and worships Gauranga.
The humble altar in a side building within the territory of the Math.
The nat-mandir and the mandir itself are becoming gradually manifest, each
year the construction progress
is obvious. His Divine Grace said to
everyone that there is no pratistha at this place and asked the devotees
to make some donation to the temple.
Ashok Prabhu, Tilak Krishna Prabhu (the current manager of our Sri Ekachakra Math), Sripad B.C. Parvat Maharaj,
and Balaram Prabhu.
The Math stands right on the bank of the Ganges, the domes of the Iskcon temples are visible on the other bank.
The domes of Sri Surabhi Kunja Math.
The next place is Svananda Sukhada Kunja, the bhajan kutir of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. This is the house where Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur would chant loudly on the roof and see Lord Nrisingha Dev rushing to the arati of Mahaprabhu. This is the house from which Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur could see the effulgence coming from the birthplace of Mahaprabhu in Mayapur that led him to discovering and establishing the actual place.
The Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar and Sri Giridhari worshipped by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur.
The place is small and our Parikrama party fills its every corner.
Sripad Yudhamanyu Prabhu came for Gaura Purnima bringing alone two Chinese
devotees.
Ananda Vigraha Prabhu is to the left of him.
The nat mandir of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur's bhajan kutir.
After Svananda Sukhada Kunja, the party continues Sankirtan through the
fields
and narrow streets of Godrumdwip on to the next place.
The next stop is Harihara Ksetra, the place marking the pastime of Lord Siva
and Mohini Murti.
The two colours of the Deity come from the embrace of Mohini Murti (Lord Vishnu, dark) and Lord Siva (light).
As every year, the devotees honour prasadam in the field adjacent to the temple.
After honouring prasadam, devotees go to the Harihara temple and have a short
stop there.
In a very lively manner, Srila B.P. Janardan Maharaj told the story of
Harihara Deity.
Both Westerners and Bengalis were engrossed into listening about the
Pastime.
After the class in the nat mandir, Srila B.B. Avadhut Maharaj asked Srila
Acharya Maharaj to speak about the temple
in English to a group of
Russian devotees.
The last stop for the day is Nrisingha Palli, which is a rather long distance
away. On the way, the devotees stop
at the tree marking a resting place
of Mahaprabhu.
His Divine Grace resting in the shade of the tree.
The Parikrama party continues its way to Nrisingha Palli.
Lord Nrisinghadev, worshipped with grandeur at Nrisingha Palli.
After Nrisingha Palli, at about 3 p.m., most devotees return by rikshaw,
auto-rikshaw or 'flats',
and a handful of devotees returns with the
Parikrama cart by 6-7 p.m.
It is the extraordinary joy in the chanting and dancing of the returned party
that bears witness to the power of the Holy Name.
In the evening, after the aratis and the parikrama, His Divine Grace Srila
B.N. Acharya Maharaj comes to the pandal at Sri Govinda Kunda to give the
evening talk and sing the kirtans. This evening the devotees are taken by
surprise by a sudden outbreak of heavy rain.
The chilly wind and rain do not disrupt the programme, but actually only
increase the audience at the pandal.