By Ananda Gaurangi dasi
Padayatra Lithuania 2015 took place in four major Lithuanian cities – Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai and the biggest Lithuanian resort city – Palanga. This year we had four special guests: Niranjana Swami for the first time, and Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Bhakti Saran Santa Goswami and Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami. The presence of Niranjana Swami made Padayatra bigger – more devotees who usually don’t travel with the Padayatra party joined the festival because of him. It was a special experience for them as well as for the public. Bhakti Caitanya Swami , the actual chief of the Lithuanian Padayatra, blessed us again with his presence as he has done for many years. We couldn’t imagine Padayatra without him and we are very grateful for his support and inspiration.
This year we had four Ratha-yatras, in Vilnius, Kaunas, Siauliai and the main one in Palanga, as well as two harinamas – one in Klaipeda and one in Palanga. Usually we wouldn’t have harinamas in smaller cities like Klaipeda because there are too little people there, especially in the summer time – we usually have harinamas in resort cities -, but this year we decided to do it. And it was a really special experience. For half of the harinama we walked in the marketplace. It was a Saturday midday and we were singing and dancing in the place where people were selling and buying things. There was such a contrast between their activities –buying and selling material things- and ours –serving the transcendental Lord by chanting His holy names- that both devotees and public were really surprised and excited. Our chanting was something new and unusual for the people in the market place and the location of the harinama was new for the devotees, as we usually go to the city centers and old towns.
The other memorable thing that happened to us is that on our way to Palanga our bus broke down and we couldn’t continue travelling. It was more than two hours drive to the place we were supposed to stay and from there go on the harinama in Palanga. Unfortunately we couldn’t do anything about it. We just had to wait in a gas station for another bus to come and get us. Devotees waited for several hours, they missed the harinama, were hungry and tired. Despite these reverses they were so inspired that they had kirtana and tried to distribute books right on the gas station. Finally they arrived in Palanga at about 11 p.m. instead of 5 p.m.
What is more interesting is that the harinama in Palanga took place despite the fact the most of the party was stuck in the gas station. We asked some devotees to come to the gas station and drive the sannyasis to Palanga, so they didn’t have to wait behind for several hours. In Palanga, besides the sannyasis, there was the team of brahmacaris and book distributors and some devotees who had come there to take part in the harinama. So they made a small harinama, with the inspiring presence of our special guests. Nothing could stop our preaching tour, even the broken bus! It was so inspiring!
The last morning, as usual, we had the book distribution results and acknowledgments session. We had also decided to have an interactive class where our special guests, senior devotees and anyone who wanted to, could share their realizations and feeling about Padayatra in general and about this year’s festival.
First we let our special guests and senior devotees speak. We heard a lot of inspirations, stories from the first Lithuanian Padayatras as well as experiences from this year’s festival and glorifications of devotees who serve for many years. Younger devotees and those who took part in the festival for the first time also shared their impressions. At the very end Niranjana Swami spoke about his experience of organizing Ratha-yatras, what Ratha-yatra means and how it is the perfect opportunity for preaching and spiritual development. He told us that he was very happy to have taken part in the festival.
Then we had the book distribution results along with some stories from the book distributors and prizes for the best ones. During the acknowledgements session we expressed our gratitude to all the devotees who made this festival possible – the sponsors, the deity and the kitchen teams, the guru department, the book distribution team, etc. We focused especially on the deity team – devotees who served from early morning till late evening like no other department does and who make the Ratha-yatra happen. The devotees of the Deity team got a big cake for their glorious service. All the other departments got symbolic but tasty prizes in the form of watermelons. Padayatra Lithuania 2015 ended with Niranjana Swami distributing pieces of a large cake to all the devotees.
This year’s Padayatra was different in several wonderful ways. The presence of Niranjana Maharaja, the larger number of devotees, the uncommon adventures and an ecstatic mood made it more attractive both for the devotees and the public. Everyone was so grateful and happy. Lord Jagannath is so merciful!
Padayatra Lithuania 2016: June 14 to 19
Our planned special guests are Bhakti CaitanyaSwami, Bhakti Saran Santa Goswami, Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami and Nruhari Prabhu. We are also praying Lord Jagannath to be blessed again with the presence of Niranjana Swami.
