{"id":2488,"date":"2016-05-01T07:18:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T01:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/?p=2488"},"modified":"2016-05-11T04:29:40","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T22:59:40","slug":"youre-all-invited-to-the-lithuanian-padayatraratha-yatra-june-16-21-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padayatra.com\/padayatra-new\/youre-all-invited-to-the-lithuanian-padayatraratha-yatra-june-16-21-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"YOU\u2019RE ALL INVITED TO THE LITHUANIAN PADAYATRA\/RATHA-YATRA June 13-19, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ananda Gaurangi Dasi<\/p>\n

You are all\u00a0 invited to participate \u00a0in the 2016 Padayatra\/Ratha-yatra in Lithuania. The\u00a0 Lithuanian Padayatra started in 1995. It usually takes place on the\u00a0 third week of June. We travel all over Lithuania by bus, having Ratha-yatras\u00a0 in different cities and staying for the night in rest houses. \u00a0There is no oxcart. There are 50 devotees travelling by bus, 6 devotees with the Deity team, 3 devotees with the kitchen team, and\u00a0 3 devotees with books in\u00a0 a separate car. The Sri Harinama Mandir Travelling Temple \u00a0consisting of about 15 brahmacaris joins us every year. So there is about 80 devotees travelling, \u00a0and in every city more devotees join us for Ratha-yatras, which amounts to a grand total of 100-150 devotees.<\/p>\n

Our special guests every year are Bhakti Caitanya Swami and our two local sannyasis Bhakti Saran\u00a0Santa \u00a0Goswami and Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami. Last year\u00a0 Niranjana Maharaj joined us for the first time. Sometimes we have kirtaniyas such as Nruhari Prabhu as our special guests. This year, hopefully, Vaiyasaki \u00a0Prabhu will be one of our special guests.<\/p>\n

We have a morning program, a \u00a0Srimad Bhagavatam class and \u00a0breakfast, after which we go to the place where the \u00a0Ratha-yatra will be that day. Usually we have one Ratha-yatra per day, and sometimes we have an additional harinama. During the Ratha-yatra we \u00a0distribute books and prasadam, \u00a0and in some cities we hold a cultural program. This year being ISKCON’s 50th anniversary, we\u2019ll try to\u00a0distribute more prasadam and also offer henna tattoos, if we get the permission from city governments. We plan to have cultural programs in more cities, and, if we don\u2019t get back too late,\u00a0 we\u2019ll also have kirtana in the evening.<\/p>\n

Our biggest and final Ratha-yatra takes place in the resort city of Palanga\u00a0 on Saturday. The next morning we\u2019ll \u00a0have an acknowledgments program along with book distribution results and some gifts.<\/p>\n

Special guests:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bhakti Caitanya Swami<\/p>\n

Bhakti Saran Santa Goswami<\/p>\n

Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Schedule:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

June 13, Monday<\/u><\/p>\n

09:30 Departure from Vilnius temple to Kaunas<\/p>\n

11:30 Ratha-yatra in Kaunas (from temple)<\/p>\n

15:00 Lunch in Kaunas temple<\/p>\n

17:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June 14, Tuesday<\/u><\/p>\n

09:30 Departure to Vilnius<\/p>\n

11:00 Ratha-yatra in Vilnius (from temple)<\/p>\n

15:00 Lunch in Vilnius temple<\/p>\n

17:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

June 15, Wednesday<\/u><\/p>\n

09:30 Departure to Druskininkai<\/p>\n

11:30 Ratha-yatra in Druskininkai<\/p>\n

14:30 Lunch<\/p>\n

17:30 Maha Harinama in Alytus<\/p>\n

19:00 Departure to rest house “Dalios sodyba”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June 16, Thursday<\/u><\/p>\n

09:30 Departure to Siauliai<\/p>\n

12:30 Ratha-yatra in Siauliai<\/p>\n

16:30 Lunch<\/p>\n

18:00 Departure to rest house “Paulina”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June 17, Friday<\/u><\/p>\n

12:00 Maha Harinama in Sventoji<\/p>\n

15:00 Lunch<\/p>\n

18:00 Maha Harinama in Palanga<\/p>\n

21:00 Departure to rest house “Paulina”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June 18, Saturday<\/u><\/p>\n

11:00 Maha Harinama in Klaipeda<\/p>\n

15:00 Lunch<\/p>\n

17:30 Ratha-yatra in Palanga<\/p>\n

21:30 Departure to rest house “Paulina”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June 19, Sunday<\/u><\/p>\n

08:00 Acknowledgments<\/p>\n

12:00 Departure<\/p>\n

Attached are some photographs from last year’s Ratha Yatra. Please join us.<\/p>\n