By Shyam Gopal Dasa<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The devotees of ISKCON NOIDA[1]<\/a> performed a 15 day padayatra<\/em> from October 2nd<\/sup> to October 15th<\/sup>. The route began in NOIDA (Indraprastha) and ended in Sri Vrindavan Dham. NOIDA is approximately 150 kilometres away from Vrindavan.\u00a0 The padayatra, <\/em>which was organized as of part of the ISKCON golden jubilee celebrations was the first of its kind in the history of Delhi or the National Capital Region[2]<\/a> (NCR). The inspiration behind the walk was none-other than the Padayatra Minister, Lokanath Swami Maharaja; \u2013it was also made possible by the efforts of Vanshidhar Dasa, Co-President of ISKCON NOIDA and many other devotees from the congregation.<\/p>\n We had a team of 50 devotees who were engaged in various services such as s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em>a<\/em>, p<\/em>rasadam<\/em> distribution, book distribution and walking. The main attraction was a bullock cart carrying the deities of Sri Sri Gaur Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. We also had one s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em>a<\/em> van which transported Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books, p<\/em>rasadam<\/em> and other paraphernalia for distribution.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 1, Sunday October 2nd<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n Chalo Vrindavan ki ore!<\/strong><\/p>\n Festivities began at 2pm at ISKCON NOIDA with Kratu Maharaj inaugurating the padayatra <\/em>and performing the first arati<\/em> to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. It was also Maharaja\u2019s vyasa puja,<\/em> which was celebrated at ISKCON NOIDA, and a national holiday. The inauguration was attended by two temple donors, Mr. Vallabh Prasad Aggrawal and Mr. Harvilas. A very festive atmosphere was created with the jubilant kirtanas<\/em> and the participation of 1000 congregation devotees. Padayatra<\/em> was then launched with tumultuous cries of \u2018Chalo Vrindavan ki ore!\u2019(\u2018Let\u2019s go to Vrindavan!\u2019 This was our padayatra <\/em>slogan) from the crowd. At that time the sky was decorated with clouds and a soothing wind was blowing \u2013it felt as if the demigods had assembled to welcome Gaura Nitai\u2019s padayatra <\/em>procession.<\/p>\n We covered 15 kilometres that day, travelling through Noida\u2019s sectors 50 and 41, where we were respectively received with grand welcomes from Jagannatha Dasa and Ananda Prada Dasi. We held sankirtana <\/em>and distributed prasadam <\/em>and books as we marched towards the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF[3]<\/a>) camp in the Greater NOIDA area. We made our first stop there, staying at the A.C Guest House, where we were welcomed by the ex-Minister of the Uttar Pradesh government, Nawab Singh Nagar and Mr. Pradeep Tyle. Mr. Nawab Singa Nagar garlanded Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and the devotees; in turn Vansidhar Dasa garlanded him and gave him a gift to thank him for his support. Afterwards, we all ate prasadam <\/em>and rested, very pleased that the walk had gone pleasantly the first day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 2, Monday October 3rd<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n We held our first mangal arati <\/em>program on Monday morning at 5am, after which the bullocks and devotees started walking again at 6am. When we began the walk all the devotees sang along to the maha mantra<\/em> in Srila Prabhupada\u2019s melody and distributed prasadam <\/em>along the way. Our padayatra <\/em>party then reached a factory called \u2018Priya Gold\u2019 owned by Mr. Ballabh Prasad Aggrawal. He kindly received us all by garlanding Gaura Nitai and the devotees.\u00a0 We sang kirtana <\/em>for his factory employees, and many of them purchased books and had prasadam <\/em>afterwards. Vansidhar Dasa then gave a class to everyone about the instruction given by Srila Prabhupada to Lokanath Swami in 1976 to organise ISKCON\u2019s first padayatra<\/em>. After class Mr. Aggrawal served us all a sumptuous prasadam <\/em>feast. He also donated more than 5000 packets of biscuits for us to distribute. We then left to continue the rest of our journey \u2013our next stop being the ISKCON Centre in the Greater NOIDA extension area. Our party eventually reached there at 1pm that day. The manager of the centre, Vedanta Caitanya Dasa, gave us a cordial welcome upon our arrival. Later that evening, we all went to a house program which was followed by harinam<\/em> and book distribution. We covered a total of 15 kilometres that day.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 3, Tuesday October 4th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n After mangal arati <\/em>at the centre we set off walking on the large, wide roads of the Greater NOIDA area, chanting and distributing prasadam <\/em>along the way. We made a stop at Mahamuni Dasa\u2019s home , where he welcomed us, performed arati <\/em>to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and then served us breakfast at around 8 am. Our party then set off again but stopped when we saw an Epack Factory where we did harinam <\/em>and distributed books to the factory workers and the factory owner \u2013who kindly served us all light prasadam<\/em> after that. Vansidhar Dasa thanked the owner and staff by giving them photo frames with pictures of the Lord and garlanding them.<\/p>\n School children delight in the holy names<\/strong><\/p>\n Padayatra then moved on, this time covering a greater distance of 18 kilometres to the village of Ajampur Garhi. We stopped at the AYS School there \u2013the principal of which was recently introduced to the ISKCON Centre in the Greater NOIDA area by Arvind Dasa. We sang kirtana <\/em>and held a lecture for the children at 1pm. They really enjoyed the program and danced during the kirtana<\/em>.\u00a0 We also distributed Bhagavad-Gita and other books at the school. That evening, Daksha Dasa, an ISKCON NOIDA congregation devotee and resident of Ajampur Garji, invited us to his home for prasadam<\/em>. We were staying outside the village at the time but took the bullock cart along when we went to his home. It had begun to drizzle when we were performing gaura arati <\/em>in the village. We distributed 300 plates of halwa <\/em>to the villagers and afterwards all the padayatris <\/em>went to the school to rest comfortably until the next day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 4, Wednesday October 5th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n Danakaur<\/strong><\/p>\n After mangal arati <\/em>in the AYS School we continued walking to the village of Danakaur. This village has a significant history, as it is the place where Ekalavya gave his thumb as guru-daksina <\/em>to Drona Acarya. During our walk the weather was pleasant, the sun was covered by clouds and there was a little drizzle. In the next village we were welcomed by the sarpanch <\/em>or head of the village.<\/em> After seeing all the padayatris <\/em>enter the village, he told us how impressed he was with the padayatra <\/em>and how he wanted to be more like us. He then welcomed us into his home for breakfast When we left he promised to chant one round of the maha mantra <\/em>daily and to read the Bhagavad-Gita.<\/p>\n When we reached Danakaur we received a nice welcome from the local residents and stayed at the Durga Mandir in Unchi Dankaur. In the evening a group of the local residents prepared a feast for us. Afterwards, we preformed harinam sankirtana<\/em>, distributed books and prasadam,<\/em> held gaura arati, <\/em>which the local residents also attended. Dharmaraj Dasa gave a short lecture and showed a video called \u201cHare Krishna World\u201d. We walked 13 kilometres that day.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 5, Thursday October 6th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n After the morning program we headed towards Jewar, a far distance of 30 kilometres away. We decided the best way to cover the distance was to walk on the Yamuna Expressway – we even had breakfast there on the roadside. Thankfully it wasn\u2019t very hot and there was a cool wind blowing. We reached \u2018Tehni Wale Baba\u2019s Ashram\u2019 in Jewar at 2pm. All the padayatris <\/em>were exhausted from the long walk and rested at the ashram<\/em>. In the evening, after having prasadam,<\/em> we did harinama <\/em>on the streets of Jewar. It was a fervent reception from the locals who happily took pamphlets, books and prasadam.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 6, Friday October 7th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n The morning program took place at the Tehni Wale Baba Ashrama, after which Vanshidhar Dasa thanked the Ashram Babji for allowing us to stay there. Our next destination was Tupple. While walking we distributed lots of prasadam <\/em>to the school children we saw. Upon arriving in Tupple we went to the \u2018Jeevan Singh Degree College\u2019 where we would be staying. The principal of the college was actually a follower of Srila Prabhupada. He happily purchased a set of Bhagavatam books and even sponsored our evening prasadam<\/em>. He also invited us to do harinama <\/em>in his village,and we obliged, of course, with our regular distribution of pamphlets, books and prasadam<\/em>. We held our gaura arati <\/em>program in the college; the principal of the college and some village men also attended the arati. Two new devotees joined the padayatra <\/em>that night, Hari Kirtan Dasa and another devotee, and they stayed with us for the last three days. We had walked 15 kilometres from Jewar to Tupple that day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 7, Saturday, October 8th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n We held our morning program at the Degree College in Tupple. A few devotees from NOIDA and the Greater NOIDA area joined us for the week-end. Padayatra\u2019s <\/em>next destination was the town of Jattari where the chief of the \u2018Shyam Goshala\u2019 was eagerly awaiting our arrival. As we entered the town we chanted the holy names and so on, which was very warmly welcomed by the local people. We then headed towards a hall usually used for marriage ceremonies next to the goshala<\/em>, and rested there until the evening program. The chief of the g<\/em>oshala<\/em> greatly encouraged our h<\/em>arinam <\/em>s<\/em>ankirtan<\/em> program. We walked 10 kilometres that day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 8, Sunday, October 9th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n We held our morning program at the marriage hall in Jattari and were happy to see that more devotees had come to join us on account of it being a Sunday. Our next destination was Bajna, the first village we would visit that was on the border of Vraja. Once we reached there we stayed for two days. Our party had accommodation in a private school run by Simhachalam Dasa, an ISKCON NOIDA congregational devotee. His many family members living in Bajna, including his mother and father, welcomed us warmly. They also kindly took care of the prasadam <\/em>and program arrangements while we were there. When evening came we went out with the bullock cart with the local residents joining us, so we decided to invite them to sit for a lecture and to watch the \u2018ISKCON World\u2019 video. After the program we distributed prasadam <\/em>to everyone. Padayatra<\/em> walked 20 kilometres that day.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 9, Monday, October 10th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n This was our second day in Bajna. We had a full morning program with a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture given by Hari Kirtan Das. After breakfast all the padayatris<\/em> went out on h<\/em>arinam <\/em>s<\/em>ankirtana<\/em> around the town, as usual joined by some locals. The people were so kind that they heartily welcomed us by serving us drinks and fruits in three different places in town. During that evening program Vansidhar Dasa gave a lecture and we showed the video of \u201cLittle Krishna\u201d. Thereafter Vanshidhar Dasa presented gifts to Simhachalam Dasa\u2019s father and uncle, thanking them for their support to the padayatra<\/em>. We rested for the remainder of the day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 10, Tuesday, October 11th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n On the morning of Oct 11th<\/sup> we set off towards Naujheel, right after m<\/em>angala arati<\/em>. In Naujheel we stayed at a college. We were lucky that the river Yamuna was not very far from us and many devotees took the opportunity to take a dip in the holy waters. Later that evening, our padayatra <\/em>team was blessed with the association of Sundarlal Dasa from Mauritius who gave us a beautiful class. This was made possible through the efforts of Krishna Bhakta Dasa who had made arrangements for Sundarlal Dasa to come from Vrindavan. \u00a0Afterwards we went to the main market in Naujheel to do h<\/em>arinam<\/em>. We were fortunate that it was Vijayadashmi[4]<\/a> day so there were lots of people who eagerly participated in the h<\/em>arinama<\/em> and took p<\/em>rasadam<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 11, Wednesday, October 12th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n We held our mangal arati<\/em> program in Naujheel before setting off to the village of Tainti. This village is connected to a famous pastime of Krishna \u2013it is one of the places where the Lord used to whistle to call the cows and cowherd boys. Our padayatra<\/em> party stayed at a local temple. A charitable man named Mr. Goverdhan Seth had made some nice arrangements for us during our stay there. Vanshidhar Dasa thanked him for his support by presenting with a Bhagavad-Gita and a photo frame of Sri Sri Radha Govinda Dev, ISKCON NOIDA\u2019s presiding Deities. Later that evening we went to the market for nagar sankirtana.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 12, Thursday, October 13th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n The next morning we headed towards the village of Maat. Actually, the soil of Maat was used to make clay pots to store butter used in Krishna\u2019s pastimes. Our padayatris <\/em>chanted and danced with renewed enthusiasm as we reached Bhadra Van, made famous because it used to be a pasture grounds for Krishna\u2019s cows \u2013today it is a very beautiful forest. We had breakfast at the house of a Vrajvasi in Bhadra Van; the prasadam \u2013 rotis<\/em> and buttermilk –<\/em>had a unique vraj <\/em>flavour. After breakfast we all took darsana<\/em> of the Bhadir Vihari deities and Venu Koop, a well made by Lord Krishna with His flute for His thirsty cowherd boys.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 13, Friday, October 14th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n After our usual morning program we began walking to a village called Paani Goa, located near Vrindavan. On our way there we stopped at Manasarovar around 9am. This place has a very special significance \u2013it is the location where Srimati Radharani came in the mood of anger towards Krishna. The word \u2018maan\u2019 signifies anger and is used when Radharani acts angry and feels hurt because of Krishna\u2019s neglect. There is a temple on the bank of this lake dedicated to Srimati Radharani[5]<\/a>. The gopis also sang the Gopi Geet there in the mood of maha-ras<\/em>. We all took darsana <\/em>of Srimati Radharani and then some of the padayatris <\/em>took a holy dip in the lake. This was followed by a class on the pastimes of Manasarovar, given by Vanshidhar Dasa, and then it was time for prasadam. <\/em>When we arrived in Paani Gaon all the padayatris <\/em>were elated to have finally reached Vrindavan.<\/p>\n Making headlines<\/strong><\/p>\n A few reporters came to meet us where we were staying and interviewed Vanshidhar Dasa about the padayatra. <\/em>Later that evening, Ista Deva Dasa gave a class on the places where Lord Krishna performed His pastimes in Vraj. We were also fortunate to receive a Skype video call from Lokanath Swami who thanked and congratulated us on for having a successful padayatra, <\/em>and \u00a0he also gave us his blessings. After having prasadam <\/em>we rested for the rest of the night.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 14, Saturday October 15th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n That morning we headed towards Vrindavan, first crossing the Yamuna river and reaching the Parikrama Marg. All the padayatris<\/em> chanted and danced in ecstasy. We stopped at at Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu\u2019s b<\/em>aithak <\/em>to take d<\/em>arsan<\/em>a<\/em> of the deities of Lord Caitanya and Lord Jagannath. After that we went on h<\/em>arinam <\/em>s<\/em>ankirtana<\/em> again with 50 devotees from NOIDA who had just arrived to join us. During the harinam<\/em> we stopped at two places where people came up to us to welcome us, offer garlands and give gifts to the deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. People also served us p<\/em>rasadam<\/em>. Before long we reached the Krishna Balaram Mandir where the padayatra <\/em>was welcomed by the ISKCON Vrindavan devotees. Pancha Gauda Dasa, the temple president of ISKCON Vrindavan, congratulated us all for doing this padayatra<\/em>. Sanaka Sanatan Dasa then performed ar<\/em>a<\/em>ti<\/em> for Sri Sri Gaura Nitai with many devotees attending. After taking darsana <\/em>of the Krishna Balaram Mandir\u2019s deities all the padayatris<\/em> headed for Kalia Dah where we stayed at a guest house. We parked the padayatra <\/em>cart just in front of the ashrama<\/em> and for the rest of the day everything went on as usual, bhoga <\/em>offerings, sandhya and shayan aratis<\/em>. Vanshidhar Dasa later spoke about the Kaliya Damana pastimes, and then it was time for p<\/em>rasadam<\/em>. That afternoon, we held a \u2018padayatri <\/em>realisations session\u2019 where all the p<\/em>adayatr<\/em>is<\/em> were encouraged to share their wonderful experiences on p<\/em>adayatra<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 15, Sunday October 16th<\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n Vrindavan Parikrama<\/strong><\/p>\n Padayatra<\/em> arrived at Vrindavan, the last leg of our journey, on October 15th.E<\/sup> Even though we had completed our mission we decided to stay on till October 16th because that day was s<\/em>harad <\/em>p<\/em>urnima<\/em>, the beginning of the holy month of Kartikka\u2013and also the first day of the ISKCON Vraja Mandal Parikrama<\/em>. There were thousands of devotees in Vrindavan who had come from all over the world to participate in the parikrama<\/em>. The Krishna Balaram temple was filled with v<\/em>aisnavas <\/em>and v<\/em>aisnavis<\/em>. It was around 5am when we saw many devotees assembling for the Vrindavan Parikrama \u2013it was their day one out of what would be 30 days on p<\/em>arikrama<\/em>.<\/p>\n Our bullock cart also arrived from Kaliya Daha at the Krishna Balaram temple around the same time \u2013we waited at the entrance under a tree with Srila Prabhupada\u2019s k<\/em>irtana<\/em> playing and a few lights on. The thousands of people who were going on the Vrindavan Parikrama were thus able to take darsan<\/em>a<\/em> of Gaura Nitai and view the map of our p<\/em>adayatra <\/em>route posted on the cart. We also distributed pamphlets to everyone. Then, at around 5:30am, the Vraja Mandal team headed in our direction, lead by Narsimha Maharaja, Istadeva Dasa and many others. They carried with them deities of Srila Prabhupada and Gaura Nitai. When they arrived in front of our padayatra <\/em>cart we welcomed them with garlands and also offered our obeisances to all the assembled v<\/em>