Ullamaya Ma (Ulla-Maija Kivimaki)
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Ullamaya Ma
Pilgrimage & Music Adventure
MAYAPUR
On the bus, waiting at Iskcon Kolkata to leave for Mayapur. Saw these boys brushing their teeth for 15 minutes by this pond!
A 4-hour drive...
....rice paddies everywhere....
..and in Mayapur lots of new construction in the middle of rice paddies...
...including the amazing ISKCON Mayapur http:// www.mayapur.com/
My room is in one of the many big buildings....
Rooms are new and huge!
Nice clean bathroom
Immaculate gardens....
View from my building
The “old” temple complex....
..and the enormous new temple and samadhi for A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada, Founder of ISKCON.
Artwork everywhere...
Countless dioramas, scenes from the lives of the saints...
The "Kirtan Kutir" is being expanded.
The non-stop, 24-hour chanting never stops, not even during construction.
Govinda's restaurant serves meals in addition to the two giant dining halls which seat hundreds.
Shopping street
The tram
Pujas, programs, singing and dancing....
..go on from early morning all through the day...
..and evenings are magical.
Driving Shrila Prabhupada in a golden chariot drawn by bulls around the ashram....
...while playing, singing and dancing in a procession gives an opportunity to express mass bhakti.
Afterwards, late Saturday night, the Westerners get some space to practice their kirtan singing...
...and dancing in the temple.....
...and Sunday morning we start all over again.
This Sunday is a big day for me,....
...because I am heading for Navadvhip....
... through the village...
.....through the fields...
..to receive darshan of the great Saint of Bengal, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu......
....under the neem tree where he was born more than 500 years ago...
No photos allowed after the gate.
All I can tell is that there I learned a song and its meaning, written in the Vaishnava language by BhaktivinodaThakur....
.....MANASA DEHA GEHA, JO KITCHU MOR, ARPILO TUWA PODE, NANDA KISHOR.....
Delhi Rishikesh
Punjab
Haridwar
Back in Rishikesh
Kerala
Amritapuri
Kolkata
Mayapur
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