World Holy Name Week Celebrations
World holy name week was celebrated all over the globe and more than 40 centers, in India alone, actively participated in this celebration. Couple of centers had 24-hour kirtanas or 12-hour kirtanas, some had it more than once during the period. Five centers organized harinama every day for ten consecutive days in different places. Few temples did Japathon where many devotees chanted extra rounds every day for whole week. Many centers had maha-harinama with banners, flags, prasada, and book distribution attended by thousands. And there were many other programs such as Ratha-yatras, japa stalls, Srimad-Bhagavatam lectures on holy names, pandal programs, nagar-sankirtana, padayatras, mantra walks, school/college program, prison kirtana program, japa seminars and retreats, etc. in various centers. Many centers also took advantage of media during World Holy Name Week by publishing news and articles in newspapers.
Holy Name Retreat in Australia
New Govardhana, Australia: Around 300 devotees attended Australia’s first ever holy name retreat at the rural community of New Govardhana from October 4-7. The event was led by ISKCON guru Sacinandana Swami and supported by kirtana singer Madhava Dasa.
Ukraine Hosts Bhakti Sangam Festival
Evpatorya, Ukraine: The Bhakti Sangam Festival, one of the largest ISKCON festivals, was celebrated at a resort area near Ukraine’s Black Sea, from September 17 to 21 this year.
ISKCON at Moscow Book Fair
Moscow, Russia: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) took part in the Moscow International Book Fair (MIBF) that ended on September 10.
Toronto’s Kirtana Collective Turns Chanting Into an Art Form
Nearly 12,000 people viewed and participated in a unique performance art piece by the Kirtan Collective at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche arts festival this year, during the night of September 29th to 30th.
Ten-Day Kirtan Fest at Leicester
Leicester, UK: Devotees here are undergoing the long process of converting the former bank building into a temple and ashram. Recently they held a Kirtana Fest, a ten-day kirtana festival during World Holy Name Week. For the festival, running from September 28th until October 7th, temple president Pradyumna Das decided to hold kirtans every day in a different “ward” or neighborhood of Leicester.
Spiritual Oasis to Arise in Nevada’s “Sin City”
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: On October 14, one hundred and fifty community members attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a brand new ISKCON temple complex that is coming up here. Qualified brahmanas performed bhumi-pujaworship of Mother Earthand devotees chanted kirtana and listened to speeches by donors Dr. Nanda and Radha Jivana Dasa, and temple president Surapala Dasa.
Contributed by Divyanama Dasa, Madhava Smullen, and Kira Larina.