TEMPLE OPENINGS Ghaziabad, Feb 19
As the seventh ISKCON center housing Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi opened at Ghaziabad, a satellite city near Delhi, devotees came closer to fulfilling Srila Prabhupada's vision. for 12 temples in this region. .
The installation and inaugura· tion ceremonies took place over three days concluding on lord Nityananda's appearance day on 19 Feb. A rnaha-abhiseka: of the Deities was performed by His Holiness Gopala Krsna Goswami (GBC) and Mahaman Dasa (GBC Zonal Secretary). Over 8000 devotees attended.
Anantapur Feb 16
A grand temple of Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi was inaugurated at somaladoddi village near Chennai on NH 7, at a cost of Rs 5 crore. Describing the temple as a boon to the people here, governor of state, Mr. N. D. Tiwari, hoped it would inculcate bhakti among people. He lauded the services of ISKCON in propagating harmony, brotherhood and spirituality The minister for Agriculture appreciated the public services of ISKCON Iike the supply of nutritious food to students of government schools in about 200 villages in and around Tirupati, and agreed to extend the services to Anantpur district.
The function. was graced by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, His Holiness Bhanu Swami, and Satya Gopinatha Dasa.
2nd BTG SNEHA SAMMELAN ORGANISED
On the 17" of February, Pune witnessed a gathering of BTG enthusiasts from all over Maharashtra in the form of the "2nd Jau Devachiya Gava Sneha Sammelan." Like last year, the "affectionate meet" as it literally means in Marathi drew around 35 participants who serve in different ways in the distribution and promotion of the magazine . The day being an Ekadasi, the program was inaugurated by melodious kirtan by different devotees. The publishing team then updated the assembly about different important events from the bygone year ego the BTG Marathon at Kolhapur etc . The hallmark of the program was a visit by H is HolinessJayadvaita Swami Maharaja. Deftly answering different questions posed by devotees, Maharaja very soon created an atmosphere of comfort amongst the gathering. In his address, he admired everyone present for their efforts in furthering the cause of the magazine and urged them to continue wi th full steam ahead . He assured them that of all the possible rewards, the surest were the blessings of Srila Prabhupada and this would guarantee them rapid advancement in Krsna consciousness. The sucess of the day was clear when, as the meet came to an end, all the devotees seemed inspired and poised to execute their resposibilities with renewed vigour.