IN THIS NEW FEATURE, in every issue Back to Godhead will focus on one Krsna conscious project you may like to support or get involved in. We'll tell you what the goals are, who's involved, what's going on, what's blocking the way, and how you can give a hand.
Project: The Festival of India.
Headquarters
Spanish Fork, Utah, USA.
Project Leader
Madhuha Dasa, 35, from New York City. Hare Krsna devotee since 1972.
Goals
To put on Krsna conscious cultural festivals all over the USA and Canada—and give a lift to Krsna festivals already going on.
Details
Since 1979, the Festival of India has taken part in 390 festivals. Madhuha and his fourteen-man crew arrive in a yellow 65-foot semitrailer and set up a Krsna conscious tent city of exhibits, art displays, books, music, plays, and prasadam.
These festivals have given people half a million plates of prasadam and a million Krsna conscious books and magazines.
Madhuha says the festival is "like a traveling transcendental circus." He wants to make it as big and popular as Barnum and Bailey.
"Imagine fourteen or fifteen men living in a cube the size of a walk-in closet for six months at a time," says Madhuha. "That's what it's like living in the Festival of India truck. You never have your own space or a place to go for some solitude. It's austere. But traveling to all the temples, meeting so many nice devotees, and giving people chanting and prasadam makes it nectar."
Obstacles
The festival travels 30,000 miles a year, and the strain is starting to tell on the trucks and equipment. To keep the festival gear in shape, Madhuha needs about $30,000 a year.
Plans
Madhuha has started an "Annual Sponsor Program." He figures that if three hundred people come forward to become annual sponsors at $100 each, this will provide the needed $30,000 to keep the festival going, so that the chanting, dancing, and feasting will continue.
How you can help
•Arrange for the festival to come to your city or town.
•Become an Annual Sponsor. (Your contribution is tax deductible)
•Help with your energy or expertise.
For further information, contact:
Madhuha Dasa, Festival of India, P.O. Box 801, Spanish Fork, Utah 84660, USA. Phone: (801) 423-2826.
SPECIAL NOTE: Similar festival programs are going on in Australia and Great Britain too. For further information in Great Britain, contact Tribhuvanatha Dasa, c/o Bhaktivedanta Manor, Letchmore Heath, Watford, Hertfordshire WD2 8EP. Phone: 0836-635030. In Australia contact Ramai Swami, P.O. Box 83, Indooroopilly 4068, Brisbane, Queensland. Phone: (07) 379-5455.