December 2017 BHAKTIVEDANTA December 2017 MANOR NEWSLETTER International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Founder Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Diwali 8 Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance 13 5 Bhakti Retreat 18 Chasing Rhinos with the Srila Prabhupada: Swami happiness of humanity at the cost of the lives of poor animals. That is not 9 recommended herein. This 19 verse clearly says that one St Albans should be compassionate to all living entities. Regardless Cathedral of whether human, animal, tree or plant, all living entities are sons of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srimad Bhagavatam 6.10.9 16 purport Please send your news, photos and comments to: Radha Mohan das [email protected] Bhaktivedanta Manor Dharam Marg · Hilfield Lane Aldenham · Herts (for sat-nav only, please use postcode WD25 8HE) 01923 851000 www.krishnatemple.com © 2017, All articles & photographs copyright of Bhaktivedanta Manor December 2017 DIWALI FestivaL LIVE ON BBC RADIO Thousands of pilgrims came to the of God known as Lord Rama, the ideal Manor in mid-October to celebrate king. Rama was the crown prince in Diwali, the ‘festival of lights’, which was the city of Ayodhya, but due to a plot covered live by BBC Three Counties within His family, He was banished Radio. During this joyous occasion, to the forest for 14 years. When complimentary delicious vegetarian Rama finally returned to Ayodhya, the food was provided to each and every jubilant citizens decorated the city with one of the visitors, who were treated to thousands of lamps to welcome Him. a day of colourful drama, dance, face Diwali marks the anniversary of this painting and henna, with the festivities event. culminating in a grand evening firework Among the highlights was the display. Bhaktivedanta Players’ play on the Diwali celebrates the triumph of good Ramayana, the scripture which over evil and light over darkness, and describes the heroic activities of Lord relates to the activities of the incarnation Rama. Temple President Srutidharma 3 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter Dasa said: “Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Special guests at the event included The Diwali celebrations were spectacular Deputy Mayor of London for Business this year – the fireworks against the Mr Rajesh Agarwal, Oliver Dowden famous Manor building have been an MP, Richard Harrington MP, Lord Jitesh iconic celebration of this wonderful Gadhia, the Deputy Mayor of Hertsmere festival. Visitors brought along their Cllr Brenda Batten and Cllr Sachin Shah friends, family and kids, and everyone and Cllr Navin Shah from the GLA. had a wonderful time!” 4 December 2017 A HILL MADE OF DELICIOUS SWEETS On the day after Diwali, the festival Indra and reinstated him. of Govardhana Puja was celebrated Lord Krishna gave great importance at Bhaktivedanta Manor. It recounts to the cows and govardhan thus its is when the elders in Krishna’s village customary for the cows and bulls to be were preparing food offerings for the worshipped on this day, and so at noon demigod in charge of the supply of rain, the Manor cows were honoured with Indra. a ceremony in the cow sanctuary. The Krishna however convinced His elders Vedic scriptures state that all aspects to instead give the offerings to the local of divinity reside in the body of a cow. Govardhana Hill, since it provided Because she is so dear to Krishna, we grass to all the cows, the lifeblood of attain divine blessings by honouring and the village. Outraged, Indra retaliated protecting her. with terrifying thunderstorms. For seven The devotees built a lavish replica of days and seven nights the Lord held Govardhan Hill made of a variety of up Govardhan Hill, providing a giant colourful sweets and savouries offered umbrella to shelter the inhabitants of to Krishna. Lord Krishna is worshipped Vrindavan from the torrential rain. In as the lifter of Govardhan Hill, which in this way, Lord Krishna demonstrated that turn is worshipped as His incarnation. we should never become too proud of The delicious food items were then our position. Krishna was gracious with distributed to the thousands of visitors. 5 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter Diwali at Number 10 Diwali in London with Pranabandhu das and Srutidharma das the Mayor were invited to 10 Downing Street for Diwali in london celebrated it’s 16th the Prime Minister’s annual Diwali event. anniversary at Trafalgar Square. Once Srutidharma das lead the prayers and again it was a very successful event and delivered the seasonal message. the atmosphere was simply charged Priti Patel MP, former Secretary of State with energy with all Londoners uniting for International Development, attended to share goodwill of Diwali. Sanjay on behalf of the PM. In her keynote Gadhvi representing ISKCON, helps speech she explained, “Education is with the event along with various diverse the forefront of Hindu community’s organisations working en masse with the work. In that light, I am glad to see we Mayor of London. have students from the Avanti Court in Redbridge here”. Queen Elizabeth II British Community Honours Conference Centre Congratulations to Councillors Charles Srutidharma das with Zac Goldsmith MP Kelly & Morris Bright of Hertsmere and Gopichand Hinduja at a function Borough Council, who recieved the in honour of Dada JP Vaswani hosted British Community Honours award at at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference a ceremony at the House of Lords in Centre in Westminster. October. 6 December 2017 BBC Radio 4 Nainika Allergy Safety Vishva Samani from BBC Radio 4 Campaign interviewed Gauri das as part of a As thousands gathered for the Diwali feature about vegetarian and vegan fireworks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the principles in the British Hindu community temple leaders and a host of community in response to Dina Aherne’s online and political leaders took to the stage petition against temples using dairy from to launch the Nainika Tikoo Memorial the dairy industry. “If temples honour the Trust’s allergy awareness campaign. cow should they be buying such milk”? Lakshmi Kaul and Vinod Tikoo spoke of the tragic loss of their beloved 9-year- old daughter, Nainika, who lost her life this year due to a massive allergic reaction. As the number of allergy-sufferers increases in the UK, temples need to be aware, and make others aware of the ingredients and allergens in food. Managing Director of Bhaktivedanta Manor Gauri das announced: ‘we are honoured to become partners Diwali at the Watford of Nainika’s Trust. We need to make Palace Theatre places of worship safe for allergy- sufferers. We need to do this for At this year’s Diwali seasonal showcase Nainika’. at the Watford Palace Theatre, the audience were treated to a variety show The Nainika Gold Standard can be which included a premier version of The achieved once a set of criteria, such as Ramayan by the Bhaktivedanta Players. correct labelling, warnings, and first aid This new play, which was 45 minutes response, are put in place. long, was staged by a dedicated team If you would like to sign uptothe of over 25 devotees. On the same #NainikaAllergySafety campaign night the Pandava Sena performed or know more about the the popular shadow play about the #NainikaGoldStandard please write to: Bhagavad-gita. [email protected] 7 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter 40th Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance 23rd October marked 40 years since Prabhupada’s image and pushpanjali Srila Prabhupada passed away in the (flower offerings). holy land of Vrindavan in India. The Manor community youth made a In 1977, Bhaktivedanta Manor and special effort this year, by making 256 ISKCON-London temple were the last different food and drink offerings to two temples Srila Prabhupada visited Srila Prabhupada in his room. before returning to India. “As the team was setting everything up, On his Disappearance Day, a team we discovered and utilised a variety of of devotees headed by Sarvamangala creative skills for the pleasure of Srila dasi decorated the top landing, stairwell Prabhupada,” explained Sarvamangala and Srila Prabhupada’s rooms with dasi. memorabilia photos, candles and “Often it seems as if Srila Prabhupada flowers. The palanquin that was used to left us so recently, but actually it was 40 carry Srila Prabhupada during this visit years ago, which is a long time. I find to the Manor in 1977 was beautifully it almost inconceivable that is has been decorated and displayed on the top that long, time has flown by. It is intense landing. Meanwhile, the sound of Srila not to have seen someone you love so Prabhupada chanting Hare Krishna much for 40 years. Yet if we enter the Mantra was playing throughout the day. top landing and Srila Prabhupada’s In the temple room, Srila Prabhupada’s darshan rooms in the right mood and murti was decorated with a beautiful etiquette, we can immediately sense his backdrop, which added to the mood of presence there, as if he were physically the day which included remembrances, with us today.” abhikseka (bathing) of Srila 8 December 2017 Celebrating Yashoda’s love for Krishna From early October to early November, the Manor celebrated the month of Kartik. Lord Krishna is famous for attracting us by His enchanting activities. One such enchanting activity was performed by the Lord when He was a small child in the month of Kartik. The mischievous Krishna stole butter and proceeded to feed it to the village monkeys. Mother Yashoda punished krishna to make sure He would learn not to act so mischievously again. To remember this wonderful loving exchange, during this month, devotees daily offered candles in the morning and evening to Mother Yashoda and child Krishna. While candles were offered, devotees sang the Damodarastakam, a beautiful eight-verse poem about Dusshera – Victory of Lord Rama Hundreds of festival-goers braved the grey, gloomy skies to attend the Dusshera celebration at the Manor on the first Sunday of October.