Saturday, June 11 was celebrated as the 50th anniversary of the installation of deities at the ISKCON temple in NYC. An annual parade also took place marching down from 47th Street and Fifth Avenue to West 4th Street Washington Square Park. After a brief inaugural religious ceremony performed by the temple priest Nikunj Bihari Das three 35′ tall chariots of Lords Jagannath, Subhadra and Baladeva ji were pulled manually by the devotees, chanting the Holy names of God simultaneously. Mother nature was very favorable and the weather was wonderful. People came out in thousands including invited dignitaries keeping in mind health and safety recommendations. It was unprecedented in the history of the NYC Rathayatra that the NYPD had to allocate all of 5th Avenue (North and South bound lanes) for the Ratha Yatra foot traffic as thousands of devotees attended and enjoyed a free feast and stage entertainment which included a drama named ‘The Age of Kali’ preaching the importance of Krishna consciousness based on books by the founder Acharya Shrila Prabhupada. Throughout the park, various stations exhibited religious items, art, architecture, books, music, food and photography. For participating in temple activities and further information call Nikhil or Shaila Trivedi at 718- 897- 2267.
15Jun
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