Deity Darshan: Nrsimha Caturdasi 2012

Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) Launch Date - This Sunday!

With summer fast approaching, the excitement surrounding the 40th Annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) is growing as each day passes!  This Sunday, May 6, 2012 will mark the official launch of the countdown to this year's festival! The program will begin at 4:30 pm with a special fire sacrifice to invoke auspiciousness for this year's Festival of India.

The program will be as follows (subject to change):
4:30pm to 5:45pm - Special Fire Sacrifice
5:45pm to 6:00pm - Tulasi Arati
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome & Announcements
6:40pm to 7:30pm - Class by HH Bhaktimarga Swami
7:30pm to 8:00pm - Festival of India Presentation
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm - Free Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Nrsimha Caturdasi Celebrations this Saturday!

Nrsimha Caturdasi celebrations mark the appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadeva, Krishna’s half-man half-lion incarnation who appeared in order to protect the saintly child Prahlada who was being tormented by his father, Hiranyakashipu.

This year, Nrsimha Caturdasi falls on Saturday, May 5th. The Festival will begin at 5:00pm and will feature a vedic fire sacrifice including the 108 names of Lord Nrsimhadeva, a grand abhisheka (bathing ceremony), an interesting discourse on the appearance and qualities of Lord Nrsimhadev and amazing kirtan!

The schedule for the program is as follows (subject to change):

5:00pm to 6:00pm - Vedic Fire Sacrifice
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Arati
6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome and Announcements
6:40pm to 7:25pm - Discourse on Lord Nrsimhadeva
7:25pm to 8:00pm - Special Abhiskeka (bathing ceremony)
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Arati
8:30pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
 

Vedic fire sacrifice including the 108 names of Lord Nrsimhadeva at 5pm

New Month, New Book!

For the month of May, 'Sri Isopanishad' is the book for the Toronto Hare Krishna Book Club. It consists of 134 pages so if you read just 4-5 pages a day, you can complete the book in a month.

Here is a nice synopsis of the book:

"The Sanksrit words Sri Isopanishad mean the 'the knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Person, Krsna'. As such, Sri Isopanishad directly counters the teachings of modern science, which say that at the root of existence lies not a person but merely abstract laws governing the chance collision of subatomic particles in the vast void of time and space. Individually, we rebel at the proposal that we can be analyzed into lifeless laws and particles. we feel that personality is the solid foundation and unifying principle of our existence. That intuition is correct, says the Vedic philosophy of ancient India, which loudly proclaims the primacy of personality in every sphere of life and knowledge. And the essential Vedic teachings on the universal nature of personality are summarized in Sri Isopanishad, the foremost of the 108 Upanishads.

As translated and explained by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the most distinguished modern-day teacher of India's spiritual culture and philosophy, the nineteen jewel-like mantras of Sri Isopanishad can release us from the bleak conceptions of impersonalism and put us in touch with the Supreme Person, the fountainhead of all energies and all happiness"

The objective of the book club is to facilitate and encourage readings from the wonderful philosophy of Krishna consciousness. We encourage you to participate! We will be sending out daily quotes from the book to those who register. To register for the book club, email toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com.

Happy reading!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, April 28, 2012

Video: A Festival of India DVD Preview!

Summer time is almost here and that means that our 40th Annual Festival of India is almost here.  The travelling Festival of India tour, which visits over 30 cities across North America, is working on a new DVD which documents the travelling tour.  There are some nice Toronto moments in their preview trailer.  Check it out!

How about a challenge?  Can any of our blog readers point out which scenes in the video are from Toronto?  Leave a comment with your guesses!  :o)

Deity Darshan: Sunday April 22, 2012

Photos taken by Lakshman das