Hanuman's Grand Entrance to Save the Day!

For those who were present for both Wednesday and Sunday festivities for Rama Navami, celebrating the appearance of Lord Ramacandra, one of the many highlights of the festival was Hanuman's grand entrance to save the day after Laksmana had fallen unconscious (read about the festival by clicking here). Checkout the video of Hanumana saving the day (including his returning to the stage to show off his tail)!!!

Five Days of Celebrating Ramacandra!

The great story of Ramacandra can be found in both the Ramayana and the Srimad Bhagavatam, two very revered scriptures. In those descriptions, one can read about how the citizens of Ayodhya, where Lord Ramacandra reigned as king, celebrated in grand fashion when He appeared. We can only imagine how grand those festivities must have been!

Well, Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre had our very own humble celebrations, compared to Ayodhya, in honour of the appearance of Lord Rama on His birthday... and by humble, we mean that we had five days of celebrations!!!

It all began on Wednesday, March 24th, which was the actual day (as per lunar calendar calculations) that Lord Ramacandra appeared! Celebrations included wonderful kirtan, a class by Rupanuga das and more. One very interesting thing happened, though. During the festival, Laksmana, Lord Ramacandra's younger brother, magically appeared! He was in the middle of a battle with one of evil Ravana's demonic followers, Indrajit who suddenly appeared on the temple balcony! After an evil cackle, Indrajit shot an arrow and Laksmana fell unconscious!!! (For our unfamiliar blog readers, please do not be alarmed. This was simply a reenactment of the famous battle; nobody will shoot arrows at you if you visit our temple.) In the Ramayana, it is described that Hanuman then flew far away to retrieve herbs that eventually saved Laksmana! As some monkey warriors took the unconscious Laksmana off stage, it was announced that Hanuman would come to save him on Sunday, four days later!

As festivities wound down after lots of kirtan, devotees sat in rows and created a "bridge" as they passed plates of prasadam to each other, just like how the monkeys built the bridge of boulders for Lord Rama!

Between Wednesday and Sunday, devotees could watch the unconscious Laksmana via a live webcast feed on our blog! But there was a whole lot more happening during those days. For the first time, the Toronto Hare Krishna Centre hosted conference calls on each day with a theme of Rama-Lila. Mahatma das from Alachua, FL and Krsnanandini devi dasi from Cleveland, OH joined us for these calls and spoke about wonderful topics related to Lord Rama. During the calls, we hosted a chat window on our blog for teleconference attendees to interact with both the facilitators and each other.

This led us to Sunday's festivities. The evening began with a great kirtan at 6pm and led into a class by Sita Thakurani devi dasi. After that, the conlusion to "Laksmana Watch" took place. An unconscious Laksmana was brought out and after heartfelt cries of "Jaya Sri Rama" (meaning "victory to Lord Rama") by the audience, Hanumana came with a grand entrance. Much to the delight of our community, dressed as Hanuman was his namesake, Hanuman das who is known for his tireless efforts of managing the team of volunteers who serve the vegetarian feast and clean the temple every Sunday! He won the heart of the crowd and left the stage to thunderous applause. (check out the video of his grand entrance by clicking here)

While there was a hint of a comedic element to the drama, the mood then certainly became meditative as an enrapturing Nama-Yajna then took place. In a Nama-Yajna, spiritualists collectively chant in a kirtan in an especially-meditative fashion! Led by Dhira Grahi das, the kirtan had the assembled devotees swimming in thoughts of Lord Ramacandra! After a rousing 8pm kirtan, devotees were then served a vegetarian feast by cardboard-crown-wearing servers who became Lord Rama's monkey army!

All in all, Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre presented five days of festivities to mark the appearance of Lord Ramacandra! We're positive that this paled in comparison to the celebrations that must have taken place in Ayodhya ages ago when Lord Rama actually appeared... but in our happy little way, we certainly seemed to bring the spirit of Ayodhya to Toronto!

View the Festival Recording by Clicking Here.

View the Festival Gallery Below:

Click HERE for simple gallery!

Sunday Feast Recordings - March 28, 2010

The recording for this week's Sunday Feast, featuring Rama Navami festivities can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, March 28, 2010

Celebrating Lord Ramacandra in a Big Way... All the Way to Sunday!

*** UPDATE - The Conference Calls Now Also Have a Toll-Free Number. Please call either 1-888-535-3378 or (416) 900-1162 ***

The Toronto Hare Krishna Centre is excited to announce that festivities surrounding Lord Ramacandra's Appearance will be celebrated in grand fashion! Lord Rama is the incarnation of Lord Krishna as the perfect monarch. He enacted His lila, or pastime, of killing the evil king Ravana and establishing virtue, by personal example, throughout His kingdom. The epic story of His transcendental adventures is told in the scripture Ramayana in which one reads of His unfailing devotion to His wife Sita and Their affectionate dealings with Lord Rama's many family members, particularly His devoted Brother, Laksmana.

Festivities began last night with a grand festival at the temple and will continue this upcoming Sunday, March 28th but we have decided that why let the days go by without celebrating Lord Ramacandra's appearance?!? So, as a new initiative, we will be hosting telephone conference-calls on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings! Each call will focus on a different personality from the Ramayana and also feature a practical take-home message that can help us in our Krishna consciousness. We are excited to announce that we have some very special guests who will be facilitating these calls! The details are as follows:

Laksmana and Hanumana - Duty & Service in Krishna Consciousness

Hosted by Mahatma das

Thursday, March 25, 2010

7:00pm to 8:00pm EST

Number: 416-900-1162

Access Code: 360-232-914

Mahatma Das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, is the founder of Touchstone Training, a company that facilitates workshops, retreats and online courses on spiritual self development. He personally facilitates courses on forgiveness, meditation, prayer, vows, kirtan and bhakti. He is also well known for his music, having produced six soothing mantra meditation CD’s.

* * * * *

Sita Devi - The Strengths of Bonds in Relationships

Hosted by Krsnanandini dasi

Friday, March 26, 2010

7:00pm to 8:00pm ES

Number: 416-900-1162

Access Code: 360-232-914

Krsnanandini devi dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, is a member of the Grhastha Vision Team and is also a Co-Director of Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute (www.dzfi.org), a non-profit agency dedicated to strengthening families, couples and individuals with healthy relationship skills based on universal spiritual principles. Krsnanandini holds degrees in Education and Sociology and has co-authored several magazine and newspaper articles about healthy families, parenting, relationships and marriage.

* * * * *

Earth Hour Special - Meditating on Lord Rama

Saturday, March 27, 2010

8:30pm to 9:30pm EST

Number: 416-900-1162

Access Code: 360-232-914

Join us during the international Earth Hour from 8:30pm to 9:30pm as we meditate on Lord Ramacandra. We encourage you to gather with the family, turn off the lights, light some candles and call in to the conference call to hear about Lord Ramacandra!

Deity Darshan: Rama Navami, March 24, 2010

Deity Darshan: Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sunday Feast Recordings - March 21, 2010

The recording for this week's Sunday Feast can be viewed by clicking the image below.
As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Special Rama Navami Celebrations Next Week!

On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre will mark the Appearance Day of Lord Rama (also known as Rama Navami). Lord Rama is the incarnation of Lord Krishna as the perfect monarch. He enacts His lila, or pastime, of killing the evil king Ravana and establishing virtue, by personal example, throughout His kingdom. The epic story of His transcendental adventures is told in the scripture Ramayana in which one reads of His unfailing devotion to His wife Sita and Their affectionate dealings with Lord Rama's many family members, particularly His devoted Brother, Laksmana.

Celebrations for this festival will take place in a big way! There will be two festivals on Wednesday, March 24th from 6:00-9:00 pm as well as on Sunday, March 28, 2010 from 6:00-9:00 pm.

A warm invitation goes out to everyone to attend both celebrations for a very special reason. Festivities will continue between Wednesday and Sunday. More details will be coming soon, but the theme of programs will be linked together. The new initiatives, taking place from Thursday to Saturday, will be interactive features to help celebrate Lord Rama. Stay tuned for more details!

Snapshots of the Spirtual Visit of Vaisesika das

A look at Vaisesika das' sublime visit this week to our Toronto Temple through the eyes of a camera lens!

Vaisesika das leading the Incredible "Kirtan Night" with many different bhajans!


Going door-to-door with a group of devotees to share Krishna Consciousness and goodwill.

Meanwhile Bhaktimarga Swami leading a joyful kirtan at Yonge and Queen.

The transcendence slicing though the mundane.


During Sunday Feast, Vaisesika das lead a powerful two-hour kirtan at 8:00pm! Devotees could not help but be moved by the euphoric sounds of the kirtan!

Sunday Feast Recording - March 14, 2010

Unfortunately, due to technical issues, we were able to record only the first 45 minutes of the special Sunday Feast with Vaisesika das. We hope to resolve this issue soon. Also, we will be posting the recordings of his special Bhagavatam classes soon, so please stay tuned for that!

Please click here to watch the short Sunday Feast Recording.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, March 14, 2010

Gaura Purnima & Holi Festivities Doused With Colour!

Sunday, February 28th marked Gaura-Purnima, the appearance anniversary of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, revered as an incarnation of Krishna, propagated the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra over 500 years ago. He was at the centre of a spiritual revolution, focused on developing love of Krishna (bhakti-yoga).

Festivities began in the early hours of the morning with a stalwart group of spiritualists gathering to begin the day with mangala arati, the first worship ceremony of the day. The morning program was highlighted by Deity greetings, where the Deities were unveiled in Their brand new stunning gold outfit.Click here for the Deity pictures.

The festivities continued in the evening with an ecstatic 6pm kirtan led by Krsnadas Kaviraj das. After the kirtan, the temple room suddenly went pitch black. As devotees looked around to see what was going on, a voice could be heard, narrating the story of Prahlada, the devoted young prince tortured by his father, King Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu tried to torture Prahlada Maharaj in many ways. One such way was by forcing him to sit on a pyre of fire with Holika, a demoness who had the power to remain unharmed by fire. However, due to Prahalada's devotion to the Lord, he was saved and Holika was consumed by the fire herself! As the narration spoke about Holika being destroyed, the pillars on the balcony of the temple room were illuminated with orange, yellow, and red lights and began to flicker with the effect of flames. This story, is one of the reasons why Holi is celebrated and since Holi falls on the same day as Gaura-Purnima, the entire festival had a theme of colour.

Following this, the entire temple room was bathed in red lights as the pillars in the temple room displayed animations, accompanied by narrations, that depicted how Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to help spread the chanting of the holy names. This was a prelude to a wonderful class given by Krsnadas Kaviraja das on the early pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The temple room was now engulfed in green light which faded into blue as devotees were transported back to the lush green lands of Mayapur in West Bengal, India. The Sunday School Kids performed a short play glorifying Caitanya Mahaprabhu's compassion which was not just limited to human beings but to animals also. This endearing performance by the future of ISKCON Toronto received a thunderous applause!

Following the drama, the temple room was illuminated in multi-coloured lights leading into the grand abhisheka, a bathing ceremony of the Deities of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his eternal associate, Nityananda Prabhu. As opulent items such as honey, milk, ghee were being poured on the Deities, ecstatic kirtan was being led by Dhira Grahi das and had devotees in bliss! The bliss continued with more ecstatic kirtan led by Satyananda Krishna das during 8pm arati and had every one in the temple room dancing!

View the slideshow of the festivites below:

Click HERE for simple gallery.
*some photos courtesy of Manish Thorat

Vasesika das comes back to Toronto!

Over the past few months, the Hare Krishna Community at ISKCON Toronto has seen an encouraging growth in the Sankirtan efforts. Sankirtan is the form of sharing bhakti or Krishna Consciousness with the public through books and outdoor kirtan. This has been due to the inspiration of Vaisesika das, who in his previous visits to Toronto has empowered and inspired devotees to go out on the streets and become ambassdors of good will!

Vaisesika das will be joining us in New Remuna Dham, again for an extended weekend of Sankirtan bliss from March 12th to March 15th! During his stay, there will be a variety of programs including special Bhagavatam classes in the morning from 7:45am - 9:00am on Overcoming Obstacles in Krishna Consciousness, a seminar on importance of Goal Setting, a Bhajan and Pizza night and much much more!

Vaisesika das will also be taking the devotees out on the streets on Saturday on a fun Sankirtan experience. He will also be giving a very special Sunday Feast Class and will lead us in an ecstatic 8pm arati! Please mark your calendars and come out for this extended weekend of bliss!

For more information about the seminars, please visit the New Sankirtan blog or click on the image to see the full schedule!

We look forward to seeing you at these events!

Deity Darshan: Sunday March 8, 2010

Sunday Feast Recordings - March 7, 2010

The recording for this week's Sunday Feast can be viewed by clicking the image below.
As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Deity Darshan: Sunday February 28, 2010

Click HERE for full Gaura Purnima Deity Gallery!

No Sunday Feast (Gaura-Purnima) Recordings!

Due to technical dificulties we were unable to broadcast and record the Sunday Feast and Gaura Purnima festivities. We apologize for any inconvenience.

We hope to resume with live broadcasts and videos with the upcoming Sunday Feasts!