Deity Darshan: Sunday, July 31, 2011

Toronto's Hare Krishna Community Welcomes Atmarama das!

Toronto's Hare Krishna temple is excited to announce that HG Atmarama das will be joining us for our weekly Sunday Feast tomorrow.

HG Atmarama Dasa, devotional singer and composer of sacred music, has become known for his power to transmit bhakti - spiritual devotion and shakti - divine energy. For the past 25 years he has been residing in India, in the sacred place of Vrindavan, India. While living in Vrindavan absorbed in spiritual life, his devotion deepened and in turn, his musical ability blossomed. After spending several years there engaged in devotional service and Vedic studies; he developed a strong desire to share the nectar of Vrindavan with others.

An event with Atmarama prabhu is one full of devotion incorporating timeless wisdom with divine Sanskrit chants and bhajans. His soaring, tenor voice sings from the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and the Brahma Samhita as he plays the flamenco guitar combined with Indian raga. His unique style and sincere desire to share his spiritual understanding creates an atmosphere of profound spiritual vibration. He concludes with an ecstatic kirtan through which everyone can relish the mood of transcendental joy and bliss.

We warmly invite everyone to come to tomorrow's special Sunday Feast, featuring Atmarama das!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, July 24, 2011

Pictures taken by Ritesh Agrawal

Vegetable Cut-Up for Ratha-Yatra (Festival of India) - All Day Thursday!!!

We are looking for some special volunteers for the 39th Annual Festival of India. The festival is just a few days away we are super-busy preparing for it! On Thursday, July 14th, we’ll be doing A LOT of vegetable cut-up all together. We are hoping to have a bunch of our volunteers make it out all day, between 12pm and 9pm. It will be a great chance to volunteer for the festival, make some friends and have a great time. If you are able to make it out for any of periods of time on Thursday, please feel free to fill out this form: http://bitly.com/fFaadr

The day will consist of mainly cutting potatoes, but will also include dicing tomatoes and chopping both cabbage and spinach! We hope you can make it out! It will be a lot of fun!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, July 10, 2011

12-Hour Kirtan - July 15th!

There is a festive buzz in the air as we prepare for the 39th Annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra)! To celebrate this year's festivities, we are thrilled to announce that we will be holding a 12-Hour Kirtan Festival on July 15th, from 10:00AM - 10:00PM. We will be creating a spiritual explosion with kirtaneers from around the world including HH Bhaktimarga Swami, HH Niranjana Swami, HH Gunagrahi Swami, Gaura Mani and of course, Madhava Prabhu! What better way to commence festivities than dancing to your heart's content for 12 straight hours?

Since it is a Friday, many will have to take time off from school or work. Don't fret - we have you covered with our unique and creative excuses! Look around the temple for some of these excuses or check our Facebook page here. We want to make sure you are here for what will be a wonderful kirtan experience!

Below is a tentative schedule for the kirtan festival:

10am - 11am - Bhaktimarga Swami

11am - 12pm - Halifax Brahmacaris

12pm - 1pm - TBD

1pm - 2pm - Niranjana Swami

2pm - 3pm - Gaura Das

3pm - 4pm - Ajamila Das & Gunagrahi Swami

4pm - 5pm - Gaura Mani

5pm - 7pm - Madhava Das

7pm - 9pm - Harinam through the streets of Downtown Toronto!

9pm - 10pm - Closing Kirtan

Note that the schedule is tentative and subject to change.

So...what's YOUR excuse?

Snana-Yatra Pictures!

This past Sunday, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple celebrated our annual Snana-Yatra festival. During this festival Lord Jagannatha, His brother Balarama, and His sister Subadhra are given a special abisheka (bathing ceremony). This was also the last chance to catch a final glimpse of Lord Jagannatha. Their Lordships have "mysteriously" contracted a cold while they were bathed in various substances and will be quarantined and given intensive care by their pujaris (priests) for the next two weeks.

Once they have had time to recover, they will come out of Their temple to give darshan to everyone during the Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra Festival) on July 16-17, 2011. Thier Lordships will be riding down Yonge Street on large colourful chariots pulled by Their devotees amid ecstatic chanting of the holy names! For more information please see the official Ratha-Yatra Website.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, July 3, 2011