Govardana Hill is a past time of Lord Krishna. I may have mentioned this in one of my earlier blog posts. Lord Krishna made King Indra who is a demigod in control of the rains and king of the heavenly planets very angry when He had stopped the yajna (fire sacrifice) ceremony for Indra. Lord Krishna wanted to teach King Indra a lesson so He had lifted Govardana Hill to show that He was the Surpreme Personality of Godhead and to protect the inhabitants of Vrndavan from the devastating rain fall that Indra was causing. Lord Krishna had then crushed King Indra's pride and made him realize that he is a servant to Lord Krishna and he then became humble.
The temple was beautifully decorated with a small Govardana Hill made from sweets and real cake. Underneath the cake was small dolls and a real Deity of Gopalnathaji lifting Govardana Hill. I took many photos of this transcendental display.It was very beautifully done. I brought downstairs two big Tulasis to put on both sides of the Hill. My little baby Tulasi was put on the altar for the first time. I know that she was very happy to be on the altar near her Lord Krishna.
Anyway, when the program started, there was the 6pm Aarti.Then BhaktiVasudeva Swami Maharaj is here to visit us for three days. I met him before at my friend Dayal Nitai's home program. I have chatted with him a bit today with other people around of course. BhaktiVasudeva Maharaj really does have a sense of humor and he's so open and friendly just like my own guru Maharaj. So I have two other Swamis now that I like. Guna Grahi Swami Maharaj and BhaktiVasudeva Maharaj. They are two great souls.
A major kirtan was then held after class. And a surprise came toward the end. My guru Maharaj H.H Bhaktimarga Swami, had let part of the kirtan toward the end and it was just AWESOME. I LOVE my guru Maharaj's kirtans! I hope he will lead a wild one on my birthday in a couple weeks. That's all I want for my birthday is for Maharaj to lead a wild kirtan party like the one he did in New Vrndavan during the festival of inspiration. I had given a flower and a flower garland for my guru Maharaj as well. It's just how I was trained in the beginning and I felt that my guru Maharaj should always get a flower garland whenever he comes back from a long trip. Maharaj had been on a long trip for two weeks and I am happy he returned to us safely. Soon as I saw him I had offered my obeisances to him at his feet and when I do that I always feel so sheltered and protected. I told him I felt so much better now that he is here and that he's safe. He told me in a gentle voice that I need not to worry. He also even gave me some direct service for me to do for him. He asked me to wash his bead bag for him. He is so merciful. I noticed that his bead bag was starting to fall apart and I told him that I'd try and fix it for him.
So now I feel so relieved that he is back safe and sound and I feel so much happier now with him here.
Over all it was a great night.This Saturday we will be celebrating Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day and then on Sunday we will be celebrating Diwali Festival of Lights. It was really yesterday but I guess they wanted the guests to come and celebrate it on Sunday since many people have to work during the week. So it will be an interesting weekend.
Here are some photos of Govardana Hill Puja celebration. I took what pictures as I could as it did get very crowded.
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