Bhaktivedanta Ashram

Food Relief Begins in Bagurai Leprosy Colony

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Dec 24, 2006 | 7,293 views

This month we have begun food distribution in a new village, Bagurai Leprosy Colony, located a few kilometers outside of Bhadrak, in Orissa. As the name implies, most of the children in the village have parents affected by leprosy. This makes it even harder for their families to earn money, and take care of the children properly. We are trying to provide a little help in the form of spiritual food, so that the children can at least receive a few nourishing meals.

We provide a few photos below of the wonderful children from this village and the recent relief work. We have also included a 3 minute video clip at the top of the page.

Continue reading →

BICI Quarterly Report (November, 2006)

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Nov 28, 2006 | 6,456 views

The last few months have been a time of increased activity for us. In September, a renewal of monsoon rains led to severe flooding throughout Orissa, leaving more than 1.5 million people homeless in the state. Every year Orissa seems to bear the brunt of monsoon flooding in India, but this year it was even more so, with miles and miles of land submerged under water.

Continue reading →

Over 5,000 devotees visit Bhaktivedanta Ashram for Kartika Purnima Parikrama

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Nov 17, 2006 | 7,878 views

On Kartika Purnima the Bhaktivedanta Ashram inaugurated special “Chandana Argali Parikrama” of Lord Jagannatha. Every full moon day devotees are allowed to enter the inner altar, usually reserved for temple priests, and perform parikrama of Lord Jagannatha while offering flowers to His lotus feet. This is the only temple in Orissa that allows people from all castes and communities to enter the garbhagriha to worship the Lord. Below are some newspaper articles covering the occassion.

Continue reading →

Rural Relief Center Opened in Randiya

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Sep 6, 2006 | 5,603 views

Recently the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a new rural relief center in Randiya, approximately 20 km away from our main Ashram in Orissa. With cooperation from the local villagers, a small piece of land was given to us for establishing a permanent relief center in the village. The village consists of people from the very poor adivasi (tribal) community. More than 300 children in the village attend regular programs at the new center.

Continue reading →

Jahnava Nitai Das, TV Interview 6/17/06

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jul 13, 2006 | 21,714 views

Part of an interview for an Indian television channel, which was simultaneously recorded by a devotee on a digital camera. Topic of the interview is Puri Jagannatha temple’s policy barring foreigners from entering to worship the Lord.

Continue reading →

CNN News Segment on Bhaktivedanta Ashram’s Jagannatha Temple

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jul 3, 2006 | 8,409 views

A report on CNN about the Bhaktivedanta Ashram’s Jagannatha temple in Bhadrak, Orissa.

Continue reading →

Installation of Sri Jagannatha at Bhaktivedanta Ashram

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jun 4, 2006 | 14,356 views

On May 22nd, we began the installation ceremony (pranapratishta) of the lifesize deities of Sri Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra at our ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. The pranapratishta ceremony was conducted by priests from the Puri Jagannatha temple, headed by Sri Nanda Sharma, and lasted for three days.

Continue reading →

Pictures of Narasimha, Vamana, Varaha and Garuda Deities

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | May 22, 2006 | 8,711 views

The installation of Sri Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra will begin today at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Deities of Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana and Garuda will also be installed on the four sides of the temple as is the custom for Jagannatha temples in Orissa.

Continue reading →

Casting of Ashtadhatu Deities for Bhaktivedanta Ashram

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Apr 22, 2006 | 12,437 views

In a previous newsletter we had mentioned the upcoming installation of Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sudarshana deities at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Panditas from Puri have determined May 22nd to the 24th to be the auspicious time for the prana pratistha ceremony and kumbhabhisheka to take place. Accordingly all preparations are being made for the occassion. Besides the main Jagannatha deities, three other deities are being cast out of ashtadhatu (a combination of eight metals: gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron, and mercury).

Continue reading →

The Vedic Conception of Sound in Four Features

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Nov 25, 2005 | 18,072 views

(This was originally written in 2001 for our email newsletter, Tattva Prakasha.)

Welcome to the seventh issue of Tattva Prakasha. This week our main topic of discussion will be the Vedantic conception of sound. If you are a new subscriber to Tattva Prakasha, I would like to mention that though most of our articles deal with general philosophy, this issue will be a little more technical due to the importance of the subject. Since the topic is technical, we have included a small glossary of Sanskrit words at the end of this issue. If you get confused while reading, you can refer to the glossary to put everything in proper context.

Continue reading →