A typical Saturday night in Sri Mayapur.

Every Saturday night since December, the small Radha-Madhava deities come out of the temple and are royally treated to a ride around the complex on their bull-driven chariot. The atmosphere is surcharged with excitement, the air filled with incense, and flower petals are showered from the rooftops. Everything about the procession is beautiful. Yet, despite drums, bells, cymbals, and kirtan, the bulls remain calm and composed. They are gentle giants and embody the self-realized quality of tolerance. The deities are offered opulent foodstuffs along the way and occasionally we are treated to their remnants (prasadam). Reach, reach, reach!One maha cherry and one maha grape! My life is complete (at least my Saturday night)!The kids are stoked.Before the procession, many devotees draw and design elaborate chalk and sand paintings on the pavement throughout the streets.And thus goes by another surreal Saturday night in Sridhama Mayapur.

All and all, it's just another book on the shelf.

We all need some education...
We all need some sense control...Unfortunately the world is lacking qualified teachers...But Srila Prabhupada is the best one I know!Hey! Kids...Tad viddhi pranipatena! Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master (Bhagavad Gita 4.34).All and all, it's just another book on the shelf.

A Glimpse of the Holy Dhama

Living in Sridhama Mayapur is like living in another dimension. Life revolves around Sri Nama and the maha mantra oozes from the pores of all the living entities. The island itself exhibits the finest in bike culture, cow culture, temple culture, and brief glimpses of Vedic culture. But no fear, the technological advances of the modern world are no stranger to Mayapur.
The island of Mayapur is most significant because it is the birthplace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus, this spiritually potent tirtha is covered with temples. On the weekends, I try to visit some of the temples and take darshan of the deities. The actual neem tree where Lord Caitanya was born under is less than one mile from the ISKCON mandir! It is an eventful walk, full of colorful, local characters. The water buffalo are my favorite. They are so well-mannered and work like anything. They are massive and their strength is incomprehensible.
This is rural living. Most of the island is under cultivation. The brilliant green of youthful rice paddies stretches far into the distance.

A day in the life of a MIHET (Mayapur Institute for Higher Education & Training) student... Here are some shots from my classroom. You can imagine how intense it is to study Vedic philosophy. Yet, the teachers are expert and engage us in various interactive exercises that make the philosophy come to life. My classmates are awesome. We are around 30 women from over 15 countries including Sweden, Greece, China, South Africa, Slovenia, Russia, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, England, Spain, Germany, etc. The diversity is amazing and makes everything so much sweeter.

There is a core group of hardcore Hari Namsters who go out on Hari Nam every single day. Often times they will leave Mayapur and travel by boat to neighboring islands. The accordion always comes along. Whenever I hear it, my heart skips a beat and I get excited the way a little girl feels when she goes to the circus. Accordion plus the maha mantra equals bliss. Unfortunately, I am not able to accompany the Hari Nam during the week, being so busy with class and all, but on the weekends I try to represent. I have always been a sucker for fancy dance moves, and, most of the time, the locals so us how its really done.