This year, the Gaura Purnima festival in Mexico was held at the newly constructed temple in Huejutla, Mexico. It was a grand celebration due to Srila Guru Maharaja being personally present and also inaugurating the new temple. Just very recently there was an installation of the deities, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. Now Janardana Prabhu along with the family of devotees in Huejutla (Rsi, Rukmini, Krsna-Kirtana and Syamala) have constructed a beautiful new temple in their home. This has become known as ‘Nueva Ekacakra’ (New Ekacakra) or, as Srila Guru Maharaja has titled it, ’El Templo del Santo Nombre’ (The Temple of the Holy Name).
The family there all graciously invited and welcomed devotees from different parts of Mexico to come and stay with them for the festival. There were so many guests and visiting devotees that extra accommodations were made by the family for them to stay with neighbors and in the homes of surrounding family members of Janardana Prabhu. Most of the devotees arrived the day prior to the festival.
The morning of the festival began with an energetic kirtana led by Janardana Prabhu while Srila Guru Maharaja performed the arati ceremony for Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai and Sri Giriraja which Haridasa Babaji Maharaja brought with him from Jardines Govinda in Chical, Mexico.
Afterwards, Srila Guru Maharaja gave a talk and since there were some guests who were visiting for the first time, Guru Maharaja gave a nice summary about the meaning of the festival, who is Mahaprabhu, what he has noticed recently about the connections and origins between Mexico and India, and more. Initiations followed immediately after the class.
There were four devotees who received hari-nama initiation. Leo and his wife, Jovita, from Huejutla. Daniela from the state of Mexico, who came with her parents, and Alejandra from Guanajuato. Leo received the name Narasimha Dasa, Jovita received the name Hladini-sakti Devi Dasi, Daniela received the name Devaki Devi Dasi, and Alejandra received the name Yogamaya Devi Dasi.
Right after the morning program and initiations the majority of the resident devotees and visiting devotees got right into kitchen and began working their cooking magic.
A trio-band from the Huasteca was invited and asked to play traditional huapango music native to that region of Mexico. Along with this, the afternoon then exploded with more music performed by a local band (instrumental) including members of all ages. These two bands stayed and played music from the afternoon into the evening. As the events moved into the evening, Syamala and Yuga-dharma performed traditional style Mexican dance for the guests.
After the public festivities, an evening kirtana commenced led my Haridasa Babaji Maharaja, Janardhana Prabhu and Yuga-dharma. During the kirtana, Krsna-Kirtana performed the evening arati as the offering was made.
All the devotees then assembled together and started organizing prasadam distribution for serving the guests and other devotees. Everyone, including Srila Guru Maharaja, was very happy with the quality of preparations that were offered to the Lord. Everyone seemed fully satisfied and in a happy mood as they honored and served Sri Bhagavata maha-prasada together.
Thank you to Janardana Prabhu and his family for opening up their home and for hosting such a wonderful festival. And thank you to all the devotees who came and helped make the celebration possible. All by the grace of our wonderful Gurudeva.
Sri Sri Gaura Nitai ki jaya!
Srila Guru Maharaja ki jaya!
Nueva
Ekacakra ki jaya!
