This Janmastami, the devotees at Centro Bharati opened the temple door for the first time to celebrate the appearance of Lord Krsna with friends and well-wishers - some of whom had never even heard of Krsna, kirtana or mantra meditation. The twelve devotees at Centro Bharati hosted a total of fifteen guests and many guests even helped throughout the day with cooking and other sevas.
When Guru Maharaja left Guanajuato for India he joked that without the physical presence of any of our guardians, we’ll pass Janmastami like the comedy movie ‘Home Alone’. Indeed, we were all feeling the physical separation from our leaders, but by the direction of Madhava Maharaja and by the grace of Srila Guru Maharaja and Gaura-Radha-Madhava, our Janmastami celebration in Guanajuato was a success.
All the devotees really came together in order to put on a wonderful celebration for Lord Sri Krsna. From cooking to cleaning, chanting and reading, and making sure that all our guests were well received and taken care of. Ekanatha Dasa really did a superb job by leading and organising the whole night of festivities. He gave a nice explanation to our guests on the significance of Janmastami, touched more on the philosophy, answered guest's questions and read from the Krsna Book about the appearance of Lord Krsna. Various devotees also shared their experiences and realisations.
The newly located temple room, in closer proximity to the restaurant, was decorated by many matajis and guests with flowers, leaves and fruits – red cactus fruits, purplish mangoes, oranges, apples, pineapple, coconuts, red bananas, and several Tulasi plants. All the devotees helped with cooking and baking. The cooking was nicely organised by Vasudeva Dasa. After a full day in the kitchen, Vasudeva Dasa lead the night's kirtanas building all the way until the offering.
While all the offerings were brought into the temple room, the devotees and guests chanted, danced and clapped in celebration of Lord Hari. The evening arati was offered by Daruka Dasa accompanied afterwards by puspanjali. In total fifty-two preparations were offered. Consisting of twenty-six salty preparations and twenty-six sweet preparations.
All the preparations were first-class in quantity and quality. The guests were astonished by the amount of tasty prasadam and were served generously with much festivity and camaraderie amongst the devotees. Again, for many of the guests this was their first festival experience. Vraja Leela made sure that they were all fully satisfied by offering them a plethora of sweets at the end, sixteen of the twenty-six which she personally prepared. She is truly getting the reputation here at the restaurant and asrama as the 'Sweet Queen'.
All in all, Janmastami festival in Guanajuato felt like a home-warming, with our family of devotees inviting and hosting their closest of friends. And this was the original conception for Centro Bharati – to offer the public an attractive and homelike environment where they could raise their consciousness, take prasadam, and find something deeper in life, thus giving the devotees here a full life in devotion where they can really grow and help others too.
Janmastami Mahotseva ki Jaya!
Srila Guru Maharaja ki Jaya!!
