Monday 1 October 2018

Saturday, September 22nd, 2018

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dancers, etc.

Dancers, chanters, comedians, musicians, food, parade, images and friendship were all spot-lit by the sun, wind and clouds at the Chariot Fest in Philly. The procession went down the main artery which is named after Ben Franklin.

This is the city of Brotherly Love, or Bro Prem if you want to Sanskritize it some. Lots of love leaked out of the chariots, numbering three, as they rolled down and around, to finish at the Museum of Art, near the steps where the famous Rocky Balboa trained for the championship.

In any event, today’s champ is Jagannatha Himself, the actual Lord of the Universe according to followers of the bhakti-yogatradition.

Personally, I got behind the dancing at thekirtantent and was also asked to do something on the main stage.  Somehow we succeeded in having the audience pull away from their chairs to dance and sing and, of course, all with a smile.

“It appears the festival is growing,” I mentioned to Vishnu Gada, who is one of the organizers and one of my Go Bros—Godbrothers.  VG joined in ’71 and first met Krishna followers who were from the West Virginia centre called New Vrindavan.  He is from Indiana and met devotees at a campus down Lafayette/Perdue way.

“Indiana = corn fields,” is what I said to VG, and he laughed.

“Yeah, that’s right.  I mentioned to him that that’s what I remember about the state when I walked through it.  Corn fields forever!

May the Source be with you!
5 km

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