2015

2014Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha Swamy

KshetramRoad No. 12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad

Serving the mission of HDG A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Dec ’14 Newsletter

Message from Temple President

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Gita JayanthiPg 3

Reinstallation of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s

FootprintsPg 4

Srila PrabhupadaBook Marathon

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Folk

Trip

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Srila PrabhupadaAshraya Ceremony

Pg 8

SankalpPg 11

GovindaKataksham

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Prasadam Distribution

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Satya Gaura Chandra DasaM.Tech, IIT Chennai

Temple President, HKM Hyderabad

Message from Temple President www.hkm-hyderabad.org 2

December is a special month for Hare Krishna Devotees. Lord Krishna had spoken glorious Bhagavad-Gita in this month on Gita Jayanthi day. On the occasion of Gita Jayanthi, Hare Krishna devotees all over the world try to distribute books of Srila Prabhupada, the founder and acharya of world-wide Hare Krishna Movement, throughout the month on a marathon. They specifically distribute Bhagavad-Gita books to one & all by inventing various methods of book distribution. By the endeavors of Hare Krishna devotees many people come in con-tact with Sri Krishna’s message and associate with a Pure saint Srila Prabhupada. This is the most auspicious welfare activity in this world because as soon as some-body reads any of these books, their eternal relationship with Srila Prabhupada be-gins and one day they will get delivered from this miserable material world.All the events organized by Hare Krishna Movement - Hyderabad are centered around book distribution, all meant to give a chance for everyone to come in contact with the eternal message of Bhagavad-gita particualrly through distribution of books of Srila Prabhupada!Please start your journey of reading Srila Prabhupada books by taking & reading one of those innumerable books that Srila Prabhupada kindly gave us, as soon as possible. In fact this is a great resolution to be taken in the new year, for those who celebrate 1st jan as new year, and bring in a most auspicious transformation in life. Read & distribute Srila Prabhupada books!All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! All Glories to Sri Nitai Gauranga!

Gita Jayanthi www.hkm-hyderabad.org 3

Gita Jayanthi

The advent of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, polularly known as ‘Gita Jayanti’ was celebrated on December 2nd, Tuesday in Swayambhu Lakshmi Nrsimha Swamy Kshetram.Around 5000 years ago, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, the Supreme Lord Krishna re-told the most confidential and topmost knowledge of devotional service unto His lotus feet. This knowledge was initially spoken to the Vivasvan, the Sun God millions of years ago but it was lost in due course of time. The supreme lord again reestablished this lost knowledge on this auspicious day and thus today marks the appearance of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Gita Jayanti. Lord has chosen his dearmost devotee Arjuna, through which this knowledge was revealed to the whole world in order to help all devotees understand the purpose of life and the way to surrender unto Him.

Hare Krishna Movement celebrated this auspicious day by performing a program called ‘Gita Yajna’ wherein all the 700 verses of Srimad Bhagavad Gita are recited starting from 10 AM till 4 PM. Again the selected 108 slokas from Bhagavad Gita are recited in the eve-ning starting from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. HG Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa has explained the importance of reading the Bhagavad Gita and how one can practically apply those prin-ciples in one’s day to day life. Many people including students participated in this Gita Yajna and carried home a copy of Bhagavad Gita. Sloka recitation competitions are also conducted in some schools and certificates and prizes were distributed to participants.

Lord Chaitanya’s Lotus Feet www.hkm-hyderabad.org 4

Simhachalam is located five miles from the railway station of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and is the abode of one of the holy shrines of Lord Narasimha. The temple situated on the top of a hill is managed by priests of the Ramanujacharya sect.

Simhachalam has got a special significance in the history of Gaudiya Vaish- nava Sampradaya as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, while on His south Indian tour, visited this temple in the year 1510. Upon having dar-shan of the Lord, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced in ecstasy and offered wonderful prayers.

The prayer sung by Lord Chaitanya,

“sri-nrsimha, jaya nrsimha, jaya jaya nrsimhaprahladesa jaya padma-mukha-padma-bhrnga”

translates as follows:

“All glories to Narasimhadeva! All glories to Narasimhadeva, who is the Lord of Prahla-da Maharaja and, like the honey bee, is always engaged in beholding the lotus-like face

of the goddess of fortune.”Commemorating this visit, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thaku-ra, the spiritual master of Srila Pra-bhupada, installed lotus footprints of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in 1930 at the main entrance of the Simhachalam temple. During the recent renovation works of the Simhachalam temple, these lotus footprints were removed acciden-tally by some workers. And that is when the Hare Krishna Move-ment(HKM), Visakhapatnam took up the task of restoring these

Re-Installation of Lotus Footprints of Lord Chaitanya at Simhachalam

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Lotus Feet www.hkm-hyderabad.org 5

footprints. When the devotees approached the temple management with the footprints carved on a marble, re-questing them to install them in the temple premises, the management was extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the proposal. They built a small temple (mantapam) to house these lotus footprints in a prominent place of the temple.

The installation of the auspicious lotus footprints was per-formed on 7th December, 2014. Sri Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa, President of Hare Krishna Movement, Hyderabad in-augurated the mantapam and Veda Pandits of Simhacha-lam performed the religious rituals for installation. Now hundreds of devotees visiting the temple for darshan of Lord Narasimha are paying respects to Sri Chaitanya Ma-haprabhu upon reading the plaque put up at the mantapam (both in English and Telugu) by HKM Visakhapatnam dev-otees.S

RILA

PRABHUPADA

BOOK

MARATHON

2014

The month of December is the most auspicious month especially for the followers of Srila Prabhupada as it is time for Book Marathon of the Year. This Prabhupada Book Marathon is total bliss as everyone

gets opportunity and takes commitment to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books to others and help them to revive their Krishna Consciousness. As Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, this sankirtan movement is “anandam-budhi vardanam”, it is an ever expanding ocean of bliss. The activities of the Krsna consciousness movement are meant not only for oneself but for others also. This is the perfection of Krsna consiousness. One who is interested in his own salvation is not as advanced in Krsna consciousness as one who feels conpassion for others and who therefore propagates the Krsna consciousness movement. A devotee is para dhuka dhukhi, when He sees others suffer it gives pain to Him. So during this marathon devotees try to give pleasure to Krsna by giving this mercy in the form of Prabhupa-da’s books to as many condictioned souls as possible.

SP Book Marathon 2014 www.hkm-hyderabad.org 6Hare Krishna Movement, Hyderabad also launched Srila Prabhupada’s Book Marathon on the auspicious day of Gita Jayanthi. Devotees associated with the temple enthusi-astically registered themselves and each devotee took cartons of books with them to distribute. Both folk and congregation devotees have been distributing books at various locations in the city such as shopping malls, educational institutions, temples, door to door campaigning, busy streets, trains, surrounding villages etc. and giving many people the opportunity to understand the importance of spirituality in the life of a human being. Temple has announced attractive prizes for the devotees to encourage the invaluable service that each of them is doing to society. There have been multiple instances where the books godown went out of stock and the devotees have to hurry to get the books arranged as quickly as possible..!!

Srila Prabhupada once said, “If you sell a book to someone, that is better than your speaking to them — what will your three minutes preaching do? But if they read a book it may turn their life. Go on preaching, that is the highest perfection of activity, and do not worry for anything, Krishna is so much appreciative of this preaching work that He will give you every facility, as much as you have ambition.

Folk Trip www.hkm-hyderabad.org 7

Friends of Lord Krishna

Folk Trip to

Jharani Narasimha Swamy Temple, Bidar

Sunday, December 14th turned out to be a life in the spiritual world, where in the Devotees got a feel of what is the ecstacy enjoyed by the Devotees in the spiritual world. It was a day of visit to Sri Jharani Narasimha Swami Temple in Bidar which was a much awaited trip as Devotees were in high excitement after seeing this particular abode of the Lord in the photos.

All the Devotees assembled in Folk Hostels in the early morning and the trip started with beautiful Narasimha kirtan sung by Murari prabhu. The next stop was a surprise for the Devotees as Srivas prabhu, the master of such surprises was the guide and such surprises were definitely expected :-) He guided us to a beautiful Vittala Temple which was in some small village and all the Devotees honored breakfast prasadam there.

Srivas prabhu recited a wonderful pastime of a magnificent Devotee of Lord Vittala , who used to always chant the holy names of Vittala and even after his death due to an accident, his bones were vibrating the Holy Names of Lord Vittala (http://en.wiki-pedia.org/wiki/Chokhamela) which actually explained the purport of the verse of Sri Sikshastaka recited by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktistatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

‘My Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, in Your holy name there is all good for-tune for the living entity, and therefore You have many names, such as “Krishna” and “Govinda,” by which You expand Yourself. You have invested all Your potencies in those names, and there are no hard and fast rules for remembering them.

After hearing this pastime the Devotees sank in ecstacy and they got charged up to perform a Nagar Sankirtan around the village which hap-pened with great fervour. After this the Devotees proceeded to the Dham of the Lord which was a cave which was filled with pure water which directly comes from the Lord’s lotus feet.

As the Devotees entered the cave a tumultous Sankirtan was performed and the entire cave echoed with the Lord’s transcendental Names “Jai Narasimha! Jaya Narasimha Dev!” and it was simply an ecstatic scene to watch where the Devotees were trying to dance in the water of the cave splashing water on each other .The path was about a 500m walk in the cave with water upto chest height, which led to Lord Narasimha’s beautiful Archa Vigraha.

Srila Prabhupada Ashraya www.hkm-hyderabad.org 8As the Devotees went closer to the Lord the kirtan sound grew and as we reached the Lord’s lotus feet, the pujari requested Murari prabhu to perform Sankirtana and all the Devotees started dancing in ecstacy after seeing the Lord. Srivas prabhu commented that the Lord wanted to hear his glorifications from Murari prabhu in the form of sweet kirtan hence he requested it through the pujari..!! The Devotees then recited Narasimha kavacham in the cave of the all powerful Lord and received the mercy of their Lordships Sri Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha.

The Devotees completely satisfied after seeing the Lord received another dosage in the form of a powerful lecture by HG Srivas prabhu on the importance of following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions which was the most important part of the trip. The Devotees after the class took up a few commitments to follow everyday without fail and got the real spiritual fruit of the trip and commented that they all had an out of the world experience.

Haribol...!!!

HKM Hyderabad has conducted Srila Prabhupada Ashraya Ceremony on Dec 21st, which is a program to bring many igno-rant souls close to Srila Prabhupada, thereby providing them a means to attain perfection in their way back home, back to god-head. Srila Prabhupada, although physically not present, contin-ues to guide everyone who firmly believes in his instructions and tries to follow them sincerely and the devotees taking shelter at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this program is a proof of that.

Around 75 fortunate devotees who are practicing various levels of Krishna Consciousness took Ashraya from Srila Prabhupada on this day. All the dev-otees took commitments infront of Srila Prabhupada to chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra every day and practice various aspects of Krishna Consciousness in their day-to-day life.

HKM wishes that may Srila Prabhupada bless them all to progress in KC life.

Srila Prabhupada Ashraya Ceremony

- Content by Folk Haran AshokEngineer, Tata Elxsi

SP Ashraya & Food Distribution Programs www.hkm-hyderabad.org 9

Pictures from Srila Prabhupada Ashraya Ceremony

Five Rupees meal program which is being carried out by HKM in association with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been extended in 1 more location, Puranapool in the month of December. Receiving a full meal for a price of just Rs. 5/-, around 5900 people are being getting benefitted in the city every day.

A video footage made by media on the mid day meal program can be viewed at the below link:

http://youtu.be/_u0nTbUAvJg

Prasadam Distribution Programs

First Year Anniversary of Bhojanamrita Program at Osmania General HospitalBhojanamrita Program was started in 2013 in Osmania Gener-al Hospital and on 28th Dec 2014, 1st Year Anniversary Cele-brations were conducted presided by Honourable High Court Judge Sri Rammohan Rao Ji , Sri Vishnu Lal Gupta Ji, Prop of K.V. Textiles, Sri Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa, President of Hare Krishna Movement-Hyd & Hospital Authorities. As part of this program, “New Food Distribution Vehicle” donated by Sri Vishnu Lal Gupta ji, Propri-etor of K V Textiles handed over the keys to Sri Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa-President of Hare Krishna Movement-Hyd. This vehicle will be used for supplying Free Food to many patients & attendants who are getting benefited by Bhojanamrita Program in 10 hospitals of Hyderabad. Bhojanamrita is a Free Lunch Program which is happening in 10 hospitals of Hyderabad and more than 4000 patients & attendants are getting Free Lunch under this program. This program is con-ceived by Hare Krishna Movement-Hyderabad.

Bhojanamrita www.hkm-hyderabad.org 10

Sankalp 2015 www.hkm-hyderabad.org 11

Sankalp2015

SANKALP - 2015...An Eve of Sublime Resolutions

Most of us make New Year resolutions such as giving up bad habits or picking up good ones. We may not stick to our resolutions, but that we make them at all, tells us at least one thing: “we have an innate belief that we can change”!

One problem with trying to change is, the reaction from dear & near ones, they may discourage for whatever reason. But chanting Hare Krishna has the power to effect real, lasting change in anyone.

FOLK (Youth Education Wing of HKM-Hyd) had planned an Event - “SANKALP-2015…An Eve of Sublime Resolutions” – to guide the youth to celebrate the New Year in Krish-na Conscious way! More than 300 students & IT Professionals had gathered on 31st Dec and many events were organized – Bhagavad-Gita Quiz, Devotional Skits, Harinama Sankirtana, Inspirational Talk by HG Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa-President of HKM-Hyd and the event was concluded with Delicious Dinner Prasadam & Krishna Conscious Gifts! Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi witnessed the whole event and received the first arati in the New year at 12 AM midnight.

Below given are glimpses of various devotional skits performed by folk boys from differ-ent folk hostels

“Me & My Mind” by Banjara Hills Folk Hostel BoysThis skit focuses on showcasing an important message from Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which is sloka 6.5,

uddhared ātmanātmānamnātmānam avasādayet

ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhurātmaiva ripur ātmanah

One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

Diksha Ceremony www.hkm-hyderabad.org 12

Performing wonderfully the roles of Me and Mind, the skit gives the hint how mind can trap a living entity due to the influence of the age of kali if it is not controlled with higher intelligence. The skit also depicts how through the association of a devotee, one gets to know the transcendental message of the supreme lord that by chanting the holy names of Lord Hari, one get’s free from all the evil effects of kali and finally takes shelter of the supreme Lord Krishna.

Some of the highlights of the performance can be seen in pictures below -

The Deliverance of Mrgari, the Hunter by IIT Hyderabad Folk Boys

This is a story of a cruel hunter, Mrgari which is described in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. Mrgari was a hunter living in a forest near Prayag. He was cruel and accustomed to shoot arrows at the animals leaving them half-dead and take pleasure in their suffering. Once Narada Muni was passing through that forest and he saw many animals, half-killed and suffering a lot. Overwhelmed with compassion for their miseries, Narada muni instructs Mrgari that it is most sinful act and he would have to suffer a great deal as a consequence of his degraded actions. A thoughtful Mrgari takes the instruction of Narada Muni seri-ously and starts following his instructions that leads him to ultimate spiritual progress.

The skit which is wondefully portrayed by the folk boys of IIT Hyderabad clearly conveys the message of how by association of a pure devotee, one’s life may get transformed.

Sankalp www.hkm-hyderabad.org 13

GBC TVGoloka Broadcasting Corporation..!! by Madhapur Folk Hostel Boys

The folk hostel boys and few other devotees have demonstrated a creative master piece of skit show depicting various preaching activities and the mood of the public in general. Showcasing how devotees find different means to engage people in the service of the lord is the highlight in the drama.

It also showcases Srila Prabhupada instruction on how to dovetail one’s tendencies in the service of the supreme lord which the sastras quote as ‘nirbandhe krsna sambandhe’.

The whole drama revolves around a television show where a news reader is reading out various headlines of the day as well as various incidents happening across the nation with the help of a live reporter..!!

Some of the pictures of the drama show are below -

Cobbler & the Brahmana by Kukatpally Folk Hostel BoysNarada Muni travelled all over the universe singing the glories of Lord Krishna. On one such journey to earth, he met a brahmin priest. The brahmin was a proud man. He asked Narada Muni to ask Lord Vishnu that when will he be joining the lord in Vaikuntha. Narada agreed and on the way he met a humble cobbler. Cobbler also asked the same question to enquire from Lord Vishnu. Narada Muni reach Vaikuntha and asked Narayana about the request of the Brahmin and the cobbler. Narayana replied, “After leaving this body the cobbler shall come here to Me, but Brahmana has to remain there for number of births.”

This drama gives an important message that how a person with humility and pridelessness who has firm faith in the Supreme Lord Krishna makes spiritual advancement no matter how much knowledge one acquires from vedic scriptures.

This was a wonderful performance by Kukatpally folk hostel boys which made audience to self assess their qualities & propensities.

Sankalp www.hkm-hyderabad.org 14

Stomach & the Senses by SR Nagar Folk Hostel Boys

Depicting the message that serving the root ultimately satisfies all the objects that de-pend on it, SR Nagar folk boys have demonstrated with an example of how miserable the condition of bodily senses will be when they wanted to enjoy independently with-out serving their source of energy, the stomach. Clearly demonstrating the message that if Supreme Lord Krishna is not served, all the efforts trying to enjoy independent of him will go in vain, the whole drama wonderfully reminded an important message to the audience.Some pictures of drama are shown below -

Sankalp www.hkm-hyderabad.org 15

Govinda Kataksham www.hkm-hyderabad.org 16

Govinda Kataksham‘Govinda Kataksham’, a program where devotees associated with HKM Hyderabad perform sankirtan and other preaching related activities during various events at houses, festivals, functions etc., thus invoking the blessings of the supreme lord to all those who participated in it.

One such event has been conducted on the occasion of a folk boy Bhargava Prabhu sister’s marriage at the Ahobila mutt in Hyderabad. HKM’s Krishna Ashraya devotees Kalanidhi Prabhu and Dhananjaya Prabhu families along with few other devotees have performed a wonderful sankirtan program at the function hall and made everyone attending the marriage ceremony participate in the chanting of the holy name of Lord Hari.

As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 17.13,

vidhi-hīnam asrstānnammantra-hīnam adaksinamśraddhā-virahitam yajñam

tāmasam paricaksate

Any sacrifice performed without regard for the directions of scripture, without distribution of prasādam [spiritual food], without chanting of Vedic hymns and remunerations to the priests, and without faith is considered to be in the mode of ignorance.

So, a sacrifice that is made with all the above injunctions of the vedic scriptures invokes auspiciousness to all. Special Prasadam from Ahobila mutt was distrubuted to all the devotees attended the ceremony after the event.

In the Service of His Divine Grace A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA

President: HG Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa Vice President: HG Bindu Madhava DasaCommunications Co-ordinator: Mukunda Charana Dasa Design & Editing: Raja Rama Dasa

Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha Swamy KshetramHare Krishna Movement,

Road No.12, Banjara Hills, Hyerabad - 500034, TelanganaTel: 040 - 23326999 Mob: 9390379689 E-mail: info@hkm-hyderabad.org