MANGALORE, TNN, 7 January 2010, 11:23pm IST: The Mangalore branch of International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has organized the 7th annual Sri Krishna Balarama rath yatra here on Saturday.
“The festival is fashioned on the lines of the rath yatra of Jagannatha Puri. It symbolises an act of `pulling’ the lord into our respective hearts,” noted Pankajanghri Dasa, preacher of Arya Samaj Road branch of ISKCON, while addressing reporters here on Thursday.
The rath yatra procession will be flagged off after an inaugural special pooja at 5.30 pm from Bunts Hostel Circle. It will pass through Bunts Hostel Circle, Jyothi (Ambedkar Circle), Hampankatta Circle, Town Hall, Lady Goschen Hospital, Bhavanthi Street, P M Rao Road, K S Rao Road, Navabharath Circle, P V S Circle and end at A B Shetty Hall at Bunts Hostel at 8.30 pm. This will be followed by sankirtan and maha mangalarathi.
Throughout the procession, there will be live `harinama sankirtan’ accompanied by various traditional musical instruments. He appealed to the people to come in large numbers is take part in the yatra. Devotees can offer flowers, fruits, lamps and other items signifying their devotion to the deity. They can also traditionally wash the street and decorate the road in front of their houses and shops along the route with rangoli, he said.
K Prabhakar Bhat, southern regional secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will inaugurate the festival prior to commencement of rath yatra.
Ajit Kumar Rai Malady, chairman, Federation of World Bunts Association will be the chief guest. Ganesh Karnik, MLC, Sunder Shetty, secretary, Bunts Association will be the guests of honour. Madhu Pandit Dasa, president, ISKCON, Bangalore will preside over the function.
Speak Your Mind