Where: The Krishna Temple, 8628 S. Main St., Spanish Fork, Utah When: Saturday August 28th, 8 pm Contact: Charu or Vaibhavi: 798-3559/787-1510 www.utahkrishnas.com
The Krishna Temple at 8628 S Main St. in Spanish Fork has planned a transcendental birthday party to celebrate the Appearance Day of Shree Krishna. From 8 pm onward there will be Indian dance, drama, musical concerts, hot meals, exhibits, and gifts available to all.
This holiday for Hindus compares to Christmas Day. Five thousand years ago Shree Krishna appeared on earth to protect the pious, annihilate the miscreants, and reestablish the principles of virtue. This was accomplished in a span of 125 years even at the end of which the Lord appeared as a fresh blooming youth of 16 or 20 years. Before returning to His own spiritual abode, the Lord spoke the Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) to his friend and disciple, Arjuna, thus leaving behind Him a legacy of wisdom for the ages. So stimulating and profound are these words of Shree Krishna that there have been over 2,000 translations of Bhagavad Gita in the English language alone.
The word Krishna means “All-Attractive” in Sanskrit. Krishna, in his manifest pastimes, exhibited six opulences or "attractive qualities" in full: beauty, knowledge, fame, wealth, strength, and humility. No other incarnation of Godhead exhibited these qualities to the same degree, and therefore Krishna is worshipped throughout India as “The Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Devotees chant His Holy Names considering that the names of the Absolute are non-different from the Absolute Himself. Aside from the ubiquitous chanting there will be many other elements to celebrate His advent during the celebration of his earthly appearance.
Admission to this event is free to the public. Everyone is welcome. For more information contact Caru or Vai (801)798-3559/787-1510. www.utahkrishnas.com.
Schedule of Events:
1) 8:00 pm Kirtan in Temple Pavilion with Jai Krishna and Sri Hanuman.
2) 8:30 pm Govinda Ala Re: As Krishna did when a child, participants will climb on each other's shoulders to reach and break a high suspended pot full of butter and yogurt.
There are some tips to be observed from Piyush Vargela*
Before they start asking volunteers that even if they don’t want to actually participate on the human pyramid, they can still be a part of this joyful event by standing near the pyramid to catch or block any potential person falling down. We have successfully hosted this event in the last 5 years, injury free and I would sincerely hope that the safety issue will always been taken cared of in the future for successful continuation of this event
The only injury every year used to be my forehead..lol....but that can be resolved by keeping a small coconut taped on the mouth of the hundi which can be used to break the hundi. Please don’t use a stick, because that takes the fun out of the entire event.
Sometimes since we recruit guys on the fly, people are not aware of the human pyramid; they don’t know how to form the pyramid. On occasions over the last 5 years, sometimes, I have seen guys putting their knees/calf on the shoulders instead of their foot, i.e. at that position they cannot stand and the pyramid will eventually fail. So they should be instructed to stand like they normally stand.
One more thing, I had observed during the last 5 years was that the second layer guys were standing on the arms and hands of the guys below them. That is one of the biggest reasons for the pyramid to fall since that is unnecessary pressure on the hand of the guy below. The right way is to stand on the shoulders or just where the arm starts. Ideally the person on top should keep one leg on one person and the other leg on the shoulder of another person, so the weight gets distributed. So if anyone is making that mistake, then one can just ask the person in the second line to move his leg to the appropriate position.
All these changes have to happen instantaneously as this whole event can be finished in less than 5-10 minutes and we don’t want anyone injured, so someone has to take care of all these things during that time frame.
3) 9:00 pm Featured Bharat Natyam Dance performer Divya Narayanam with her troupe of students:
5) 10:00 pm Abhishekam (Bathing Ceremony). Sponsors will assist the priest in bathing the Deity, and take home the kalashas along with other gifts.
6) Kirtans and Bhajans throughout
7) Midnight arati
8) Huge feast (everyone is welcome to bring preparations to augment the feast) sold up until the midnight arati and served free afterwards
Pictured here are the Golden Kalasha (US $ 108.00) and the Deluxe Kalasha (US $ 251.00) which the members will receive after the gala Janmastami celebrations and abhishekam (bathing ceremony). Our grateful thanks to each and every one of the donors.
The kalasha abhishekam (bathing ceremony) will take place about 10:30 pm. We’d like to thank the many families who participated last year, and all those who have been regularly supportive over the years.
This year we were hoping for new members, or heretofore marginally supportive ones, to step up and help us double the number of kalasha sponsors. In expectation, we ordered 100 kalashas from Vrndavan, India.
For anyone who cannot be present to personally bathe the deities, we shall do the bathing in your name and send the kalasha and other gifts by post. To see and hear the festivities (except when we are doing the ratha yatra and the breaking of the butter pot outside) one can go to this web site, and click both the buttons for temple web cam and the radio buttons for live audio.
For sponsorship and to receive either the deluxe kalasha for a donation of US $ 251.00 or the golden kalasha for US $ 108.00, contact Caru Das at (801) 798-3559/787-1510, use Paypal as below, or send a check to the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, 8628 South State Road, Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
