Guru Maharaj blesses Atlanta on July 10th and 11th !
(by Gita devi dasi) (Slideshow of the visit !)
Guru Maharaj arrives at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport !
Hare Krishna!
Devotees were anxiously awaiting to have Guru Maharaj's darshan at the airport. As soon as His Holiness arrived, all devotees present beamed with delight and happiness to be in the association of our beloved Guru Maharaj. As usual, he inquired from everyone present about their welfare and spiritual life.
From the airport, we drove straight to Krsna Saranam's house where Guru Maharaj decided to go for a walk. A few minutes later, Bhakta Venkatesh and Bhaktin Priya, who had driven all the way from Alabama, arrived to associate with Guru Maharaj. Bhakta Siddhartha arrived too with his friends to have the darshan. So we called up Guru Maharaj and informed him about the enthusiastic crowd waiting for him. He immediately cut short his walk and came back to preach!
Guru Maharaj was so pleased to answer all the questions from the newcomers on Krishna consciousness and encouraged everyone present to chant on a daily basis. (Hear the nectar on the forthcoming audio lecture on this site shortly)
Later, Guru Maharaj had prasadam and commented that we were over-feeding him and he was gaining extra weight..... But he was in a hurry to resume his Deity worship for the day at Gita Govinda's place, where he subsequently rested before visiting Bhakta and Bhaktin Hema's residence to encourage them to progress in Krishna consciousness.
The Hall Program ! (Slideshow)
The evening program started at 7 pm in the Conference center of the Global Mall and Guru Maharaj reached at 7:15 pm inspite of thunder and heavy rain.... He was greeted by the large crowd present in the hall with "jaya gurudeva" kirtan led by Deepa. Bhakta Devang from Kansas, helped in setting up the audio/video broadcast on Paltalk including remote conferencing with the live audience in Kansas university conference hall.(video lecture forthcoming on this site)
After the lecture and Q & A session, Guru Maharaj made it a point to meet with everyone present and encourage each one to take to spiritual life seriously. The hall was packed with a variegated crowd ranging from young mormon elders to doctors, software professionals who were in majority. Amongst the distinguished guests were His Holiness Trivikrama Maharaj and HG Balabhadra Prabhu, President of Iskcon, Atlanta.
It was 11 pm by the time Guru Maharaj returned to Gita Govinda's house to take prasadam and rest for the night. Jagadish Prabhu served Guru Maharaj devotedly.
Guru Maharaj performing Deity worship !
Next morning, Guru Maharaj was up again early and started his Deity worship with the help of Janardana Prabhu. We left for the temple at 7:20 am where Guru Maharaj gave an inspiring Bhagavatam lecture. (video lecture forthcoming here)
Srimad Bhagavatam class in the temple !
After the class, Guru Maharaj went for a walk with Bhakta Kumar and later had prasadam with Balabhadra Prabhu. Sarvavadi Prabhu was given second initiation after which, Guru Maharaj talked to all the disciples and aspiring disciples individually encouraging them in Krishna consciousness. Bhakta Devang, who flew down from Kansas specially to meet Guru Maharaj, helped cook and serve the prasadam !
It was time to take Guru Maharaj to the airport for his afternoon flight to Washington. As always, Guru Maharaj was anxious till he received the boarding pass amidst heavy security on the baggage.