Dear Devotees and Friends of Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple:
Please accept my humble obeisances and respects. All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
This year Lord Sri Krishna's Janmashtami falls on Sunday, August 24th. We hope you and your family will be able to join us on this auspicious and transcendental celebration. I very much look forward to seeing all of you on that day.
This year's festivities will begin at 5:00 pm with an Arati and a swing ceremony where all of you can swing Sri Sri Radha Govinda. This will be followed by a play, the Maha Kalash Abhishek, and cultural programs afterwards. The festival culminates with the midnight Maha Arati of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. There will be chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra throughout the festival, nice music, kirtan, and of course delicious Krishna prasadam. You can find the detailed schedule on our website www.krishnadenver.com. As we get closer to the actual day we will be posting further news and information on the website and bulletin.
The major highlight of the festival will be the Sri Sri Radha Govinda Maha Kalash Abhishek in which persons who sponsor a kalash will have the wonderful opportunity to directly assist in bathing the Lord. You are cordially invited to sponsor a Gold or Silver Kalash and take part in this wonderful Maha Abhishek ceremony of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. Your sponsored Kalash will be used to bathe the Lord, and after the ceremony the Kalash will be returned to you with Maha Prasadam offered to Lord Krishna and other gifts. Your family is also welcome to take part of this ceremony as part of your sponsorship.
The Kalash sponsorships are available on a limited basis so please reserve yours early in order to not miss out. To book your kalash for this wonderful event please contact our congregational director, His Grace Rishabhdeva dasa at: 720-217-3379 / 303-329-0106 / 720-941-2690 or congregation_office@krishnadenver.com. You can also download the sponsorship form on the support page.
This year another opportunity to serve Lord Krishna is by participating in the Sri Krishna Janmashtami Annadan Program. Via this program we plan to distribute nutritious and sumptuous prasadam or sanctified food to about 1,500 people. This will be done throughout the day and the next day on Janmashtami and also at different homeless shelters in Denver. This Annadan program will cost the temple about $8,000.00. To help to achieve this goal of feeding 1500 people, ISKCON Denver is seeking donations from liberal and kind persons. Whoever contributes $250 and above for the Annadan will get the opportunity to participate in the Maha Kalash abhishek, subject of course to the availability of kalash in the category of kalash sponsorships which matches their contribution for the Sri Krishna Janmashtami Annadan Program. To donate for the Annadan program please contact Rishabhdeva dasa at the above numbers.
Every little bit of help will contribute to fund these expenses. Remember that this is your temple, and your donation makes sure that we serve Lord Sri Krishna and His devotees in the best possible ways.
You could also serve Lord Sri Krishna on Janmashtami day through service or seva. We need volunteers to help us to run this major festival in a very nice and organized way. The areas where you can contribute are:
1. Serving prasadam
There will be two stations where we are going to be serving Krishna Prasadam beginning at 7:00PM in the form of sanctified food. If you'd like to help at one of these stations for any period of time, let us know.
2. Decorate the temple for Janmashtami
The major decoration will take place on Saturday, the day before Janmashtami, and the rest will be done on Janmashtami day. Among other things this will involve blowing up balloons with helium, stringing up green leaves and flags, etc. Please contact us to let us know if you'd like to help with this service.
3. Making garlands
You could make garlands for decorations in the temple and the altar - this is on the day of Janmashtami and the day before.
4. Washing pots and General Cleaning/Help
With a program to cook for 1500 people we will need help in washing pots at cutting vegetables in the kitchen. The scriptures explain that washing the Lord's temple, washing His cooking pots etc is very purifying. It helps us cleanse our hearts of so many impure thoughts and tendencies. This service is available throughout the day on Aug. 24th till late at night. Please volunteer any amount of time you wish/can for this service.
At about 1:00AM on Janmashtami day, after the festival is over, there will be lots of opportunities to clean the temple and the temple premises.
If you would like to perform some service, or seva for Lord Sri Krishna on this auspicious day please contact us at the temple at:
720-941-2763 / 303-329-0106 / 720-941-2690
or
congregation_office@krishnadenver.com
Thank you very much!
Sri Radha Govinda ki jai!
Yours in service of Krishna,
Vasudeva Dasa
Temple President
ISKCON Denver