This month we were approached by Mr. Victor, the principal of Mandal Parishad Primary School in the rural village of Jonnavalasa, Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. He heard of our ashram's food distribution programs in Vizianagaram and requested us to do something for the children in his school.

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Already the children receive daily meals from the government, through the national mid-day meal program, so we asked in what way we could be of assistance. He replied that the children could use school uniforms, as their families cannot afford them.

We are happy to inform you that the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has recently begun food distribution programs in Andhra Pradesh. Currently we are conducting the activities throughout Vizianagaram district based from our ashram located in Vizianagaram, in the North of Andhra Pradesh. In the initial stages we are planning to distribute food 15 times a month in various tribal villages within 100 kilometers of our ashram.

Enclosed are some recent photographs of a program for 300 children at Bhadrak Primary School. We have begun distribution of school supplies to poor students in rural areas who are unable to afford their own. We do not want children to feel discouraged from studying due to the expenses involved in purchasing basic things like notebooks, pens and school uniforms.

Below are a few recent photos of the food distribution program we are conducting in the village of Ulanga. Ulanga is a small village located around 5 km from our relief center in Randiya. Like Randiya, it is also an adivasi (tribal) village. We humbly request you to keep the children of Ulanga in your daily prayers.

The following pictures are of Lord Jagannatha and Baladeva dressed in Hati Vesha (Elephant Dress) during last year's Snana Purnima festival at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Snana Purnima takes place 15 days before Lord Jagannatha's Ratha Yatra festival. It is the last darshan of the Lord until 15 days later when He comes out on His chariot.

In our previous newsletter we showed you pictures and a video of the children of Randiya and the weekly food distribution we conduct in that village. For the new year we thought it would be nice to give these children a small gift that they could really relate to, something that would allow them to just be children for a day.  [Video Inside]

Randiya is a very poor rural village located around 20 km away from our main Ashram in Orissa. The village consists of people from the adivasi (tribal) community. Around two years ago, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a relief center here and began regular distribution of free meals to more than 300 children of the village. Since that time we have been able to distribute over 44,000 meals to these wonderful children.  [Video Inside]

Quite unexpectedly, on the auspicious occassion of Naga Panchami (the traditional day for worshipping snakes and Nagas), a divine Naga appeared at our Sri Jagannatha temple in Bhadrak to bless devotees. As word spread, more than 1,000 villagers arrived throughout the day and night, bringing offerings of milk and deepams to offer to the Naga.

On the auspicious occasion of Puri Jagannatha Ratha Yatra, the sacred deities of Sri Devi (Lakshmi), Bhu Devi and Vimala Devi were installed at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Each deity has been crafted from 110 kilograms (242 lbs) of ashtadhatu metal (a combination of eight metals: gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, tin, iron, and mercury), and they are each approximately two and a half feet tall.

Another village has been added to our food relief program in Orissa. The village of Ugalpur is located around 6 kilometers outside of Bhadrak. Here are a few photos of the children from this village and the recent food distribution. We have also included a three minute video clip at the top of the page. [Video Inside]

500 years ago, while walking from Navadvipa to Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spent the night in Bhadrak on the banks of the sacred Salandi river. He stayed at an ancient temple of Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana (located in Santhiya village). Before departing for Puri, He blessed the temple pujari by giving him His personal blanket. This blanket has been worshipped for the last 500 years by the descendants of the original pujari.

This month we have begun food distribution in a new village, Bagurai Leprosy Colony, located a few kilometers outside of Bhadrak, in Orissa. As the name implies, most of the children in the village have parents affected by leprosy. This makes it even harder for their families to earn money, and take care of the children properly. We are trying to provide a little help in the form of spiritual food, so that the children can at least receive a few nourishing meals.

To commemorate the opening of a new branch in Avinashi, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has organized ‘Hare Krishna Festival’ at the 800 year old Sri Lakshmi Narasimha temple in the famous temple town of Avinashi.

The last few months have been a time of increased activity for us. In September, a renewal of monsoon rains led to severe flooding throughout Orissa, leaving more than 1.5 million people homeless in the state. Every year Orissa seems to bear the brunt of monsoon flooding in India, but this year it was even more so, with miles and miles of land submerged under water.

On Kartika Purnima the Bhaktivedanta Ashram inaugurated special "Chandana Argali Parikrama" of Lord Jagannatha. Every full moon day devotees are allowed to enter the inner altar, usually reserved for temple priests, and perform parikrama of Lord Jagannatha while offering flowers to His lotus feet. This is the only temple in Orissa that allows people from all castes and communities to enter the garbhagriha to worship the Lord.

Question: In the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.36, Srila Prabhupada states that even third-class neophyte devotees are liberated souls. How is it possible that such neophyte devotees, who don't possess the qualities of a liberated soul, are in fact liberated?"

To commemorate the sacred month of Kartik, Bhaktivedanta Ashram Coimbatore has arranged for a month long celebration at its temple premises. The devotees take part in decorating the temple with lamps every evening, and after the arati, reading of a lila from Bhagavata Purana continues.

Bhaktivedanta Ashram Coimbatore conducted a seven days "Bhagavad Gita Course for Ladies" from 13th to 19th September 2006. Eleven ladies from different walks of life participated in the program. At the end of the course the participants took an oath in front of Srila Prabhupada’s picture to daily chant a minimum of two malas of Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, to read Bhagavad Gita As It Is regularly, to eat only prasadam (food offered to Krishna) and to associate more with other devotees.

In August the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a new center in the South Indian city of Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu). The devotees organized their first satsanga on the occasion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna. Over 300 devotees attended the function, participated in bhajans and listened to a lecture on the sacred Bhagavad Gita.

A report on CNN News about the Bhaktivedanta Ashram's Jagannatha temple in Bhadrak, Orissa. Last week reporters from seven television channels came for filming (CNN, NDTV, ETV, OTV, Sony1, Zee News, and Aaj Tak).

Part of an interview for an Indian television channel (Aaj Tak). Topic of the interview is Puri Jagannatha temple's policy barring foreigners from entering to worship the Lord.

On May 22nd, we began the installation ceremony (pranapratishta) of the lifesize deities of Sri Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra at our ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. The pranapratishta ceremony was conducted by priests from the Puri Jagannatha temple, headed by Sri Nanda Sharma, and lasted for three days. On the first day, akhanda nama kirtan was inaugurated, and devotees went in procession to the Salandi river to collect holy water for the Kalashas and for the abhisheka of the deities. Five hundred years ago, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Bhadrak and took bath at the same spot where the devotees collected the water. As such, this water is very sacred to Gaudiya Vaishnavas. The installation was done according to the Puri pantha, where the Lord is seen to perform the lilas of being "born" and then "dying" every 12 years in the navakalevara festival.

The installation of Sri Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra will begin today at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Deities of Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana and Garuda will also be installed on the four sides of the temple as is the custom for Jagannatha temples in Orissa. Below are some photos showing these four deities, sculpted in granite by shilpis from Konaraka. The pictures show various stages of the sculpting process, so you can see how the making of the deities progressed.

In a previous newsletter we had mentioned the upcoming installation of Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sudarshana deities at the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa. Panditas from Puri have determined May 22nd to the 24th to be the auspicious time for the prana pratistha ceremony and kumbhabhisheka to take place. Accordingly all preparations are being made for the occassion.

This month the Bhaktivedanta Ashram was blessed with the arrival of our newly made deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sudarshana. For more than one year, work on these deities has been carrying on under the guidance of Puri temple priests, so that every detail of the process was done strictly according to the Puri tradition and the scriptures.

Recently the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a new rural relief center in Randiya, approximately 20 km away from our main Ashram in Orissa. With cooperation from the local villagers, a small piece of land was given to us for establishing a permanent relief center in the village. The village consists of people from the very poor adivasi (tribal) community. More than 300 children in the village attend regular programs at the new center.

Last week devotees in California donated a small piece of land in Chennai to be used for a new project, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram Community Center, which will be located in Taramani near the back gate of the Indian Institute of Technology. The community center will contain a 1300 square foot annadana hall on the ground floor where we plan to feed 300 needy children from the Taramani area every day.

Our team of volunteers in Tamil Nadu have been extremely busy over the last few months working tirelessly to help as many people as possible recover following the disaster. Besides feeding thousands of people, we have also distributed over 1,000 blankets to families affected by the disaster. The emergency situation is now slowly returning to normal and we will begin focusing on more long term help for the children affected by this disaster.

In response to the recent tsunami, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has sent a team of volunteers to Tamil Nadu to carry out relief work to help the victims. Due to the long term effects of this disaster, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has opened a permanent relief center in Chennai so that relief activities can continue even after the immediate media attention dies down.

This month we have completed a new annadana hall at our Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa where we are conducting the Nitya Annadana Seva program for daily feeding needy children with spiritual food. Below you can see some of the pictures of the hall from the beginning stages up to completion.

Last December, following completion of the rainy season, work commenced on the Bhaktivedanta Ashram's school project in Orissa. The first phase of work was to fill a number of large ponds on the land and then raise the total land above flood levels. The size of the present land is aproximately 20,000 square feet, or nearly half an acre. Over 1,300 tractor loads of dirt and sand were required to fill and raise the land. Immediately after filling the land, a 10 ton steam roller was used to compress the dirt, followed by building of a high compound wall around the entire school compound.

Recently we have started an informal school for poor children from nearby areas around our Ashram, and around 150 children are attending each day. Many of these children would previously spend their time begging, rummaging through garbage piles, and doing other such activities. One by one we have met with these children and spoken to them about the importance of their life and convinced them to change their lifestyle by taking interest in learning. To see the transformation of these children was amazing.

We would like to thank all of the donors who have helped sponsor the food relief activities in March. Below are some recent photos of the food relief activities conducted this month.  The photos below are from the Adivasi village of Ulanga. Previously in January we had also conducted distribution of blankets and clothes to all the children of the village. In the pictures below you can see some of the children wearing those clothes that were distributed in January. At present we are conducting food distribution programs in this village four times a month.

In our previous email newsletter we had mentioned the Ashram's desire to distribute clothes and blankets to the children of Ulanga village to protect them from the winter cold. Thanks to generous donations from many of our donors and friends we were able to raise the necessary funds to meet this goal. By Lord Krishna's grace, we were able to distribute blankets and clothes not only to the children of Ulanga village, but to children in three other villages as well. Thanks to all of you these children will be able sleep soundly and stay warm throughout the winter.

This month we have added the tribal village of Ulanga to our food distribution program. The photos above and below are from programs held in this village. Ulanga is the poorest village in the entire district of Bhadrak, and as you can see in the photos the children do not even have clothes to wear. Since winter is approaching and temperatures in Orissa will get very cold, our volunteers have requested that we distribute a free set of clothes and a warm blanket to every child in this village (there are approximately 300 children in this village).

We would like to thank all of the donors who have participated in the annadana seva organised by the Ashram. On this page you can see some of the photos of two of our recent food relief programs held last month in Orissa. Recently, Orissa was again affected by floods and as a result there was a great need for these relief activities to help feed the poor and displaced persons there.