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.