Bhaktivedanta Ashram

Avudaiyar Shiva Temple and the Shaivite Saint Manikkavasakar

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Feb 16, 2016 | 4,914 views

Avudaiyar Koil, also called as Thiruperunthurai, is a Shiva Temple located near Pudukkottai in South India. In this temple the great Shaivite saint, Manikkavasakar, was personally initiated by Lord Shiva. He became so intimately connected with Lord Shiva, that Lord Shiva instructed for this temple Manikkavasakar’s deity will be used instead of his own deity for all festivals and processions. So in this temple Manikkavasakar’s deity rides on Nandi around the temple in procession instead of Lord Shiva.

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Distribution of Sugarcane for Pongal Celebrations at Our Ashram in Chennai

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Feb 8, 2016 | 14,078 views

This year for Pongal celebrations (called as Makara Sankranti in north India) we distributed 2,000 sugarcane sticks to visitors at our ashram in Chennai. Makara Sankranti is one of the most auspicious days of the year in the Hindu calendar. In South India it is a harvest festival, and traditionally the first rice of the season is boiled and offered to the Sun god in the form of Sakarai Pongal (sweetened rice). It also marks the beginning of Uttarayana, the six month northward movement of the Sun.

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Hanuman Jayanti Celebrations at Our Ashram in Chennai (2016)

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jan 20, 2016 | 18,696 views

On January 9th we celebrated Hanuman Jayanti at our ashram in Chennai, where the presiding deity is of Sri Panchamukha Hanuman. From morning till evening around 5,000 devotees visited for darshana of Lord Hanuman. Bhajans were sung by devotees, and prasadam was distributed to all of the guests throughout the day.

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Tomorrow is Hanuman Jayanti

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jan 8, 2016 | 15,643 views

Dear friends and devotees,

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 9th, 2016) is Hanuman Jayanti according to the Tamil calendar. We invite all the devotees who are living in Chennai to visit our ashram at Tharamani for Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. Morning abhishekam to Lord Hanuman will begin at 7 am, followed by yaagam and bhajanai. The temple will be open for darshanam from 5am till 10 pm.

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Request for Help for Chennai Flood Relief

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Dec 5, 2015 | 10,114 views

Dear friends and devotees,

This week the city of Chennai was hit with severe flooding which resulted in most of the city being inaccessible. Our ashram is located in the south of Chennai at Tharamani, which was also heavily affected by the floods. For the last 5 days there has been no electricity, and food and drinking water were hard to come by.

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The Vedic People of Scandinavia

Posted by Vaishnava Das | Nov 30, 2015 | 19,995 views

The Sages inform us that once the entire world was ruled by a single Emperor. Then a great destruction occurred. All the kings of the earth gathered at a single place, a battlefield, in which the entire order was destroyed. This was the great transition between the Ages and the world entered a new Dark Age (Kali Yuga) in 3102 B.C. with no memory of what had come before.

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Last Five Days of Kartika Month at Jagannatha Temple in Bhadrak

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Nov 23, 2015 | 15,446 views

With the end of Kartika month approaching, the last five days, known as Bhishma Panchaka, are considered very auspicious for worshipping Lord Krishna. As such, our Jagannatha temple in Bhadrak always sees a large increase in the attendance by devotees for the evening arati during these last five days, culminating in Kartika Purnima.

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Meet the Cows and Bulls at Our Ashram’s Goshala

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Sep 9, 2015 | 40,038 views

We first began our goshala in 2013 when Vamana the bull was donated to our temple in Orissa, by a local villager. He had been coming to our temple every day for two years prior to that and we had been feeding him every day. After some time he didn’t want to go home and was spending all his time at our ashram. Seeing this, the owner agreed to donate him to the temple, and that was the beginning of our goshala.

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The Rice Harvest at Dayalu Baba’s Ashram

Posted by Jahnava Nitai Das | Jun 30, 2015 | 65,243 views

We would like to share with you some pictures of the yearly rice harvest at Dayalu Baba’s ashram. This is the second year that we have helped this ashram to produce rice and vegetables so that they can move towards being self-sufficient.

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