The highest book distribution score for any Rathayatra in Gujarat!
Jay Jagannatha! Jay Baladeva! Jay Subhadra!
This year Surat experienced the largest and grandest Rathayatra in twenty-five years.
The city was filled with devotees who rushed to catch a glimpse of Lord Jagannatha and the chariots. There was a very heavy crowd everywhere along the parade route.
In the Rathayatra parade many kirtan parties did harinama, and many exhibitions displayed the Lord’s pastimes.
Lord Jagannatha was accompanied by the soldiers of Prabhupada’s army, who held books in their hands. In the enthusiastic crowds, the devotees were giving books to fortunate souls. In the six hours of dedicated book distribution service, two book vans with fifteen devotees were supplying books, and about a hundred and fifty devotees were running in the crowd or into shops to distribute books. By the mercy of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, they achieved the highest recorded score for book distribution during any Rathayatra in Gujarat.
The devotees organized a one-week book distribution marathon, starting from June 11 and culminating on the Rathayatra day. They had a target of fifty-one Bhagavatam sets and hundreds of transcendental books.
During our Rathyatra marathon, every day after mangala-aarti, devotees recited the Jagannatha Ashtakam and read words of Srila Prabhupada on book distribution.
A few quotes: “There is no doubt about it, distributing books is our most important activity. A temple is a place not for eating and sleeping, but as a base from which we send out our soldiers to fight with maya. So you are the expert in this field.
“I like also your program of sending out your best men to teach the others. That is the actual process of Krishna consciousness. To train others, continue this program so that in the future every devotee in our movement will know the art of distributing books. This is approved by me.”
– Srila Prabhupada’s letter on August 3rd, 1973 to Rameswara Dasa
They distributed books with the utmost enthusiasm, which resulted in an awesome score:
89 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam (18-Vol. Set)
22 sets of Sri Chaitanya-caritamrta (9-Vol. Set)
3,798 Maha-big Books
384 Medium Books
2,116 Small Books
200-BTGs
The whole Rathyatra was efficiently administered by Vrindavan Prabhu (President), Sachisuta Prabhu, and Chandra-Govind Prabhu. Additionally, senior devotees from Surat graced the event by their presence. The book distribution parties were well-managed by Radhesh Prabhu and Arvindaksh Prabhu. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and transcendental book distribution!
For photos of the event, please follow this link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CN1zD3wpnvk7F3Sy6
With utmost humility,
Jagannath Damodar Dasa
on behalf of ISKCON Surat
