It was a euphoric evening for all the devotees in Sri Sri Radha Gopinath North Sydney temple- as we celebrated 62nd Vyasa puja of our beloved Spiritual Master- His Holiness Jayapataka Swami. Sirvas Nitai Gaura Das took charge this year for the overall co-ordination of the celebrations. We had dedicated teams looking after key areas like decoration, cooking, kirtan and cleaning.

Although, devotees started preparing weeks prior to the day, but on 15th April, everything reached to zenith. Besides being a working day, a good number of devotees turned up to assist with the preparations. It was a great sight to see energetic blend of other ISKCON Maharaj's disciples working unstintingly alongside His Holiness's Jayapataka Swami Guru Maharaj's disciples to make this day a grand success.  

Their Lordship's temple room was beautifully decorated by the decoration team comprised of Srivas Nitai Gaura Das, Vrindavana Palini DD, Aradhya Radha DD, Bhaktin Kavita, Bhaktin Prerna, Bhaktin Damini, KarunaMoyi Das, Venkat Madhava Das and Yutheshvari Radha DD. A big picture of Srila Gurudev was gracefully placed amidst a skillfully crafted lotus flower. It was magnificently decorated with garlands made of Marigold flowers and Pink Carnations. The decorations and lighting were making it a perfect festive ambience. Guru Maharaj's Altar was well lit with fairly lights and tea light candles making it brilliantly effulgent. Big balloons of lotus pink color along with white and blue color filled the remaining space adding to the zest of a majestic birthday party.

The ceremony started with synchronized chanting of the holy names by the devotees along with the priests chanting the Maha Mantra. Yutheshvari Radha DD who was MC for the program invited all the eminent guests and devotees to the ceremony which formally began by His Holiness's Jayapataka Swami Guru Maharaj's 2011 Vyaas Puja message via internet for all his disciples.

Soon after the Sandhya Aarti, one of Srila Prabhupada's disciple HG AtmaRam Prabhu, other senior leaders including HG VaraNayaka Prabhu, HG Sri Prahlad Prabhu and a special guest from India HG Mahaprabhu Prabhu glorified Srila Gurudev by sharing their wonderful pastimes with Him. Amongst Srila Gurudev's senior disciples, HG Vijay Gopikesh Das, HG Kalavati mataji and others offered their prayers unto the lotus feet of Srila Gurudev.

With electrifying Kirtan resonating in the temple room, devotees immersed themselves in the chanting of the Holy name and offering pushpanjali unto the lotus feet of Srila Gurudev.  This was later followed by ecstatic Guru Puja. Everyone was completely besotted by picturesque visuals of the temple room which was overflowing with devotees up to the extent that there was no room to even accommodate a needle!

Last phase of the celebrations was the highlight- Ekadasi Feast, diligently prepared by HG Jitendriya Gaura Hari Das along with Bhakta Harsh, Tarini Kalindi Devi Dasi, Bhakta Tejas and cake by Subhadra Radha DD. There were 103 meticulously prepared small offerings not only by His Holiness's Jayapataka Swami Guru Maharaj's disciples but other devotees across Sydney yatra. Members of GSS team assisted in the Feast preparation and serving. All the devotees in the yatra came forward to make this day a splendid success. As a token of appreciation, Thank you gifts in the form of Srila Gurudev's DVDs of various lectures were distributed to all those who attended the celebrations.

By 10.30pm, most of the devotees left the temple and the onus was on to the cleaning team to bring the temple back to its original form. A lot of devotees comprising of Bhakta Subhash, Bhaktin Charu, Bhakta Arvind and Bhaktin Nitika along with their young children stayed till midnight and helped in cleaning the temple room. In the kitchen, Bhakta Rajan, Bhakta Asseem, Vrajanath Krsna Das and Venkat Madhava Das rolled their sleeves up to clean the gigantic pots whereas, senior devotees like Vijay Gopikesh Das mopped the floor and SharanMukhi DD assisted in clearing temple room. Overall, it was quiet a humbling experience to see all the devotees in the congregation joining hands to make Srila Gurudev's Vyaas puja a memorable event for all.

On 17th April, Sunday grain feast was once again sponsored by HG Vrajanath Krsna Das for the pleasure of the devotee community as an offering to Guru Maharaj.

Yours in service always,
On behalf of ISKCON Sydney JPSSS reported by Yutheshvari Radha Devi Dasi.