50 ISKCON (1966 – 2016) celebrations
- Part 1 -

Radhamohan Das *

ISKCON Temple at Sangaiporou, Imphal in September 2011 :: Pix - Robert Lourembam Ningthouja

Manipur ISKCON [25 December 1977] celebrates commemorating the glorious 50 years of International Society for Krishna Consciousness in the Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra Manimandir, 13 July 2016 in presence of devotees such as life patron members, core members, well-wishers and many more participants with programs, mainly: reading out the prayers offered by Srila Parabhupada in the Jaladuta (1965) and his diary; glorifying Srila Prabhupada and his mission; releasing the comic book on Srila Prabhupada; offering puspanjali; guru puja; honouring prasadam; film shows: Hare Krishna people and golden jubilee along with other films on Srila Prabhupada.

The 50 ISKCON celebrations which are organized by the ISKCON centres all throughout the world are still continued and same is the case for our centre. As a part of the celebrations, other programs being performed are briefly mentioned below:

The Achintya Youth Festival 2016: State level open essay competition 2016: Topic : "Spirituality is the ultimate solution to all material problems." ;
State level painting competition 2016 (VI – XII standards): Topic : "Krishna Lila";
State level open debating competition 2016 : Topic : "Communal harmony in Manipur is possible only through interfaith dialogue" ;
Children's state level fancy dress competition 2016 [individuals and groups] : Topic : Any character from "Mahabharata" ;
Talks on : Themes : "Role of women in uplifting Manipur society" ; "Science of happiness" ; "Exploring mind's potential" ;
Cultural programs : Pung cholom ; Dhon dholock ; Martial arts ; Basanta ras ; Krishna lila, Gaura lila, Abhiram sanga, etc.

Prizes distributions were made to those young students for their performances as a sort of encouragements in inquiring more and more spiritual concepts to help them understand more about the science of soul, and also read holy books such as the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada's books.

The above mentioned programs were organised by the ISKCON Youth Forum as a part of 50 ISKCON celebration on 14 August, 21 – 24 August 2016 and then followed Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra Janmastami celebrations 2016 inclusive of the VyasaPuja celebration of the Founder Acharya of ISKCON, His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada with Nandotsava on 25 – 26 August 2016 and Radhastami on 10 September 2016.

The 50th anniversary is the most important milestone of the ISKCON devotees spread in the six continents in their lifetime. Some of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ISKCON organized by the ISKCON centres around the world are briefly highlighted below.

The then UK Prime Minister David Cameron participated in the 50th anniversary and heartily congratulated ISKCON as a whole with deep appreciation on the wonderful creation of a "glorious and global mission" by the Founder Acharya, Srila Prabhupada. Pune ISKCON organized a mega youth festival having participated by over 2000 students under the theme: "Drishti-Bharat leads the world" and it was considered as the largest one in the history of ISKCON.

At Kainyakumari, the celebrations were of the nature: Organizing 50 Gita Yajna with distribution of 5000 Bhagavad-gitas, distributing prasadams to 10,000 people, reaching out "Harinam mahamantra" as appropriate to Srila Prabhupada's "Hare Krishna Movement", to 20,000 people, and last but not the least, taking oaths by the gathering to read Gita at least one page daily.

ISKCON temple in the city of Chandigarh celebrated a week-long festival of ISKCON's 'Incorporation' by way of reading from "Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrita", singing bhajans such as Srila Prabhupada's "Markine Bhagavad-dharma" and hearing his audio lectures and conducting classes on his initial struggles, prophetic journey to America, the foundation and expansion of ISKCON, and staging a play called 'Swamiji at Sea'.

ISKCON-London celebrated UK's grandest 50th Kirtan in the true London style on a magnificent boat with capacity of 500 cruising along the River Thames. This National Signature Event was a day of chanting, dancing and feasting around the famous landmarks of London.

Durban Sri Sri Radha Radhanath temple celebrated ISKCON 50 in the form of distributing 5000 cup-cakes all around Durban, South Africa including the schools, universities and other institutions.

Devotees from ISKCON Kharghar in Navi Mumbai also celebrated a week-long "Incorporation Day" in memory of signing the 'Incorporation Deed' in New York on July 11th. The festival saw devotees embarking on a voyage of memories of 50 glorious years of ISKCON. The Director of Bhaktivedanta College of Vedic Education, Vaishnavanghri Das graced the festival.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan congratulated ISKCON on turning 50 of ISKCON and the devotees, and they in turn presented cup-cakes and 50th magazine to the Mayor of London.

"Hare Krishna Movement" celebrates 50th anniversary in many forms by expressing Srila Prabhupada's achievements which have drawn more notice in recent years. A three-day conference of the scholars hosted at Harvard University's centre for the "Study of World Religions" in April looked as the worldwide impact of Hare Krishna Movement. The then British Prime Minister David Cameron opened the Bhaktivedanta Manor donated by former Beatle George Harrison in 1973, for incorporating the new temple facilities.

To be continued ....