Transcendental Trail
Transcendental Trail
or Govardhana Parikrama
by Lilasuka dasi
Recently, a special new event was held at New Vrindaban – Govardhan Parikrama. The parikrama, a guided interpretive scenic walking trail, took place during the occasion of Diwali and Govardhan Puja, which is a very joyous annual festival where devotees honor Krsna’s pastime of Govardhan Hill. They cook, and then pile up mountains up sanctified food, or prasadam around a mini-replica of Govardhan Hill in the temple room. It is in honor of the time when Lord Krsna and His cowherd boyfriends and their families paid tribute to the occasion of Lord Krsna saving all the Brijbasis from the devastating rainfall sent by Lord Indra on Vrindavan village. Srila Prabhupada tells us that Krsna’s dear father, Nanda Maharaj, begins to worship Indra as there has been no rainfall to nourish his crops. But Krsna reminds his father, “Let us not worship Indra. We have our duties to perform. Rain will come from the clouds above but not by worshiping him. Let us instead worship Govardhan Hill itself!”
That very same Govardhan Hill is Lord Krsna. So when Nanda Maharaj lovingly and affectionately agrees to His Son’s intelligent proposal, Krsna saves all the residents of Vrindavan and they all celebrate along with their cows, with great joy and gratitude. This is Govardhan Puja.
This year In New Vrindaban, we went for a special hour long parikrama and guided tour. We circumambulated New Vrindaban’s Govardhan Hill area, which includes replicas of such holy places as Kusum Sarovara, Radha Kunda and Lalita Kunda.
Many pilgrims braved the brisk weather but were nevertheless very enlivened by their experience. One pilgrim exclaimed, “Our tour guide, Josef, was very cheerful. Lord Krsna Himself is always cheerful so devotees should be cheerful like Him, and like Bhakta Josef! He made the parikrama an inspiring experience!
Another guest declared, “This was a very informative parikrama. I love New Vrindaban, and today, I learned things that I never knew before, such as the story of the appearance of Radha Kunda. I learned many new stories about Krsna.”
There will be many more parikramas held at New Vrindaban to let everyone know more and more about Krsna.
Parikrama
