ISKCON Auckland (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) celebrated its annual food festival on Saturday, January 27 at Sri Sri Radha Giridhari Temple in Kumeu.
The festival started around about 4 p.m. with over 2000 people participating in the event. This event witnessed the crowd not just from the Indian community but from people all other ethnic backgrounds who came forward and supported the annual celebration at ISKCON temple.
“The people not only enjoyed the Hare Krishna style food with many other varieties but also enjoyed the positive vibes of the temple atmosphere which was accompanied by soul soothing music and dance,” the spokesperson of ISKCON temple Krishnacandra Das told The Indian Weekender.
Volunteers at the temple, called ‘Hare Krishnas’, welcomed their guests by distributing free bliss balls (sweet) on their entry and temple tours were also part of the festival organised for the visitors.
Bouncing castles, face painting, and rides were arranged for the children to participate and enjoy at the food festival.
“The participants left with the most satisfying food, great friendly service and wonderful atmosphere hoping to attend this food festival again next year,” Mr Das added.
The temple also organised a Rathyatra in Whangarei on Saturday, February 3 with more than 100 devotees participating in the event.
The next big event for the ISKCON temple is the Holi 2018 festival, which will be held in the temple grounds in Kumeu on Sunday, February 25. The Holi celebrations at the ISKCON temple is one of the biggest Holi events in the country with more than 5000 people attending with their family and friends. People from every community come to celebrate the Holi event that starts at 12 in the noon till 5 p.m.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was incorporated in New York in 1966, and it has established its temples in almost every part of the world. Its founder, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada represents a tradition tracing back to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. And Chaitanya himself appeared in a succession of teachers dating back thousands of years in India.
This lineage, called the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya, is one of the four principal traditions of Vaishnavas, those who worship Lord Krishna or Lord Vishnu as supreme.