“The Ganesha festival is an important event throughout India, especially in the south. When the local festival committee invited us to give a performance on a Sunday evening we readily agreed.”

Friends of Lord Krishna Performs at Gonesha Festival in South India
By Subuddhi Krishna das

Nelamangala-Bangalore September 3 2000:

Srila Prabhupada taught us that we should use every opportunity to propagate Krishna Consciousness. One such opportunity came the way of FOLK, who are meeting every weekend on Saturdays and Sundays and who performed at a recent Ganesha festival.

The school children are between the ages of 5 and 14 and had performed earlier on Lord Narsimha's appearance day.

The Ganesha festival is an important event throughout India, especially in the south. When the local festival committee invited us to give a performance on a Sunday evening we readily agreed.

The heavy clouds and intermittent showers did not hamper the enthusiasm of about 25 children who braved all odds and gave yet another memorable performance in front of a large gathering.

After invoking the blessings of the Lord, the children mesmerized the crowd when each took turns leading the Jaya Radha-Madhava kirtana, reflecting the emphasis of the weekend school in developing leadership qualities.

Five short skits followed this. The topics varied from the importance of chanting Hare Krishna as the Yuga dharma (religion of the age) to the implications of following a bogus spiritual master. There was a skit about a devotee who defeats an atheist professor.

These children brought home the message of Krishna Consciousness in a very positive way and captured the hearts of everyone. The audience was very responsive and the taking advantage of this response the children encouraged everyone to chant Hare Krishna.

The finale was breathtaking. All 25 children came on stage, one by one, and each recited a sloka, translation and purport of the 25 most important verses of Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

There was a standing ovation for FOLK and they won the crowd over with their charming performance. Many parents approached to find out if their children can join this group.

© CHAKRA 29-Nov-2003

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