Fourth Annual Hilo 'Rathayatra' August 3, 2001
By Jagaddhatri Devi Dasi

Attention all devotees that may want to participate in the Mercy of Lord Jagannatha...! Every year the town of Hilo has a parade called Festival of the Pacific...I had always dreamed of plugging in and turning it into a Jagannatha Rathyatra, and in 1997 His Holiness KrsnaBalarama Swami got the first one going and we have been doing the Parade ever since.

For those of you that are not familiar with Hilo, it is a lovely old 'plantation' town on the Big Island of Hawaii; the parade route follows the curve of Hilo Bay, so it is so similar to Puri in its proximity to water and general climate. The majority of the inhabitants of Hilo are descendants of Asian immigrants who worked the sugar plantations, so they are familiar with 'Asian' concepts of religion like Buddhism etc. Many have 'altars' in their homes and even stores. So they are very pleased to see the smiling face of Lord Jagannatha, and last year we even won 3rd place for our colorful costumes and music, thanks to the efforts of the assembled disciples of Srila Prabhupada, Shridhara, Govinda, Narayana, Puri, Gaur Govinda, Siddha Swarupa etc. We chanted, danced, distributed Prasadam, and held a lecture, feast and kirtan afterwards.

Please come and join us as we follow the instructions of our receptive guru's to preach the glories of the Holy Name everywhere and always....

Aloha and Hare Krishna!

© CHAKRA 29-Nov-2003

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