New York Daily Photo Analytics

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Krishna

The Hare Krishna Parade starts at 59th Street and works its way down Fifth Avenue, with devotees pulling three chariots (with wooden figures of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra). It ends in Washington Square Park, where booths were set up for the all day Festival of India. A stage is set up for entertainment, showcasing Indian cultural and spiritual performances. There's free food, display booths of books on bhakti-yoga, meditiation, information on vegetarianism and Krishna consciousness. It was a very colorful event - those saris were beautiful. Click here for last years posting. Technically this is the Lord Jagannath's Ratha Yatra Parade - Hare Krishna's celebration of Ratha Yatra, a 5000 year old Hindu festival associated with Jagannath, a deity form of Krishna - the supreme god of Hinduism. If all this sounds a little complex, it is. Hinduism has many scriptures and incarnations and deities of God - it has elements of monotheism, polytheism, pantheism and monism. It is generally seen as henotheistic - a belief in a central God with other manifestations of God. The Krishna movement (International Society of Krishna Consciousness - ISKON) in this country is relatively new but is based on Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the practice of bhakti yoga. The American movement was founded in in NYC 1966 by Swami Prabhupada. He led a group of followers to Tompkins Square Park, where under an American elm tree they began to chant the distinctive 16-word mantra: ''Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.'' The tree considered sacred by the Krishna adherents and in 2001, NYC's Parks Department officially recognized the historical significance of the Hare Krishna Elm tree ...

7 comments:

lv2scpbk said...

Wonderful photos. I love the colors on the girls dresses.

Brian Dubé said...

lv2scpbk - The saris and other colors were the most striking visual part of the whole festival.
Brian

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

I love colours and indian perfume smell. Your description it's detailed as usual and the ensemble very impressive !

MumbaiiteAnu said...

Great photos. I think it's pompous and grand, more than the yatra in Mumbai's Hare Krishna temple at Juhu.

yournotalone said...

I like all about Indians particularly their movies

Vineet said...

Great shots! Do you have more from thh festival? I was there snapping away too, and I'd love to share. BTW, I am ISKCON's Communication Director here in North America, and am always looking to connect with photographers like yourself. Drop me a line.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Thought will share the origin of the word juggernaut with you

"The word is derived from the Sanskrit Jagannātha ("Lord of the universe") one of the many names of Lord Krishna . The story is centered around the ratha yatra(charriot procession) which takes place from the famous Jagannath Temple of Puri, Orissa.This event is an annual procession of chariots carrying the statues of Jagannâth (Krishna)


During the British colonial era, a fallacy was promulgated that Hindu devotees of Krishna were lunatic fanatics who threw themselves under the wheels of these chariots in order to attain salvation.


The actual fact is that devotees have sometimes been crushed accidentally in the past as the massive 45 foot tall, multi-ton chariot slipped out of control. Many have also been killed in the resulting stampedes. The sight led the Britons to use the word "Juggernaut" to refer to other instances of unstoppable, crushing forces.