2012
Janmastami Celebration!
ajo 'pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro 'pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
sambhavamy atma-mayaya
"Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and
although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My internal energy I
still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form."
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O
descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time
I descend Myself."
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
"To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."
(Bhagavad-gita 4.6-8)
The appearance of Lord Sri Krsna has been celebrated for over 5,000 years. In the painting above, Lord Krsna is being bath on His "1st Janmastami" by Mother Yasoda and the residents of Vrindavan. In Atlanta, by the sacrifice made by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the 1st Janmastami was held in Atlanta in 1970 by His disciples. Our Hare Krsna temple has been celebrating Lord Krsna's appeareance day annually for the past 42 years!
Lord Krsna descends to exhibit His pastime in order to attract us "Back Home Back to Godhead". And, His devotees celebrate, remember, and tell others about Krsna lila to give them releif from the effects of this material world.
We will be celebrating Janmastami on Thursday, August 9th. Please see this page for the schedule of events .
 Highlights include a visit from one of the 1st devotees to serve Srila Prabhupada when he arrived in the USA, Her Grace Malati devi dasi (Wikipedia) . She and her husband, Syamasudar das, carved the first deities in ISKCON (Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subadra) for the 2nd temple in ISKCON at San Fransico. They also organized the 1st Rathayatra festival outside India that same year, 1967.
After these ISKCON milestones, she and a group of devotees set off for London, England and established ISKCON temples. Today in London, the Queen of England has visit our schools, members of parliment speak at our festivals, and Hare Krsna has become a household word. This is due to the early success of Malati devi dasi and those early disciples of Srila Prabhupada.
 She served Srila Prabhupada as his cook during his return to India in 1971. She lived in a thachet hut in West Bengal during the pioneering days of our Mayapur Chandra mandir. Today, ISKCON is building $150 million dollar temple and planetarium in Mayapur.
Her Grace Malati devi dasi is currently one of the Governing Body Commissioners (GBC) of ISKCON. She is the GBC for our New Vrindavan community, Fisher mansion temple in Detriot, and our Hare Krsna community in Miami, Florida.
She will be the Keynote speaker of our festival. She will also hold programs in the evening at our temple speaking about the pioneering days of ISKCON and what the future hold for our next generation of devotees who will continue pushing on this movement of Krsna Consciousness.
Another highlight of our festival will be the abhisek of our deities Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan. You can participate in the bathing of Their Lordships by donating $301. You will receive a gift basket of mahaprasad fruit, a special container of carnamrita from the abhisek, and a maha prasadam flute used by our deity Sri Madan Mohan.
We are offering this sevice to only 108 patrons. We have other opportunities for sponsorship and service for Janmastami. Please contact us via
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or call Akhilatma das, 404-735-0800, for more information.
This year we would like for the children ages 0 - 10 to dress in costume in rememberance of Lord Krsna's pastimes in Vrindavan. All the children who participate will receive a special gift. Please visit this link for more information about the "Fancy Dress" contest which will be one of our stage programs.
Darshan of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan will be available all day. You may offer a mini arati to Their Lordships at this time. Puja thalis and our priest will be available during this time.
We look forward to celebrating Lord Krsna's appeareance day with you and your family at our temple!
Hare Krsna!
your servant,
Sikhi Mahiti das
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