100's Cooperate For Seattle Rathayatra

07-08-2003, 06:12 PM

Hundreds of Devotees cooperated to put on Seattle's best Rathayatra to date. After trying many locations in the past the Devotees have found the best spot on Seattle's waterfront district to hold Lord Jaganath's Rathayatra festival.

An estimated 65, 000 people walked through and watched with interest the entertainment on the main stage which was beside the main sidewalk everyday of the 3 day Labor Day Festival. Thus close to 200, 000 people received the mercy of Lord Jagganath knowingly and many unknowingly.

The entertainment was better than ever with many dances by many devotees. Visnudas performed nicely as always as well as many of the children and others. 6 year old Ambika Devi put on a charming performance as did other dancers. There were nice plays and lots of Kirtan with Vyasaki Prabhu and others from Vancouver and other places.

Harivilasa Prabhu, the local GBC, said that the highlight of the festival was the 3 hour parade. Parijati Devi Dasi decorated the Paliquin with flowers so nicely that it was enchanting to all of us.

Harivilasa also had high remarks for all of the congregational members, 100's he said, who worked so hard to put on the festival some cooking until the wee hours of the morning.

The highlight for the Rathayatra traveling party was the free feast. They and everyone else rated it the best free feast in America. Bhakta Mike who donated $15,000 to put on the festival said you had to dig through the curd to find the tomatoe sauce. Lord Jaganath's groupie, Govinda Mohini Devi Dasi, said that the free feast was even better that what was sold at other Rathayatra's.

Many books were distributed and the mercy was flowing by Lord Jaganath's and Srila Prabhupada's desire, who introduced Rathayatra to the rest of the world. As devotional service is ever-increasing the Rathaytara's are getting better all of the time. The festival's are the life of Krsna Consciousness and we hope to see more and more devotees and guests, future devotees, every year.

Your servant,
Gauridasa Pandita Dasa