>Temple Inauguration & Janmastami in Lome, Togo

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Temple Inauguration &
Janmastami in Lome, Togo
By Varaha das
Posted September 25, 2003

Dear Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Gurudeva.

We had a four-day festival including the the temple inauguration, the celebration of Janmastam, and conferences on yoga, other paths of liberation, African culture, and avataras. The Lome temple in Togo is barely eight months old, with only three resident devotees. The temple inauguration attracted over 250 guests and members. The two-day conference registered between 70 to 80 participants each day, and the Big Day, Sri Krishna Janmastami, had a record crowd of about 500 guests.

It all sounds incredible, but this is by the mercy of Guru and Krishna. It had been a week of marathon activities. We have a temple committee that was responsible for organizing the festival, and everyone worked tirelessly to make the occasion a success. Besides my numerous other duties, I was also overseeing the cooking each day. Sri Sri Radha Govinda-Madhava blessed us with unlimited bhoga and the spiritual strength to transform the bhoga into delicious prasad for all the guests.

Since the end of the festivities, I have continued to receive telephone calls from committee members, friends, and well-wishers congratulating me for the outstanding success of the programs. We wish Gurudeva had been there in person, but we were blessed by his sakti and his merciful representation in the form of Advaita Krishna Prabhu who had come all the way from Mauritius to grace the occasion. Advaita Krishna Prabhu was with us only for the inauguration, however, as he had to continue on to Nigeria where he was scheduled to assist in the Janmastami celebration.

Attached are pictures of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Govinda-Madhava.

Hope you all had a happy Janmastami celebration.

Your servant,
Varaha das

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