Festival preparation has started and is now going at full speed. Extension work on the Pancha Tattva temple is in progress. One hundred 100 kutirs are ready to accommodate more devotees.

In Mayapur, all kinds of accommodations are almost full. First we booked all the rooms of our guesthouse, and then we built one hundred more rooms, thinking that we would solve all our problems as now we would have a hundred extra rooms, but within no time those rooms were booked, even before they were built. 

We have booked all the nearby Gaudiya Math guesthouses and hotels. All rooms are filled up there. We are using one of our prasad halls for accommodations. The gurukula, the goshalla, and the agriculture godowns all have been transformed into guesthouses to accommodate the thousands of devotees who will come for Festival 2004.

We have reached at our maximum.

Now, I most humbly request all devotees, who ever can afford it, please bring tents with you. We will assign a location where there will be toilets and bathroom facilities, and you can put up your tents. We will also put up some tents for excess devotees, but still I request devotees to bring their own tents. Please inform us in advance if you are planning to come with your tents so that we can reserve space for you.

This ceremony will start on 21st Febuary. Devotees are requested to reach Mayapur before then.

There will be continuous Hari Nama in the Panchatattva temple for three days: 21st, 22nd and 23rd. Kirtan will be led by great kirtan leaders like HH.Sivaram Swami, HH. Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami, HH. Sachinandana Swami, HH. Lokanath Swami, HH.Radhanath Swami, HH. Bhakti Charu Swami, HH. Kadamba Kanana Swami, and many others.

All devotees are requested to participate in this most historic Hari Nama where thousands of devotees will chant together for three days, invoking the mercy of Lord Panchatattava. Finally by the strong prayers of the devotees, Lord Panchatattava will manifest and will be worshiped by the Sankirtan of the Holy Name. We request all devotees to come to Mayapur with all kinds of musical instruments to participate in this most historic Hari Nama Sankirtan from which Lord Gaura Hari and His four associates will manifest in Mayapur Dham in Their Deity forms.

On 24th February, All devotees, along with Panchatattava, will go out on parikrama around Navadwip. This parikrama will continue for six days. On 1st March, all devotees will come back to Mayapur and spend the days in different kinds of festivities, shopping, listening, chanting, and associating with devotees, waiting to celebrate the most auspicious Gaura Purnima Day on 6th March. In between there will be one day when devotees will go to Santipur.

The casting of the Deities has finished. Now they are doing the final carving. It has been scheduled that the Deities will be brought to Mayapur by the last week of December. All the Deities will be put on the present Panchatattva altar, where our pujaris will give Them the finishing touches.

The pujari department is busy preparing outfits and other things for the Deities. HH. Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, along with HG. Jananivas Das and HG. Pankajanghri Das, has taken on the responsibility of looking after all yajnas, abhishekas, etc. The various preparations for the installation ceremony have already begun.

The Mayapur festival committee has been meeting from time to time. All services have been allocated to responsible, experienced devotees who have been handling these jobs for many years. Of course, as this year is unique and many more devotees than usual will attend the festival, we need the help of visiting devotees in different areas. If anyone wants to do some volunteer service, please contact me.

This year, thousands of devotees will come to the Mayapur festival for the installation of the Deities, and we hope many of them will go on parikrama, but we have very limited facilities on the parikrama sites. We humbly request all devotees who desire to go on Navadwip Mandala parikrama to book their places now. Please register you name now for parikrama. You can do it through e-mail MGHB@pamho.net. 

This year, we are planning to have a Bengali parikrama group, an English-speaking parikrama group, a Russian parikrama group, and maybe another group only for Indian devotees because we are expecting at least one thousand non-Bengali Indian devotees from different parts of India to visit Mayapur.

Thank you all very much. Please pray to the Lord that He may bless us to make this festival a grand success.

For more details about the festival and about Mayapur, please visit www.mayapur.info 

Your servant,
Bhakti Purusottama Swami

© dipika.org December 12, 2003