ISKCON Baroda has formed a 50^th Anniversary Committee made up of congregation leaders and temple devotees to steer the planning and execution of the 50^th Anniversary celebrations locally.

Speaking after a meeting of the Committee on 21st June, Chairman, Pushta Krishna Das said, “The 50^th Anniversary is an important milestone to celebrate our achievements.  As the leaders of the temple are busy organising regular preaching programmes, the congregation devotees have stepped forward to form a Committee that can plan the celebrations through the year. We will involve local devotees to organise a series of exceptional offerings for Srila Prabhupada so that people in Baroda can be educated about what ISKCON has achieved in the last 50 years.”

Plans revealed by the Baroda Committee include a mega-harinama procession to mark the 50^th anniversary of Prabhupada’s departure on the Jaladuta, a series of events in schools across Baroda, a Janmashtami event with a 50^th Anniversary theme and a VIP event to mark the Incorporation Day in July 2016.

“The  Maha-Harinama procession in August  will mark the official start of the 50^th anniversary celebrations in Baroda with several  VIPs in attendance, ” informed Lalit Govind Das, a member of the Committee. “Devotees will carry colourful flags, banners, wear special 50^th anniversary caps, and hand out 10,000 leaflets about ISKCON during the  public procession .  We will also have a float that will have a model of the Jaladuta with a ladder on which Srila Prabhupada will be shown moving up to start his epic journey. Other colourful components of the procession include bullock carts, kirtan parties, and large cut-outs of Srila Prabhupada.”

Special events will be conducted in 20 schools in Baroda where devotees will show a 30 minute film and slide-show, have an interactive discussion and distribute leaflets and prasadam.

Basughosh Das, President of the Baroda temple said, “We want to encourage the congregation to take an increasing part in the 50^th Anniversary celebrations. While the temple management is very involved in guiding and providing support to the Committee, it is the congregation that will actually own the different events and organise them in such a way that we can reach out to a wider audience. The enthusiasm of the team is very infectious and I am sure more and more devotees from the city will become involved as we move forward.”

Romapada Das, International Coordinator for the 50^th Anniversary celebrations visited Baroda twice in June to encourage the local devotees to set up a committee that would own the celebrations and execute the plans.

“We appeal to every temple around the world to follow the Baroda model,” he said. “Please call a meeting of your temple management along with leaders of your congregation. Download the ISKCON 50 presentation slides from our website, and present them at the meeting. You can also read our International Briefing Pack available from our website to get an idea of the type of events that can be organised and have a brainstorming session with your team. Once you pick a list of events that you think you can organise, please allow the Committee to go ahead with your plans.”

For more information, contact:

ISKCON 50 Global Office: info@iskcon50.org

International Coordinator: romapada@iskcon50.org

Website: www.iskcon50.org