For the third year in a row the troupe of Le Carnaval Spiritual has
embarked on a 3 month tour of Australia. The success of previous festival tours has led to widespread enthusiasm for the group of talented devotees to perform at different events around the country. Following the success of last years festivals in Victoria, they were invited to the Parliament of World Religions which was hosted in Melbourne.

Before an audience of 400 people which included some of the worlds most significant religious leaders, devotees from around the world performed a 90 minute spectacular display of yoga, martial arts, dance, theatre and kirtana. The presentation also included a short lecture on the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness by Indradyumna Swami. On the seventh and final day of the Parliament, Le Carnaval Spiritual were again invited to take part in a 4 minute presentation during the closing ceremony. The devotees performed a choreographed dance which included yoga and martial arts, performed to the contemporary singing of Hare Krishna by MC Yogi and Jai Uttal. It built to a crescendo of devotees singing the maha mantra and then ended as all 22 devotees on stage flung rose petals into the air in an impressive explosion of colour.

His Holiness the Dali Lama also spoke for 25 minutes about getting in touch with our inner spiritual qualities of forgiveness, and compassion. He encouraged the audience to become united in an effort to stop seeing the differences in each other and make a positive change in the world. Afterwards His Holiness the Dali Lama met the different artists and speakers at the closing ceremony. Indradyumna Swami approached him and gave him a flower garland. As they held hands and spoke briefly, Indradyumna Swami thanked His Holiness on behalf of the Hare Krishna Movement for helping to uplift the spiritual consciousness of the world. The Ceremony ended with grand procession leading out of the main Auditorium were the Le Carnaval Spiritual performers stood in a line and greeted the 4000 guests as they exited. “Your presentation was so uplifting” remarked Nataneal, a guest at the show “Truly the highlight of the night!”

Another Minister who had flown in from New Mexico, USA also remarked. “I had hoped that the Krishna people would come for the closing ceremony, as the opening ceremony last week was so flat! There is nothing like Krishna music!” The local ISKCON devotees were well represented in many ways at the World Parliament of Religions. HH Yadhunandana Swami, Mahaprabhu Dasa, Taraka Dasi and Bhakta Dasa all spoke on various spiritual topics. Melbourne temple President Annirudha Dasa remarked “Its a great way to network and strengthen our connections with other spiritual movements, both locally and internationally”. For the devotees of Le Carnaval Spiritual it was just one of 45 festivals to come.

Indradyumna Swami explained, “Our main aim at the Parliament was to demonstrate that the Hare Krishna movement has a lot to offer society in terms of spiritual uplift-meant. Our role is to educate people in tangible spiritual philosophy and present a culture and lifestyle that is conducive to spiritual growth.” The World Parliament of Religions will meet again in 5 years and the attendees were encouraged by His Holiness the Dali Lama to put their speeches over the last week into action in the months and years to come. Taking that to heart the devotees of Le Carnaval Spiritual will dazzle and delight a great variety of different audiences across Australia with an artistic and uplifting display of Krishna conscious culture in the months and hopefully years ahead.

For more info check out http://www.spiritualcarnival.com.au/