ISKCON devotees in India are continuing to help clean and restore the adjacent sacred lakes Radha-Kunda and Shyama Kunda, assisting a project that began in early May.

The project is part of an ongoing effort by locals and the Indian Government to maintain Braja, the holy land in India where Lord Krishna was born, and is the first time Radha and Shyama Kundas have been cleaned since 1987.

Work is currently focused on Shyama Kunda, said to have been created by Krishna himself, including drainage, rebuilding of steps, and adding of entrance gates and stone rails on the surrounding gazebos. Mud filling Vajra Kunda, a structure in the center of Shyama Kunda named after Krishna’s grandson, is also being cleaned out and relocated.

Throughout the project, ISKCON devotees have regularly come to assist the local Vaishnavas, known as “Brijbasis.” June 7, however, saw a particularly strong turnout, with 150 devotees from ISKCON Vrindavana, Govardhana and Gopal Mandir representing Srila Prabhupada’s movement in the morning hours.

Two double lines were formed with men on one side and women on the other. Bucket after bucket was passed from hand to hand from the center of Vajra Kunda, up Shyama Kunda’s 31 steps, and out into a nearby alley where it was finally collected by a tractor rig.

“Two hundred and fifty tractor loads of mud have been relocated so far,” says ISKCON devotee Devaki Prana Dasa, who has lived and served at Radha-Kunda for many years. “It was an amazing endeavor, reminiscent of the 500-year-old account in the Chaitanya-Charitamrita wherein Shri Chaitanya’s followers cleaned the Gundica temple by lining up side by side to transport water for washing.”

The stronger ISKCON devotees stood within the kunda, and began the bucket chain outward, he recounts. Deities of Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada watched from the banks. And everyone chanted the Hare Krishna mantra melodiously as they worked, creating a unifying and jovial atmosphere.

“There couldn’t have been better public relations service to ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada,” Devaki Prana says. “The Brijabasi onlookers appreciated our unique offering, and one asked hopefully, ‘When will you all come back again?’”

Despite this effort, work by the Indian Government, who are restoring the entire area around Govardhana Hill, is slow and undergoing sporadic delays. Cleaning of Shyama-Kunda is expected to drag on until October, when the operation will finally focus on Radha-Kunda.

Devaki-Prana is sending out a call asking all ISKCON devotees to help, explaining, “We do not know whether or not we will be allowed into the spiritual world at the end of our lives. Yet this service to the holy places is non-different to service in the spiritual world, and adds a huge boost to all the other devotional offerings we have given in our lives.”

Devotees interested in assisting may call Devaki Prana at 09393593293 or Gaura at 9837924763. Free accomation will be provided.