Krishna Days, a new Facebook page launched this Gaura Purnima (March 2019), keeps followers up-to-date and informed on all Vaishnava sacred days. (https://www.facebook.com/Krishna-Days-1158068497684951)

The page, run by Mangalavati Citra Dasi of the ISKCON Connections Office in Mayapur, is based on information provided by the GCal Team of Bhanu Swami, Bhaktarupa Das, Gopalapriya Das and Sadasivananda Das.

GCal, a computer program downloadable at http://www.krishnadays.com, calculates Gaudiya Vaishnava observances for any location on the planet according to the calculation standards determined by the GBC Body’s Vaishnava Calendar Committee. 

“There are different calculation systems followed by different groups of devotees,” says Bhaktarupa Das. “This sometimes leads to disagreements over when a particular event should be observed in a particular place. The purpose of creating GCal was to try to eliminate such disagreements.” 

By clicking “Like” or “Follow” on the Krishna Days Facebook page, devotees will see posts on their wall reminding them of upcoming festivals, appearance and disappearance days, and Ekadasi fasts one to two days before the actual day. The default time will be Sri Mayapur (West Bengal) time, although followers can find their own local time by downloading the GCAL app at Krishnadays.com.  

Bhanu Swami, one of the devotees behind the GCal program

Each post on the Facebook page will include information about the sacred day in question, such as quotes, stories from the scriptures, videos, lectures and images. For instance, the recent post about Kamada Ekadasi features the full story behind the sacred fast day; while a post about Tulasi Jala Dan includes a five-minute video that explains the observance, and the importance of rendering service to Tulasi Devi.

“The page will serve as a reminder of Ekadasi days and appearance days as well as a mood settler before the actual festival day, so that devotees can prepare their minds, similar to the adivas ceremonies,” says page admin Mangalavati Citra Dasi. “The adivas ceremonies prepare the mind so that the soul can enter into the proper humble, grateful and prayerful mood, and connect nicely with the Lord on His appearance day.”

She adds: “Another service the page will provide will be to ensure that the content on Facebook is inspiring and Krishna conscious. It will serve as good sadhu sanga, which is the number one protection against negative infludences. It will also help ISKCON centers and temples to inspire, remind and educate devotees about the depth of the Vedic culture which lies behind each festival day. When devotees read about the lives of our previous acharyas, they get that freshness and inspiration to continue on with their spiritual life with renewed strength and faith. Our previous acharyas are our role models, our source of ecstatic emotions, our good association and the source of blessings upon us. When we pray to them for their mercy and connect with them, especially on their dis/appearance days, we can establish a nice relationship with them.” 

The page will also educate the Vaishnava community on different Vaishnava rites and samskaras.

An accompanying smartphone app is under development. 

“We trust and pray that we can serve the Vaishnava communities throughout the years with this very important service,” Mangalavati says. “We would appreciate if everyone could help us spread the news by sharing this Facebook page to all their friends with just one click.”

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Follow the Krishna Days Facebook page here: (https://www.facebook.com/Krishna-Days-1158068497684951)

Download the GCalcomputer program here: http://www.krishnadays.com