The ISKCON New Gokula Farm in Australia’s Hunter Valley celebrated their 2024 Rath Yatra on July 7. The 550-acre property, renowned for its large organic vegetable gardens and orchards, is situated just two hours north of Sydney and the presiding Deities are Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda.

Srila Prabhupada, in his lecture in San Francisco on July 5, 1970, glorified the significance of Rath Yatra. He said, “Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot, one makes advancement in spiritual life and can stop the repetition of birth and death. So this Ratha Yatra festival is a mass movement for enlightening people to this Krishna consciousness movement.”

The Rath Yatra celebrations started at 10:30 am with an opening ceremony, followed by bhoga arati, Jagannath katha, and a prasadam feast. The procession commenced at 1:30 pm, with many people gathering to welcome Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, Lady Subhadra, and Sudarshana on this auspicious occasion.

Three days before Ratha Yatra at ISKCON New Gokula Farm, Tony, the on-site master builder of the Rath, who had spent two years upgrading all the infrastructure, approached the management and asked permission to resurface the pothole-filled road. He exclaimed, “What divine intervention, as Lord Jagannath’s cart would not have rolled far otherwise.”

Many people participated in the New Gokula Farm Rath Yatra celebrations, and the response was very good. Jayasri Devi Dasi, the event organizer, said, “There was a young devotee who had been in a serious car accident and lay for months in hospital in a coma. By Krsna’s grace, he was released two days before Ratha Yatra, allowing him to participate.”

She added, “Sumadhur Krsna Das stayed up all night for three nights cooking an astonishing lotus cake for the Lord the size of a doorway, along with other offerings. The atmosphere was spiritually charged. We closed the road to incoming cars for an hour, so people just kept pouring in by foot, swelling the party to over 200. By midday, more than 600 guests had joined us.”

There was also a special kids’ program at the Rath Yatra organized by Bhakti Kids Sangha, headed by Abhideya Devi Dasi. Many children came forward to participate in the program.

Abhideya Devi Dasi expressed her gratitude, saying, “A big thank you to Radha Seva Dasi from the USA for your templates! All our crafts were related to the festival so the children could learn about the Ratha Yatra in a fun way. I printed the templates on cards at a print shop ahead of time. I provided the pyramid one for the younger children and the chariot for the older kids. We also had Jagannath paper dolls by Radhe Doodles.”

Despite a brief interruption due to rain, the event was a great success. “We had to close a little early at 3 pm due to rain, but we got the majority of the day with great weather and a great turnout. Thank you to everyone who came and to the parents who helped pack up,” Abhideya Devi Dasi added.

For more details on ISKCON New Gokula Farm visit their website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information on the activities of Bhakti Kids Sangha visit their YouTube channel and follow them on Facebook.