“Every year, there’s some new challenge that comes up while organizing Toronto Rathayatra, and we joke that Lord Jagannath always throws us a curveball,” says Rukmini Dasi, co-chair of the Rathayatra Committee along with Anjaneya Tirtha Das. 

Little did they know, however, that 2020 would bring the ultimate curveball – a global pandemic that required people to social distance from each other and saw all gatherings and public festivities banned. 

Historically Toronto Rathayatra, or Festival of India, has been known as one of the largest Rathayatra events in North America. The parade down Yonge Street (dubbed “The Longest Street in the World”) typically featured three chariots and about five thousand participants, while the two-day festival on Centre Island was attended by some 40,000 people.  

So naturally, when COVID-19 came along and derailed all of this, the Rathayatra Committee – consisting of mostly second generation devotees – was shaken. But they quickly pulled themselves together and began planning an epic virtual festival, along with a small creative in-person element following COVID-19 regulations. All events were broadcast on the ISKCON Toronto and Toronto Festival of India Facebook pages, as well as the ISKCON Toronto Youtube page, and remain available there to watch. 

One positive feature that the virtual festival could afford was a much longer event; organizers split the twelve days from July 1^st to 12^летний into two sections – the first catering more to a devotee audience, and the second to the general public. 

Mahasundari Madhavi Dasi commentates from her home as Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra ride down Yonge Street in Their Mercedes convertible

Kicking off the festivities on the 1^st was a Canada Day six-hour virtual kirtan. Nine temples across Canada collaborated for the kirtan — ISKCON Toronto, Brampton, Fredericton, Moncton, Ottawa/Russell, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary – and chanters included Bhaktimarga Swami, Amogha Lila Das and family, Kadamba Priya Das and Nittilam. 

From July 2^nd through 5^летний, a series of seminars were held with devotees speaking live from their homes, including Vraja Lila Dasi on Spirituality: A Woman’s Perspective; Deva Madhava Das on Lessons from the Garden of the Heart; Hari Parshada Das on the glories of Jagannath Puri and Rathayatra; and Dravida Das on The Journey from Snana Yatra to Rathayatra. Due to the passing of beloved ISKCON guru and GBC Bhakti Charu Swami on July 4^летний, that day also featured a memorial with senior devotees Bhaktimarga Swami, Krsnanandini Dasi, and