Visit of Chief Minister of UP to ISKCON Vrindavan
Published On: 2015-02-11
Honorable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri AkhileshYadavji came for darshan to the Krishna Balaram temple, ISKCON Vrindavan on 11th February, 2015. He was scheduled to come to Govardhan for some work, but as a pleasant surprise, he added darshan of ISKCON Vrindavan to his program only 3 days back. It was his personal decision to have darshan in ISKCON Vrindavan, which he said, he had last visited only in his childhood.
The Chief Minister arrived at ISKCON gate around 1 PM with his huge convoy of cars and was graciously welcomed by the temple president , Shri Pancha Gauda Das, along with Radha Raman Das and by the vibrant kirtan performed by the students of the BhaktivedantaGurukula and International School (BGIS) , a part of ISKCON campus. Then he proceeded straight to take blessings from the presiding deities of temple namely Shri Shri Gaura Nitai, Shri Shri Krishna Balaram and Shri Shri Radha Shyamsundar. Then he also went to Samadhi mandir of Srila Prabhupada. He looked very happy taking darshan and came to Balram Hall for a special program to honour the elderly widows residing at Vrindavan. He was welcomed there by the auspicious invocation mantras of Brahma Samhita recited by the students of BGIS followed by a welcome speech by the temple president. There was a gathering of about 200 widows in the hall and the Chief Minister addressed the gathering for about 10 minutes.
He began his speech by thanking the temple authorities for a warm reception and especially for extending the darshan time in the temple as the normal closing time is 12:45 PM. He then expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the students of BGIS for their welcome kirtana and mantra chanting. In particular, he was very pleased by a student from Germany, Nanda Kumar, who welcomed him in Hindi. He told that in India everybody is ignoring Hindi language but it is wonderful that international students learn Hindi at BGIS.
During his speech, he assured that his government will take all the necessary steps to improve cleanliness and road conditions in Vrindavan for the convenience of national and international tourists. He said that although the temples in Vrindavan are very beautiful, the roads are very dirty. He announced Rs. 2 crores of aid for the widows of Vrindavan and assured them all possible help in future. The program ended with the CM handing over sarees to some of the elderly widows doing bhajan in Vrindavan.
After the program, the CM went to visit the museum in Srila Prabhupada residential quarters where Srila Prabhuapda had stayed for more than 3 years. Then he honored the Krishna prasadam lunch served to him and other dignitaries like Inspector General Police of UP and the Commissioner of Agra. He exchanged pleasing words with the temple president and others during the lunch and expressed his deep satisfaction about his visit to the temple. The project director of BGIS Radhakant Das briefed the CM of the new upcoming campus of BGIS in 100 acres of land and the CM assured full cooperation by his Government.
It was great feeling of joy for all the devotees of the temple and students of BGIS as they witnessed the Chief Minister departing from the temple in a jolly and grateful mood.
