Deities were taken for pleasure boat ride by the Iskcon devotees | Vrindavan Today

Vrindavan, 2017.03.18 (VT): A Boat festival was organized on Saturday by the devotees of the Krishna Balaram Mandir. The deities were taken for a pleasure boat ride (Nauka Vihar) on Yamuna in a procession. The festival was organized on the occasion of Gaura Purnima, the appearance day of Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Like every year, the representative deities of the temple were carried out in a procession to the Yamuna and put on a boat, decorated with flowers and garlands. The procession passed through the different markets and lanes and finally followed the Parikrama path to reach Shringar Vat. The procession of the deities followed the Congregational Street Chanting (Nagar Sankirtan) by the enthusiastic devotees.
Several foreign devotees also participated in the event, carrying the flags of one hundred countries. They were chanting Harinam Mahamantra and dancing on its tunes, while walking in the procession. The deities were worshiped and 56 bhog were offered to them  on the boat, before the ‘Nauka Vihar’ began. The boat was take to the other side of the river.  As the boat began to move away, streams of colored flower petals came flowing down the Yamuna. Devotees were mesmerized to witness the pastime of the Divine Couple and absorbed completely in devotion. The ‘prasadam’ was distributed among the devotees. The divine moments were captured in the cameras and mobile by the devotees.

Fireworks were displayed over Yamuna in honor of the deities.  Five hundred and one diyas (lamps) were flown  into the Yamuna, which made the river alive with hundreds of golden lamps flowing in her stream. Senior Iskcon devotees Shri Deena Bandhu Das, Shri Panchagouda Das, Shri Ganapati Das, Ravilochan Das etc. were present during the event.