Boat Festival in Vrndavana

I often have a tendency to look for the perfect picture. When I see a beautiful scene or a rare moment, the first thing I do is grab for my camera. But I actively chose to separate myself from my camera this time in Vrndavana.

It's said that all of the holy dhams are becoming more and more covered as Kali yuga progresses. I find this to be so true in Vrndavana. On the surface, Vrndavana is bustling, dusty and dirty. It's so hard to actually photograph the REAL Vrndavana. In fact the only way one can "see" Vrndavana is through the ears. Only by hearing about Vrndavana from the self realized souls can we actually see Vrndavana as it is.

That's why this time around I have very few pictures of Vrndavana. There were only two times that I took my camera with me when I went out. One, as you can see below, is when the boat festival took place in Krsna Balarama mandir and the second time was one time during the bhajans that took place at BBGS's home.

The boat festival was an INCREDIBLE experience. For one afternoon, there was no courtyard in Krsna Balarama mandir. Instead there was a carpet of beautiful flower petals arranged in different designs. Below this beautiful carpet was a mini-lake for chota Radha Shyamasundara. In a beautiful swan boat, they gracefully took a tour around this lake to the melodic chanting of the maha-mantra led by HH BBGS, HH SRS and HG Aindra Prabhu.