A WINNING DAY
- Bhaktimarga Swami
- Jul 11
- 1 min read
Friday, July 11th, 2026
Centre Island, Toronto
The procession began at Yonge and Edward Streets. Fairly smooth it was. Our Chinese friends brought their dragon, a white and silvery serpent of sorts. Our members of Bhakti Academy were all decked out in handsome and pretty attire, looking good and sounding good. I was their lead. At the front of that was our group of brahmachari celibates all in saffron. Their was power in their presence. And that's how it started, lest I mention the two mascots of Radha and Krishna. They were also looking mighty fine.
I have very little knowledge of how the final two chariots were doing because I was immersed in my post, in the front. According to Gopal, our sound-in-charge, all went fine with all three rathas.
It was great to share the stage with dignitaries like Honourable Patnaik, the Indian High Commissioner for Canada. He hails from Orissa where this whole festival of Jagannatha's Ratha Yatra has been celebrated for millennia.
I had the pleasure to watch in front of that stage two performances, "Gita Concise" and "Big Fish, Little Fish." Finally to wrap up a long stretch on Centre Island, in an impromptu way, I was asked to take the mic and get everyone to sing and dance.
"Where do you get your energy?" asked one of the festival goers after that blissful kirtan.
My answer, "From Jagannatha, God!"
Of course, to address the issue in a more complete way, I would say two people in my life had that beautiful inexhaustible energy of keeping busy. My guru and my dad.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU
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