Saturday, March 1st, 2025
Vishakapatnam, India
I took two showers during my resting hours in the night just to cool off and address the humidity situation. In general, though, I like the city of Vishakapatnam. It’s by the Bay of Bengal and is smaller than some of the mega cities of India. It’s much cleaner. One of the big draws for pilgrims is a deity of a combined avatar, the half-man/half-lion, and the boar. It’s quite fascinating, and Sambha, the president of our ISKCON temple, took our actors there.
Sambha I’ve known since his Punjabi Bhag days in Delhi. We’re looking at about 35 years back. Anyways, he connected us with the head priest at the temple. He gave us the figure of the 7th century when the temple was constructed. Ancient it is. To be there is like stepping back in time. Very inspirational!
We also visited the 14th anniversary for the school called ‘Divine Touch’ run by Sambha’s wife, Nitai Sevani. A lot of energy and expense goes into the yearly event. I have to say that the venue was wonderful. The chief guest was a chief officer for the police. Of course, I was taken by the cute entertainers, students of the school. You have Ganesh dancing up on the stage. The goddesses, Bhumi and Lakshmi, were present. It was lavish. Great costumes, item after item. They really care about their kids. In fact, when it came to the end of a number, parents came up with their phones to take pics in front of the stage, blocking the view for others. The emcee took the opportunity to mildly discipline these folks, and he did it all in the lovely Telegu language.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!
5,054 STEPS
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