KrishnadhamUSA December 2018 Mailing address

(Vaishnav Samaj of RTP Inc) 135 Parkway Office Ct., Suite 201 Non-Profit Organization (Id: 47-4639529) Cary, NC 27518

Message from KrishnadhamUSA (aka Vaishnav Samaj of RTP Inc):

KrishnadhamUSA wishes all Pushtimarg Vaishnavs Happy, Health and Prosperous New Year. We had a wonderful 2018 with more programs and services. KrishnadhamUSA now has

• Weekly Shrinathji darshan on Saturdays

• Pushtimarg Utsav (celebration / manorath once a month;

• Pushtimarg education classes for our children; and

• Prabhu Padhramani satsang on fourth Sundays of month.

During 2018, we had several opportunities to learn the philosophy of Pushtimarg from Vallabhkul balaks. We also had 4 days of “Shri Krishna Charitramrut” katha by P. P. Goswami 108 Vrajrajkumarji Mahodayshri. The “Krishna Ek Prem Gatha” drama was a big success and was well received by the community.

Construction Update:

We are having very good progress with the KrishnadhamUSA Haveli project. Our 16.5 acres land is cleared of trees, and we sold the timber that paid for the clearing cost plus some extra for the project. As our community is growing at a rapid pace and then we all together had a vision having a place where we can have a true “Pushtimarg” Haveli in RTP area. A light in a tunnel is coming closer now.

We had submitted site plans for approval to Chatham County back in the month of August 2018. We received comments and subsequently we addressed them to the County’s satisfaction. Chatham County has cleared the way by approving the site plans as of December 23, 2018. The plans are now approved so that we can obtain following permits.

1. Land Clearing Permit

2. Storm Water, Wetland, Riparian buffer management

3. Public Utility Connections

Chatham Count has also signed off the roadway plans and sent to NCDOT for final approval and signature. We can

practically begin selecting the site contractor and start working on site development. The next steps will be to:

1. Prepare “Request for Proposal” and obtain a quote from at least four-five site contractors.

2. Prepare ourselves and gear up for “Fund Raising”.

3. Finalize building plans and send out for building permit.

Key features of site-

1. Haveli (phase-1) (will have provision for accommodating 84 Mahaprabhuji’s bethkji)

2. Amphitheatre (outdoor structure, community outreach pavilion)

3. Lit Parking with solar canopy (will supply power back to the building) and walkways to building

4. Wet retention pond

5. Flower garden area

6. 5’ walking trail

7. Landscaping all around

It is possible to have our space ready this year provided we can raise enough funds in next 3-month time frame. Now it’s our turn. So, we urge everyone to please pitch in and do our best. If you have any suggestions, please contact one of the KrishnadhamUSA volunteers or send email to krishnadham.nc@gmail.com.

Divine Land of Shree Krushna Leela

What is KrishnadhamUSA?

KrishnadhamUSA’s mission is to foster richness of Hindu cultural heritage and Pushtimarg in our children and to provide learning experiences on our cultural values to visitors and residents alike. Our goal is to unite all vaishnavs in RTP area. Religious objectives of KrishnadhamUSA shall be to:

• Perform religious services as per the teaching of Jagadguru Shri Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji;

• Celebrate Pushtimarg traditions;

• Establish, manage, promote, and / or guide Hindu-Vaishnav-Pushtimarg Haveli and community center in RTP area.

• Provide and support Hindu-Vaishnav-Pushtimarg religion related events, interchanges and cooperation among the followers in the United States.

Educational objectives of KrishnadhamUSA shall be to:

• Establish, promote and maintain educational programs and conduct public awareness seminars, workshops and lectures related to Pushtimarg philosophy;

• Acquire and publish books/articles/manuscripts/magazines on Hinduism (including Pushtimarg) and Indian culture;

• Create Web-Site to provide educational information about Hinduism (including Pushtimarg)

• Make available Hindu-Vaishnav-Pushtimarg religious educational resources thru E-Books Library.

• Invite descendants of Shri Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji for religious discourses and to promote interfaith harmony.

• Promote study and understanding of Hindu-Vaishnav-Pushtimarg religion.

Social objectives of KrishnadhamUSA shall be to:

• Assist and promote charitable community service activities in the United States and around the world,

• Be a responsible organization in the community.

KrishnadhamUSA Activities

1. Shrinathji Darsan & Satsang every Saturday from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. We meet at 4000 Bearcat Way, Suite 102, Morrisville, NC 27560 for Satsang or monthly Manorath

2. KrishnadhamUSA-VYO Pushtimarg classes for children on Saturdays at HSNC Learning Center.

3. Prabhu Padhramani on every 4th Sunday of the month. We meet at a Vaishnav family’s home to celebrate Shrinathji homecoming. Prabhu Padhramani is meant to provide vaishnavs an opportunity to experience divine presence of Thakurji and inspire and purify our thoughts and actions. For the duration of 4 weeks, Vaishnav family gets opportunity to learn and do Shrinathji shringar & seva.

4. Monthly Utsav to celebrate Thakurji Leela on 2nd Saturdays of Month from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. We have included brief summary of Utsavs celebrated since last newsletter in this newsletter.

5. Humanitarian Project: Roti Kapada Makan - On the day of Pitru Shardha (Hindu holiday), we are donating vegetarian grocery to Soup Kitchen/Shephrded table to feed homeless in downtown Raleigh.

Calendar of upcoming events Calendar of upcoming Utsavs is included below.

Date Utsav

January 5, 2019 Rang Mahal Utsav

February 2, 2019 Shrinathji Patotsav

March 9, 2019 Holi Rasiya/ Dolotsav

April 6, 2019 Mahaprabhuji Utsav

May 4, 2019

June 8, 2019

All vaishnavas are welcome to join the Satsang and Utsav. This is also an excellent opportunity for you to celebrate personal landmark events like birthdays, anniversary etc. with all vaishnavs by becoming Sponsor for the Utsav or for the Food. For sponsorship, please contact

- Manisha Patel (919) 622-4514; - Sandhya Shah (919) 400-6056; or - Heena Majmudar (919) 247-7670.

2018 - Year in Review

Weekly Darshans and Monthly Manoraths: In 2018, KrishnadhamUSA continued having weekly Darshan and monthly Manorath to celebrate various Pushtimarg utsavs. We meet at 4000 Bearcat Way, Suite 102 in Morrisville, NC 27560 on Saturdays from 5:30pm to 7:00pm for Satsang or monthly Manorath. We celebrated several manoraths. Our sincere thanks to

• All vaishnavs who attended and made all manoraths one of a kind.

• All Manorathis for sponsoring and supporting manoraths.

• All the volunteers for working tirelessly for success of the manoraths; and

• All volunteers for making delicious prashad.

If you have any suggestions for the Newsletter, please provide your feedback by contacting Piyush Sura @ (919) 924-8895 or send email to krishnadham.nc@gmail.com

Uttarayan Utsav - Janaury 13, 2018 Uttarayan also known as Makar Sankranti is celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year. On this day, Shrinathji is offered samagri made of Til (Sesame Seeds) and samagri called Khichada. The day before Makar Sankranti, Bhogi Utsav is celebrated. On this day, Shrinathji is given Abhyang Snan and adorned with new Red colored Cheet Ke vastra, 4 karna phool and ornaments made of diamonds and pearls

Shrinathji Patotsav - February 3, 2018

Shrinathji Patotsav is celebrated on Maha Vad 7, when Shriji had come to Shri Girdharjis House at Satghara, Mathura. Patotsav is celebrated in all the houses of Pushtimarg commemorating the visit of Shrinathji to their house

Dolotsav - March 3, 2018 Dolotsav takes place on the day after Holi, when the demoness Holika is burnt. There is great rejoicing and gulala is sprinkled on devotees. Adola, swing, decorated with mango blossoms, and with various other flowers and creepers, is placed in the Doltibari Navanitpriyaji is placed on the swing which is swung by the high priests. The priests spray gulala on the swing and the Tilakayat in turn sprays gulala on the priests and servants. Shrinathji is dressed in a white gherdar wagha and pagha, surmonted with a peacock feather plume. The pichhvai is white. Manorathi: Manisha & Yogesh Patel and Smita & Shailesh Patel

Mahaprabhuji Pragatya Utsav - April 14, 2018

Shri Mahaprabhuji (Vallabhacharya) was born on the 11th day of Chaitra Vad Vikaram Samvant 1535 in Champaran. His father's name was Shri Lakshman Bhattaji & mother's name was Illammgauriji. Mahaprabhuji founded the Pushtimarg ("the Path of Grace"), a Vaishnav sect of the Hinduism. More than 125 vaishnavs celebrated this Utsav with Vaishnavacharya Shri P.P Goswami 108 Shri Kamleshkumarji 's Amrut vani and Mahaprabhuji kirtans followed by Maha Prasad.

Manorathi: Gopi & Chintan Dhangdhariya, Niti & Mitesh Modi

Hatadi Utsav - May 12, 2018

Nand Nandan is today seated in the Hatadi (Market) and each and every Vraj jan receives prasad from Thakurji himself. Anything one describes one gets and it is given by none other than our Thakurji. He calls every Vraj bhakts by their name and distributes vividh items himself.

More than 100 vaishnavs celebrated the Hatadi utsav with Kirtans followed by Maha Prasad

Manorathi: Smita & Ashvin Desai, Smita & Piyush Sura

Shri Yamunaji Utsav - June 9, 2018 In Pushtimarg, two mothers are popular. One is Yashodaji and the other is Yamunaji. Yamunaji is the mother of all vaishnavs. Shri Yamunaji is the daughter of Surya (Sun) and sister of Niyamak (Yam). Mythologically: Shri Yamunaji carries garland of lotus in her hands for Lord Krushna. Where there is Krushna, there is Yamunaji. Krushna is the King of Kings, so Yamunaji is Queen of Queens (Patrani). Shri Yamunaji is the giver of “Ashta Siddhi”. Vaishnavs celebrated this Utsav with Yamunaji’s kirtans followed by Maha Prasad. Manorathi: Smitaben & Vithalbhai Shah

Hindola Utsav - August 11, 2018

Hindola finds its origin in the streets of Vrindavan over 5000 years ago where the Gopis rocked Krushna on a decorated swing. Ever since, hindola festival has become the focus of devotion. Each day of the month of Shravan, the Hindola is decorated in different material (mirrors, flowers, colors, etc.).

All Vaishnavs celebrated hindola decorated with vegetables.

Nand Mahotsav - September 8, 2018

Nand mahotsav is celebrated on the day following Shri Krushna’s birthday and it begins the celebrations on the home of Nanda and Yashoda in Gokul. Joy overflows as everyone’s desires are filled with presence of Shri Krushna in their lives. Krushna is swung in a cradle and even today, lineage-holders dress up as Yashoda and swing their Beloved Krushna.

Nav Vilas Utsav - October 6, 2018

In Pushtimarg, all festivals are celebrated in relation to our beloved Shri Krushna and Navaratri is no exception. Navaratri in Pushtimarg is call Nav Vilas. Here for each day, our beloved Krushna performs raas with sakhi at leela sthal in Vraj.

Shree Hariraiji has composed 9 verses for Navratri, one for each day. These verses are known as "Nav-vilas".

Nav vilas utsav was celebrated with Raas garba by all viashnavs.

Deep Daan Utsav - November 10, 2018

Deep Daan (offering of diyas) - Worship Sri Krushna by offering lamps (diyas), flowers, incense, samagri, etc. Lighting a diya before the Sri Krushna is called as "deep-daan". Nand Nandan, Sri Krushna, is today seated in the Hatadi, and each & every Vraj jan receives Prasad from Shri Krushna himself. Anything one describes gets it, and it is given by none other than Thakurji.

In addition to the Deep Daan utsav celebration, children of KrishnadhamUSA/VYO class presented the Govardhan Leela.

Tulsi Vivah Utsav - December 10, 2018

This is a ritual of the marriage of Shri Krushna with holy plant Tulsi. Tulsi is the symbol of spiritual purity. The marriage of Tulsi with Shri Krushna means that Shri Krushna likes purity as a quality. The symbol of this is Shri Krushna wearing the necklace of Vaijayanti beads. This marriage is the symbol of perfect marriage. Marriage is the merging and oneness of the embodied soul (Jiva) and Shri Krushna.

All vaishnavs celebrated Tulsi Vivah with vivah Kirtans followed by maha prasad.

Manorathi: Jaylan & Rekha Parikh, Atul and Suruchika Bhatia

KrishnadhamUSA Children education:

School year for KrishnadhamUSA education started in September, 2018. Our goal of the education classes is development of spirituality, leadership and self-esteem in our children using well-planned modules to raise awareness for Hindu and Pushtimarg way of life. Students also learn Shrinathji kirtans and participate in celebration of the KrishnadhamUSA Utsavs. We invite all interested children to join us every Saturdays for well researched curriculum and leadership program. Please contact Kirti Gandhi (919) 523-1811,Piyush Sura (919) 924-8895 for more information.

“Shri Krishna Charitramrut” Katha by P. P. Goswami 108 Vrajrajkumarji Mahodayshri” Triangle area vaishnavs had excellent opportunity and honor to hear amrutwani of P. P. Goswami 108 Vrajrajkumarji mahodayasri for 4 days on of “Shri Krishna Charitramrut” katha. All vaishnavs enjoyed Nand Mahotsav. Krishna Bal Leela, Govardhan Leela, Raas Leela / Vivah Khel utsavs under auspices of Je Je Shri. More than 300 vaishnavs attended the daily vachanamrut by Je Je Shri. During the Katha, We also provided souvenir to all attendees that contained educational information related to Pushtimarg.

We also had Shrinathji Haveli groundbreaking ceremony at 795 Beaver Creek Road in Apex, NC.

Katha was sponsored by several manorathis and advertisers. In addition, many volunteers worked tirelessly for several weeks for successful organization of this event. KrishnadhamUSA thanks all volunteers, manorathis and advertisers for their support to this event.

Prabhu Padhramani satsangs:

In 2018, several vaishnavs took opportunity to do Shrinathji seva by hosting Prabhu Padhramani. Prabhu Padhramani Satsang is on last Sunday of every month.

• Host family prepares the bethak for arrival of Shrinathji Swaroop by the previous host by 3:20 pm. The arrangement of the welcome (Padhramani) will be up to Host family.

• 3:30 pm Mangala Charan, Yamunashtak, by everybody

• Reading & discussion from Pushtiyamargiya books - received from India

• If Applicable, some reading and discussion on Utsav of the month

• Bhajan-Kirtan by host family & guests

• Aarti & Aashrya Pad

• Shrinathji Swaroop stays with the host family till next month satsang. This gives them opportunity to do SEVA everyday of the month.

For more details on Prabhu Padhramani Satsang and help, please contact Manisha Patel (919) 622-4514 or Gira Choksi (336) 269-2067

Pushtimarg vachnamrut:

In 2018, we were very furtunate to have several visits of Vallabhkul balaks to teach us the philosophy of Pushtimarg:

• “Siddhant Rahasya” vachnamrut by P.P Goswami 108 Shri Kamleshkumarji from Apeil 13-15, 2018

• “Bhakti Yog” vachnamrut by P.P. Goswami 108 Shri Govardhaneshji Mahodayshri on April 22, 2018.

• “Bhakti vardhni (Why Bhakti)” vachanamrut by P.P. Goswami 108 Shri Aniruddah Mahodayashri on May 6, 2018

• Vachnamrut by Yuva Vaishnavacharya Goswami 108 Shri Sharnamkumar Mahodayshri on August 6, 2018.

• “Chatursloki” vachanamrut by P.P. Goswami 108 Shri Harirayji Mahodayshri in August 2018.

“Krishna Ek Prem Gatha” Drama:

The “Krishna Ek Prem Gatha” drama was a big success and was well received by the community. It was executed without any flaws. The credit goes to the Executive Committee members and the volunteers who fulfilled their assigned task with full commitment. On behalf of the KrishnadhamUSA, we appreciate everyone’s support in making the program successful.

KrishnadhamUSA Financial Update Financial updates for the 2018 events a/ manoraths is included below:

Event Income (Donations, Advertisements or Tickets)

Expenses Net

Krishna Ex Prem Gatha drama $17,184.00 $12,145.00 $5,039.00

Krishna Charitramrut Katha $28,664.00 $22,050.00 $6,614.00

Krishnadham/VYO Education Classes $1,050.00 $1,512.00 $462.00

Monthly Manorath Donation details

Dolotsav Utsav (March) $803.00

Mahaprabhuji Utsav (April) $398.00

Hatadi Utsav (May) $1,111.00

Shri Yamunaji Utsav (June) $526.00

Hindola Utsav (August) $205.00

Deep Daan Utsav (November) $875.00

Tulsi Vivah Utsav (December) $2,024.00

KrishnadhamUSA Education Corner

Shodash Granth (Hindi: षोडश ग्रथं) (literally sixteen books) is a collection of 16 books (or doctrines) written

by Shri Vallabhacharyaji. They are the main doctrine of Pushtimarg. The granths serve as a lighthouse for devotees. They speak about increasing love for Shri Krushna through Seva (service) and Smarana (remembering). These doctrines are Shri Mahaprabhuji’s way of encouraging and inspiring devotees on this path of grace. The central message of the Shodasha Granthas is total surrender to Lord Shri Krishna. A Vallabhkul balak (Goswami) can initiate an eager soul to this path of Shri Krishna’s loving devotion and service. The verses explain the types of devotees, the way to surrender and the reward for Seva, as well as other practical instructions. The devotee is nurtured by the Thakurji’s grace. The Shodash Granths are following:

1. Shri Yamunashtakam : An ode to Shree Yamuna Maharani 2. Bal-bodh : A guide for beginners on the path of devotion 3. Siddhant Muktavali : A string of pearls consisting of the principles/fundamentals of Pushtimarg 4. Pusti-Pravaha-Maryada-bhedh : The different characteristics of the different types of souls (Receptivity of

the Lord’s grace) 5. Siddhant Rahasya : The Secret behind the Principles 6. Navratna : Nine jewels of instructions (Priceless instructions for a devotee) 7. Antah-Karan-Prabodhah : Consoling one's Heart (Request to one’s own heart) 8. Vivek-Dhairya-Aashray : Of discretion, patience and surrender 9. Shri Krishna Aashray : Taking Shri Krishna’s shelter 10. Chatuhshloki : A Four Verses illustrating the four principles of life; Dharma, Arth, Kaam, Moksh 11. Bhakti-Vardhini : Increase of devotion 12. Jal-bhedh : 21 types of Orators (Vakta) 13. Pancha-Padyaani : 3 types of Listeners (Shrota) 14. Sannyasa-Nirnayah : Decision on taking Renunciation 15. Nirodh-Lakshanam : Identifying characteristics of detachment 16. Sevafalam : The reward of performing seva (worship) of Thakurji.