Mathura, February, 25^th 2016: The developmental projects to be undertaken in the model city program were outlined in a meeting on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Shri S.B. Singh, the Secretary of the Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority. Coordination among the various government departments was emphasized during the meeting.

The final Detailed Project Report will be ready on 3^rd March. It should be noted that a meeting was convened in the MVDA conference room on 23^rd January 2016, which was chaired by the Divisional Commissioner Shri Pradeep Bhatnagar. Many stakeholders from Vrindavan participated in the meeting and gave their valuable suggestions on how they want to see Vrindavan develop.

The SP Traffic informed that one way traffic plan has been prepared. A control room has been established for the CCTV’s to be installed in the Parikrama Marg.  No entry has been proposed in three locations, with the help of the MVDA. The MVDA has also written a letter to resume the Radha Rani Express and develop the Vrindavan Road station for better connectivity with Vrindavan through the rail route.

According to a media report, a record number of pilgrims had visited Mathura during 2015. Representatives of the Mathura Chamber of Commerce and business community reported that each visitor spent an average of Rs 200 on all kinds of expenses, thus contributing to the economy at large.

Source: Vrindavan Today and Amar Ujala

After the Prem Mandir, the beautiful Lotus Temple was opened for the
public on Monday.
The splendid lotus shaped temple of Priya Kant Ji was inaugurated by the BJP
President Amit Shah. Built on a lotus flower structure, this
125 feet high Radha Krishna Temple is now open for the devotees.
Inauguration ceremony of Priya Kant Ji Temple began with citation of Vedic
hymns. The ceremony was inaugurated by the lighting of the lamps. It was a
spectacular scene which mesmerized the devotees when choppers showered
flowers on Priya Kant Ji from the sky. The devotees chanted ‘radhe radhe’, the abhishek was performed and finally the doors of the temple were open for the public.

More than 2 Lac devotees from different parts of the country and abroad came
to participate in the ceremony. Thousands of devotees from the USA,
Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Singapore, UAE, Australia and South Asian
Countries are still flooding into Vrindavan to see the temple. Organizers have created a temporary city, called
“Shanti Seva Nagar” to house the devotees and this temporary arrangement is spread over an area of 60 acres.

Vrindavan, 6^th February 2016: Vrindavan is all set to get another widow home which will house upto 500 women. The new widow ashram is being built behind the Omaxe housing complex situated on the Chhatikara – Vrindavan Road.  Smt. Renuka Kumar, Principal Secretary of the Women Welfare Department of Uttar Pradesh visited Vrindavan on Friday.

She said that the widows and old women living in the Purana Pagal Baba Ashram will be shifted to some other place, as the existing building has become very old and may collapse any day. A piece of land has been identified for building a new home. The construction works to build the ashram will begin soon.

“I must begin by saying that I hail from a community that has a rich tradition of giving back and contributing to society. We have been known to take up the cause of nation building quite passionately. Therefore, the sentiment of CSR was perhaps instilled in me by my forefathers and ancestors, much before I actually started practicing it. Right from childhood, I have often experienced so many instances of large heartedness, even when wallets were light.

As I was growing up, I faced several hurdles and challenges but they did not deter me from dreaming big. I find facing challenges to be exciting and the loss of the family wealth bequeathed a firm determination in me to recover the losses and make it even bigger.

Our group ‘Infinity’ today enjoys a highly credible reputation and has a roster of some well-delivered path breaking, pioneering projects under its belt. Infinity takes Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously. To this effect, we have taken up the cause and mission of expanding the opportunity of education for meritorious students through Anant. We have also been long-standing partners and supporters of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, The Jaipur Foot, Vedanta Academy, Eye Care & Research Centre, Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata, Manovikas Kendra, National Academy of Environment, Matri Bhavan and so on.

We are also building a first-of-its-kind, senior citizens’ home at Ibiza Club, Kolkata, called ‘Jagriti Dham’. A brief snapshot of some of our initiatives:

Anant Education Initiative

Anant Education Initiative, a merit scholarship programme, is an initiative of The Infinity Group, aimed at helping underprivileged but meritorious students who have excelled in their Madhyamik and Higher Secondary exams (West Bengal Board of Secondary Education) to pursue higher education of their choice. The scholarship programme commenced in March 2011.

Jagriti Dham

Spread over 2 acres, Jagriti Dham is an initiative undertaken by us to create comfortable, eco-friendly homes for senior citizens with complete elder care and lifestyle facilities. We truly believe that Jagriti Dham can be their Gold Age Home! It is being conceived as a cozy nest in lush green, serene, eco-friendly surroundings, an abode of peace and joy, just 15 km from Kolkata.

Association with The Aakshaya Patra Foundation:

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest non-profit, nongovernment organization that runs midday meal programmes in schools across India. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been feeding 1,402,393 children in 10,661 schools in 23 locations in 10 states in India. Akshaya Patra incentivizes the marginalized children to attend school, thereby ensuring their education. We work closely with the Akshaya Patra Foundation and I am associated with Akshaya Patra as their Vice Chairman on their global advisory board and as a Trustee on their London Board. Our group offers its services towards Akshaya Patra by providing advisory services and conducting fund-raiser programmes.

Krishna Bhumi

Infinity Group strongly believes in the immortal teachings of Lord Krishna. In fact, as the world around us continues to get more complicated and challenging, His teachings continue to show us the path and His words remain timeless. The Vrindavan Mathura-Braj is one such circuit, where Krishna followers, thinkers and Krishna Bhumi seekers from all over the world, from every possible walk of life come visiting every year. Vrindavan is considered one of the holiest towns of the world and is steeped in folklore and tradition.

Our project, Krishna Bhumi, coming up in the heart of Vrindavan is an iconic temple township that aims to recreate the magic of Krishna and his many folk tales. The nucleus of Krishna Bhumi is a towering temple: The Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, which will stand at a height of 700 ft when completed. For us, Krishna Bhumi is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of an iconic development.

At Infinity, we really do not feel that we are obliging anybody by carrying out CSR. In fact, we are only fulfilling our own duty and helping our own lives become more meaningful”.

Ravindra Chamaria

Chairman, Infinity,

Kolkata

Vrindavan, January 11th 2015: Jaidev Goswami’s Tirobhav Mahotsava (death anniversary) was celebrated with great devotion in Radha Damodar Temple. Scores of devotees and saints paid their respect to the great poet and composer by visiting his Samadhi. The Goswamis of the temple performed the Samadhi Pujan, where the devotees offered flowers and garlands on ‘the pushp samadhi’.

The Saints, acharyas and devotees glorified the author and composer of the ‘Geet Govindam’ and paid tribute to him on his Samadhi. A ‘bhakti-conference’ was also convened where the speakers threw light on the life and works of Jai Dev.  Glorifying Shri Jaidev Goswami for his works Shri Tamal Krishna Das Brahmachari from Imlitala said, “Gita Govinda expresses the intense feelings of separation that Shri Radhika felt before the rasa dance. It also describes the most intimate pastime of the Divine Couple of Shri Radha Madhav. During Lord Chaitanya’s daily Gambhira Lila in Puri, Mahaprabhu would thoroughly relish hearing the Gita Govinda sung daily by Swarup Damodar and Mukunda.”

Presiding over the function Acharya Nirmal Chandra Goswami, the Chief sevait of the Radha Damodar Temple said, “Once Jaidev felt inspired to write, Krishna bows down to Radha Rani to touch her feet. But he was hesitant to write it as it would challenge the Lord being the Supreme power of the Universe. He went to take bath in The Ganga to refresh his thought. When he came back from the Ganga he found that someone completed the sentence in his work of ‘Geet Govindam’, by writing ‘dehi pada pallava udaram’.