Professors from IIT Roorkee are preparing a report on the Yamuna Riverfront Development project. This report will seek to underline the pitfalls of the project, if there are any. It is due to be submitted to the U.P state government soon for analysis and further actions. The professors have already started their inspection. This inspection and assistance from the professors will be of great help and will ensure the timely completion of the project without any hindrances.

The Ram Leela Mahotsav is all set to start in the holy city of Vrindavan. The festival will start with the rath yatra of Lord Ganesha. Ram Baaraat or the wedding procession of Lord Ram will also be organized and it will include more than 50 tableaus. The organizing committee has already discussed the arrangements of the festival with the city administration.

The roads from Lal Darwaza to Chowk Bazar and the Bharatpur Gate area will be repaired so that the procession can move swiftly. The electricity board will supply an uninterrupted flow of electricity during the procession of Ram Barat and Dussehra. The actors for the stage performance of Ram Leela have also been selected. The programme will start with the mukut pujan at Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi and the rath yatra of Lord Ganesha will start from Keshav Dev Aangan.

The month of Kartika is glorified in the Puranas as very special for making spiritual advancement. The best place to be in during Kartika is Sri Braja Dham. This month is also known as Damodar since Lord Krishna performed his damodar lila in the middle of this month. Kartika month is also known for Radha Rani and devotees perform special austerities to gain her favor.

This year the auspicious Kartika festival will be held in Vrindavan as usual. ISKCON has taken it upon themselves to arrange various parikramas to the holy places of Krishna’s pastimes for the visitors. This year is also the 30^th anniversary of the shri vraja mandala parikrama by foot that is organized by H.H Lokanatha Swami. Shri Deena Bandhu and other senior devotees will also be taking bus parikramas to the lila sthalis of Vraja.

H.H Indradyumna Maharaj will also be hosting bus parikramas. Various ISKCON temples of India will be bringing their congregation of devotees for these bus parikramas. Sri vraja mandal parikrama will take around 2000 devotees on foot down the dusty paths of Vraja and the devotees will camp out at various locations to rest. This will continue for one full month.

H.H Lokanatha Swami and H.H Radha Raman Swami will be hosting Krishna kathas at various locations for the devotees. Previous participants agree that this experience of the parikrama has been one of the most satisfying ones of their lives.

The Sanjhi art festival is being organised at Brahma Kund, Vrindavan this year by the Braj Foundation. This will be the third time that this foundation will organize this festival and it will take place over three days. The preparations are almost done. The programme will include an exhibition of sanjhi art, a classical music evening and a stage performance of ‘sanjhi leela’.

Earlier on this festival used to be hosted every year but in the middle due to some reasons, it could not be organised. However, this tradition of hosting this festival has now been renewed. The Brahma Kund has also been recently renovated, which has made the hosting of this festival easier. This year, precious manuscripts and pictures of sanjhi art will also be on display with the help of the Braj Cultural Research Institute.

The Braj Foundation has been hailed for doing excellent work restoring these old and lost traditions of Braj.

Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir is the culmination of a vision by all the devotees of Krishna at ISKCON Bengaluru.  Once completed, this magnificent temple will stand 700 ft tall, reaching out to the heavens, reaching out to the divine Lord Krishna himself. Conceived by ISKCON Bengaluru, this iconic temple will span an area of 5 and half acres and spread over 70 acres of land with curated development of Braj. Its foundation will be deeper than that of Burj Khalifa at 55 metres and it will stand taller than many known monuments around the world like the Taj Mahal or the Pyramids of Giza.

With an earthquake resistant structure and other features, it will stand the testimony of time as well as any kind of terrorist attacks. The very foundation of this structure will have 511 columns and this will be completed by the month of March next year. In fact, work on 140 of these columns has already been completed and the temple itself is set to be completed by 2022.

This abode of Lord Krishna will be nothing short of a fortress in its making. The global monument in making is going to change the skyline of Vrindavan, besides re-establishing the glory of spiritual capital. This structure, though a temple in itself, will house numerous more smaller temples, including the Radha Vrindavan Chandra Mandir, the Chaitanya mahaprabhu Mandir and Srila Prabhupada Mandir. Different wings of this structure will pay homage to different people who have been connected to Lord Krishna.

There will also be a Krishna heritage museum so that the children of this generation come to know all about him. There will be a study centre to enrich the learning of Krishna scholars and devotees. A festival and lecture hall will be there where people can get together and listen to the narration of Krishna Leelas. And of course, one cannot miss out the viewing gallery that will be perched at a height of 700 ft. Added attractions will include a vedic cosmology exhibit and there will be a massive Krishna Leela theme park indoors  showcasing the demons the Lord had defeated during his era.

Apart from this, there will be a river running around the temple in the form of a moat which will provide boat rides. And of course the twelve famous vanas of Vrindavan, like Nidhi Van and Madhu Van will be recreated within the perimeter of the temple. With all of these features, the devotees at ISKCON Bengaluru and we at Team Krishna Bhumi, eagerly await the completion of this mega structure. We await its completion so that Lord Krishna can have a fitting monument to his name and so that people all over the world come to know of him and his grandeur and kindness.

Infinity Group is proud to be associated with this mega project and is supporting the project by building a 40 acre township, Krishna Bhumi, at its feet.

Vraja is the abode of celebrations and some or the other festival is being celebrated there the year round. Currently being in the pitru paksha fortnight, Vraja is celebrating the sanjhi mahotsav. Once spread all over Vraja, these festivities are now limited to some ancient temples only. The sanjhi mahotsav is a significant part of Vraja culture and tradition.

Radha Rani and the gopinis used to make sanjhis on the path through which Lord Krishna would pass with his cows at dusk. The temple priests of Mathura and Vrindavan took up this practice of making sanjhis in the 17^th century. In this art, stencils are used to make sketches of Lord Krishna’s pastimes on the floor and then it is filled in with powdered colors.

Sanjhi Mahotsav began to be celebrated as soon as the shraddha paksha began. Sanjhis are being made in the Madan Mohan Temple, Radha Ballabh temple, Yashodanandan temple, Radha Raman temple, Radhika priya ballabh temple and the Shah jahanpurwali mandir. In some temples, powdered colors and flowers are used to fill in the sketches while in other temples cow dung is used.

The intricately and beautifully made sanjhi designs are put on display in the evenings and are worshipped. Performances are held in the temples where singers sing special sanjhi bhajans and dancers dress up as gopinis. The word ‘sanjhi’ is derived from the word ‘sanjh’ meaning evening and is synonymous with other decorative terms like sajja, shringar and sajaavat.