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 30th 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.
