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Bhakti Sangam Festival, Almvik, Sweden - July 2012

7/23/2012

Another highlight during the European summer was the second annual Bhakti Sangam Festival in Almvik/Sweden sceduled from the 23rd to the 29th of July.

For seven days we were deeply absorbed in chanting in kirtan and hearing katha on various topics. And Almvik is such a perfect place for such event - secluded and surrounded by untouched nature: forests, a beautiful lake and
fields with cows...

Holy Name Retreat, Kharkov, Ukraine - July 2012

7/6/2012

On the 6th of July around one hundred eager devotees congregated during four days for a Holy Name Retreat outside Kharkov in Ukraine.

We had rented a summer camp outside the city - a holiday resort which used to belong to a government owned factory during the old Soviet days. In those days all the government owned enterprises had a holiday resort for their
workers, and now these camps have been privatized.

It was a somewhat ugly and not well maintained establishment but offered everything we needed: the basic facility to accomodate the devotees in double rooms, with a spacious kitchen, a cosey seminar room and a prasadam hall.
The rooms were very simply - not too inviting, so devotees would be eager to attend the programs and not get too comfortable in their rooms. After all a Holy Name Retreat should not invite the mood for sense enjoyment and
relaxation but rather create a good focus on the Holy Name.

Bhakti Sangam Festival, Almvik, Sweden - July 2012

Holy Name Retreat, Kharkov, Ukraine - July 2012

Devaki Devi Dasi's Travel Diary

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