 | I arrived in Dhaka on the 27th of October, and two days later I had the opportunity to receive six visiting devotees from Ukraine: four brahmacaris from Kharkov and Odessa, and Sahasrajit Prabhu with his twelve year-old son Visvambhara. Visvambhara and his father had been to Bangladesh once before two years ago, and they were excited to visit once again. Especially for young boys Bangladesh is a paradise - full of adventures, and the brahmacaris and general devotees are very much aware of the importance of involving the young generation and make them feel part of everything. So Visvambhara has already many friends in Bangladesh....! |
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My visit to Tirupati/South India for the GBC meetings was in many ways a wonderful experience and left lasting impressions on my mind and heart.....
Meanwhile you must have all noticed that I have been falling more and more behind in writing my diary.....
I have simply been very busy with so many enlivening and exciting activities, that I have not found any time whatsoever to write. And I have almost lost all hope to ever be able to catch up....  On the 16th of September I flew to Simferopol, the main city on the Crimea Peninsula of Ukraine in order to attend the Bhakti Sangam Festival. Devotees received me at the small airport and drove me to the Festival site at Evpatoria, a holiday resort on the Black Sea.
On my arrival in Berlin on the 29th of August I spent some days associating
with the local devotees and giving a couple of morning and evening classes. The Berlin city authorities had declared Saturday the 1st of September as the "Night of Religions". It had been advertised widely all around Berlin, and people were encouraged to visit various religious organisations with open hearts and explore their missions and believes.  A young mataji named Bhaktin Julia had taken up the initiative to make all the necessary arrangements so we could conduct a Holy Name Retreat for the devotees of the Kiev yatra. She had attended one of our retreats a couple of years before and had concluded with great determination and enthusiasm: "This is exactly what we need for our Kiev devotees...."
On the 16th of August I took an overnight train to Odessa, with Vicka
and Acyuta Priya matajis as my assistants. The brahmacaris from Odessa temple had strongly requested me to come for a visit. It had been three years ago that I visited here last, and I remembered how eager and appreciative they had been of our discussions on previous visits.  On my return to Kharkov on the 4th of August we happily welcomed
Yadubara Prabhu. I had invited him to visit us for Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada's appearance, and he had kindly accepted our invitation. We had one week to get ready for the festival days..... Arriving back in Kharkov/Ukraine on the 30th of July I took the overnight
train to Lugansk to visit the devotees for Balarama's Appearance. Even though I am giving my main energy and attention to the Kharkov yatra, I had nevertheless decided to also visit every year a couple of other yatra's within Ukraine. As the saying goes: "A rolling stone doesn't gather any moss..." I am not quite willing to completely give up my aloof position as traveling preacher simply to become part of one yatra..... Too easily overfamiliarity sneaks in which affects any relationship in a negative way and thus spoils our abilities to serve each other. It is a matter of finding the right balance.... Thus I felt it to be appropriate to spend one of the Vaisnava festivals in another yatra.  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... |
Devaki Devi Dasi's Travel DiaryDevaki Devi Dasi is sharing her realizations and adventures in her Traveling Diary.Welcome to relish this nectar! Archives
January 2026
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