Every Town and Village.

The Road Show devotees are still rehearsing their show in Atlanta, but they are requesting Kirtanananda Maharaja to invite Vishnujana Swami to join their traveling program. With Vishnujana Maharaja as part of the show, they all say, it will be super-successful. Everyone remembers the wonderful impression he made when he arrived on the East Coast last year as a brand new sannyasi. The New Vrindavana incident has long since been forgotten, and Vishnujana is once again the darling of the devotees. When Kirtanananda calls Vishnujana to speak about his joining the traveling party, Vishnujana replies that he couldn't join without permission because Prabhupada has ordered him to open ten temples. Subsequently, Kirtanananda Maharaja writes Prabhupada requesting authorization to install the Radha-Krishna Deities and to take Them out traveling. He also requests Prabhupada's blessings for the sankirtana party, hinting that the party would greatly benefit if Vishnujana Swami could join. Everyone is hoping for Prabhupada's approval of the Road Show program and the traveling Radha-Krishna Deities. Balavanta: Damodara had a set of Deities that he was going to install in Washington, but his temple was not growing as quickly as this organization, so they arranged to obtain those Deities. They had the idea to install Them in one of the buses. They wrote to Prabhupada whether they could install the Deities. There was a question whether They could be installed at all in a non-permanent moving situation.

When a blue aerogram suddenly arrives from Calcutta one morning, Kirtanananda gathers everyone together to read it aloud. My Dear Kirtanananda Maharaja, Vrindaban Chandra, and Silavati, I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters just now received by me here in Calcutta and describing your plans for traveling sankirtana party, and it is very much encouraging news for me. Silavati Prabhu said that this was her long cherished dream. It has been mine also. If there were three or four such traveling parties, it would be a grand scale propaganda. So do it with great enthusiasm, and surely you will have the blessings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And wherever you go, if there is good response you can try and open a center there. This is first class scheme and surely will be "The Greatest Show on Earth." So far Vishnujana Maharaja joining your party, that is super-excellent idea. Already, at your request, I have written him one letter to the San Antonio address, that he has my full-hearted blessings for joining the party. Plays will be very successful and Vrindaban Chandra is very expert in this connection. One thing, though, is that nice plays should be written for showing in the villages. The plays should be done seriously so that they will not laugh. And Krishna has made Himself available in the form of very nice brass Murtis from Washington, DC. It is not necessary also that Lord Jagannath come along. Sometimes He is misunderstood also. The Deities can be installed in a temple and then taken for traveling. That will be best. Letter dated November 6, 1971 Everyone is overjoyed.

Prabhupada has given sanction for Radha and Krishna to travel on the bus. And he has enthusiastically endorsed Vishnujana Swami's participation. After securing Prabhupada's blessings, every devotee becomes excited about the traveling program. A week later another letter arrives confirming that these Radha-Krishna Deities can travel by bus. This is a unique occurrence in Vaishnava history, but Prabhupada gives his full support. Everyone feels that the Deities are as enthusiastic about the traveling party as the devotees. Yes, you may take the 32" brass Deities, along with throne and paraphernalia on your tour of many States, and in this way try very nicely to reveal to everyone everywhere you go the ecstasy of arcana worship...I am very much pleased by this traveling sankirtana program. Kindly execute it nicely, and sell as many books and magazines as possible, so that by reading Krishna philosophy, and by seeing you, they will become fully convinced. Letter to Kirtanananda Maharaja, November 12, 1971 Kirtanananda wants to have a grand ceremony for Radha-Krishna's installation. The temple devotees are eager to help make arrangements for the event. This is something completely new for them. The New Vrindavana devotees have already witnessed the installation of Radha-Vrindavana Chandra on Janmashtami, but they are also attached to the traveling Deities and equally excited about Their installation. Of course, no one is as thrilled as Silavati, who spends almost every waking hour tending to Their service. No one is yet aware that they are receiving the benediction of the beloved Deities of Srila Jiva Goswami, Sri Sri Radha-Damodara, who always seem to appear on the scene at significant moments in Vaishnava history.

Kirtanananda wants to have the Deity installation outdoors. The weather in Atlanta is still warm and sunny, just perfect for an outdoor festival. These Deities are practically living outside anyway. An effort is made to attract the media. A few days before the big event, three yellow school buses pull up in front of the 13th Street temple. As Kuladri and company jump out of their vehicles, they are welcomed back with the exciting news of the Deity installation. Also arriving just in time for the ceremony is Narada Muni dasa. He wasn't given permission to leave New Vrindavana initially, but after agreeing to a deal, the temple authorities finally gave their consent. Balavanta: Radha-Damodara were installed in the front yard of the Atlanta temple. Kirtanananda did the abhisheka ceremony, with Silavati overseeing everything. Kirtanananda and Silavati were about ten years older than the average devotee at the time. As far as we were concerned, they were very mature. Being older, they kept to themselves. Bhavatarini devi dasi: We had a huge feast with two hundred preparations. The TV stations came because my cousin was the Mayor. So Their installation was televised. That was one of the things the Deities really seemed to enjoy. They seemed to smile bigger when They were on TV. With the outdoor installation of Radha-Damodara being televised, and with Prabhupada's sanction that Their temple be in a moving bus so that They can travel all over America, Kirtanananda Swami decides to name the Road Show program, "Every Town and Village." The understanding that these are extraordinary Deities will gradually unfold, as They reveal their purpose and mission through Their pastimes.

Although the Road Show is still in an infant stage, the devotees have some very creative ideas. Encouraged by the potential, Toshana Krishna begins selling it as an amazing show. One club agrees to hire them, expecting an incredible program, but it turns out to be just Hare Krishna devotees with shaved heads singing a few songs and then getting people to chant along during kirtan. Radha-Damodara are always on stage, and Silavati always fans Them with a peacock fan. Toshana is doing such a good job at booking that Kirtanananda realizes the show has to evolve into something much more substantial. Gradually, it develops into a more sophisticated presentation with songs, a play, and chanting as the finale. Lambhodara: Mangalananda had an idea, and Vrindavana Chandra and I came up with lyrics and an outline of a play depicting the beginning of Kali-yuga. We put a little show together, "The Age of Kali," which was mostly the brain child of Vrindavana Chandra. I played various characters, mostly Dharma, the bull. I'm a big black guy, so I made a good Dharma, the bull. We were going to schools, old age homes, night clubs; anybody who would take us. Word starts getting around the Southern temples about Kirtanananda Swami and his Road Show extravaganza.

Bhagavat wants to take advantage of Kirtanananda's presence in the area. He books a speaking engagement at the University in Tallahassee and phones Kirtanananda Maharaja with the good news. "I've got a $250 donation from Florida State University for you to come and give a lecture on Krishna consciousness." "All right, I'll come," Maharaja replies. "I appreciate that you've done this. I'm very impressed. But I want you to do something else. See if you can get some more engagements." Bhagavat: So I went to the radio station at the college and got an interview on college radio. Then I went to the TV station and got him on a religious program. Then I got another religious program on a TV station in Gainesville, and another one in Jacksonville. So I got three TV engagements. I thought he was coming alone, but he came with Vrindavana Chandra, Mangalananda, and a whole group. Kirtanananda wants to try out the show at colleges, so he gathers the creative nucleus of the group and drives off in the Chevy van to do the engagements in Florida. Harikesa is left in charge of getting the buses ready to transport the devotees South for the winter. First, he takes out all the seats from every bus. For the ashram bus he builds a false floor so that books and magazines, musical instruments, and other paraphernalia can be stored underneath and devotees can take rest on top. As a result, nobody can stand up in that bus. Radha-Damodara's temple bus is easier. It's simply an open space, nicely decorated, with the Deities traveling altar at the far end. All the Deity paraphernalia is stored behind the altar. Meanwhile, the devotee van arrives in Tallahassee without Radha-Damodara. The program is still in an embryonic state.

Rupa Vilasa: The Road Show came through in a van with an idea to put on dramas. They were rehearsing songs and dramas and talking about their plans to expand it. Mangalananda was composing music with his guitar. They also had a black devotee [Lambhodara], and Kuladri was driving. We did a big kirtan outside the Student Union Building at Florida State University-our temple and the Road Show people. Then they put on the "Age of Kali" play. Chandrika was dressed up as the cow with a cow's head on, and she came running into the Student Union cafeteria chased by somebody dressed as Kali. She began to cry out, "Please, don't eat me. Please, please, don't eat me," in front of the student's taking their lunch. Then they performed this drama against meat-eating. The students were stunned but quite amused that people were bursting into street theatre in the middle of the cafeteria. Kirtanananda Swami gave some lectures around the University. They were received at FSU with curiosity and some real interest. More people started coming to our feasts. We had three feasts a week; one on Sunday, and two on campus during the week, so more people started showing up. Kirtanananda addressed full classrooms and, at one point, a whole assembly hall full of students. He was very impressive in terms of his delivery and his understanding.

After a successful week in Tallahassee, the party returns to Atlanta. Kirtanananda notices at once that the whole street in front of the temple is taken up by Road Show vehicles. With four buses, a tie-dye motor home, the Chevy van and a couple of cars, along with dozens of devotees, Maharaja realizes that his welcome at the temple is nearing its end. When Bhagavat invites them to spend the winter in Tampa, he at once agrees. The next morning, as the bus engines rev up, the temple kirtan party bids farewell to the Road Show caravan. Leaving with them are many new additions to the program, including Bhavatarini. She is not only a good singer but wants to associate with Silavati. Kirtanananda Swami requests Balavanta to forward any letters that may come from Prabhupada. As the motorcade rolls out of town heading South, only Zubin's vehicle remains behind. Zubin: When I went back to get more buses, I left my motor-home with Lambhodara. I said, "I have leaking oil, so please be sure to check the oil if you're going to move it. Otherwise, just keep it there until I get back." And they didn't check the oil. Everybody was so spiritualized they couldn't deal with the material world. Enchanted with the spiritual nectar, I should say. So they blew my engine and just left it there along with everything I owned. I had to wait two weeks to get it fixed. I was a little upset by the negligence of my vehicle. I was trying to serve them, but they didn't put any energy into maintaining it.