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Puspa Abhisheka Festival

The Portland devotees are busy organizing the Puspa Abhisheka Festival, which will be celebrated on New Year's eve. Among the devotees helping with the organization are Dina Bandhu and Akuti, who had last seen Vishnujana Maharaja when he was still at the tiny four-plex in San Antonio. They both feel that the festival will be a tremendous success if Vishnujana Swami comes to lead kirtan and lecture. Danavir dasa is now the temple president, having moved up to Portland earlier in the year. In full agreement with Dina Bandhu, Danavir at once calls Vishnujana in Texas. Maharaja replies that he would love to come if Srila Prabhupada gives his sanction. Immediately Danavir sends off a letter to Delhi. The reply is not long in coming. I am very pleased that you are making arrangements for the 1st ANNUAL PUSPABHISHEKA YATRA PARADE AND FESTIVAL, 1971, and if he is free to come, Vishnujana Swami may come to lead the kirtan and preaching. That is a good proposal. Krishna was just a toy in the hands of the gopis, so one day the gopis decided that we shall decorate Him. Puspabhisheka means a ceremony to decorate the Deity profusely with flowers, ornaments, cloths. After there should be lavish feasting and a procession through the streets, so that all the citizens should see how beautiful Krishna appears. Letter to Danavir, November 20, 1971 Because it is winter, the program will be held indoors at Portland State University. Danavir has rented the auditorium for the evening with the idea that many students who live on campus will attend. He prints up and distributes flyers outside the hall for days in advance. Devotees arrive in Portland from all over the Northwest Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, and Edmonton to help celebrate the festival. Vishnujana Maharaja soon arrives, and taking full advantage of his presence, everyone is eager to go out on sankirtana. Danavir: We went out with him to distribute door to door and he had a very unique method. He would walk up to the door with both hands full. In one hand he'd have a poster hanging, and in the other hand he'd have books. When they answered the door, he would tell them about Krishna. That was his way of going door to door, selling posters and books.

Jambavati devi dasi: A lot of devotees were there, and I had come down from Seattle. It was in the middle of winter and we couldn't get any fresh flowers, so we stayed up all night making tissue paper flowers in different colors. We had a few real ones but the majority were made from tissue paper. We had a big arati and offering to the Deities up on the stage in the auditorium. Vishnujana Maharaja recognized me as the one he had preached to in LA. When he passed me in the temple he asked how I was doing and where I was serving. I was amazed that, even though he was a sannyasi, he would still speak with me. I very much appreciated that he was friendly and he didn't ignore me just because he took sannyasa. For the night of the festival, twenty five-gallon barrels of prasadam are prepared. Unfortunately, only two guests come, even though devotees have distributed thousands of fliers. Undaunted, Vishnujana chants enthusiastically, circumambulating the room with a life-size painting of Lord Caitanya which he holds up on a long pole. All the devotees follow behind him like a train, chanting away with unbridled energy. Later, Vishnujana sits on stage with his harmonium, leading all the devotees in singing bhajans. Although the turnout is less than expected, everyone has a good time, and the younger devotees get the opportunity to associate with a senior Vaishnava sannyasi. Radha-Damodara dasa: I gave Vishnujana a small bottle of Spiritual Sky oil, and he told me, "Once when I was just a big hippie, this was all I had to give to Srila Prabhupada, a couple of bottles of essential oil. It wasn't Spiritual Sky. Later, I was told that Srila Prabhupada used to keep the oils in a drawer in his room. Once in a while he would take them out of the drawer, open them up, and smell the fragrance. This is how Srila Prabhupada loves his devotees."



Reference: Radha Damodara Vilasa by Vaiyasaki Dasa