Open in App
Open in App

February 19, 1973 : Auckland

Kurma: Prabhupada had said on a number of occasions that he travelled to keep his devotees spiritually alive. Despite sometimes saying that he would come and stay in one place for an extended period to write, he would feel compelled to regularly travel to oversee the growth and maintenance of his Krishna consciousness mission. Now he was moving on to Auckland, established one year before in 1972. Srila Prabhupada felt that his time was limited and he desired to strengthen the New Zealand yatra so they would go on in his absence.

The devotees exuberantly danced and chanted alongside Srila Prabhupada as they accompanied him down the corridors of Sydney airport. They sat with him in the departure lounge until it was time for him to board. Then, abandoning decorum and chanting wildly, the devotees raced to the observation deck as the jet exhaust blasted, and the plane taxied out onto the runway. The devotees continued to chant Hare Krishna until the plane left the ground, became a speck in the sky, and then disappeared.

67 Gribblehirst Road, Mount Albert

A new temple had been purchased since Prabhupada's last visit to Auckland. The large two-story house, not far from the original place in Mount Eden, was surrounded by neat lawns and a garden that included guava and lemon trees. As usual, the entire building had been cleaned and repainted before Prabhupada's arrival. A large group of devotees met Prabhupada at the airport with an ecstatic kirtana, and then raced back to join TV news crews for another joyous greeting at the temple. After a short arrival address, Prabhupada retired to his room.


Reference: The Great Transcendental Adventure - Kurma Dasa