Initiation with beautiful scenery at New Mayapur, 1976.

Hari Sauri: In New Mayapur, August of 1976, after installation of Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Deities, Bhagavan Prabhu suggested that instead of waiting for the Deities to be dressed, which could be some time, Srila Prabhupada could instead do the initiations. So, followed by all the devotees, Prabhupada went to the grass field next to the Chateau, opposite his sitting room window. A sacrificial pit had been set up beneath the spreading arms of a large oak tree.

Wreathed in brilliant marigolds, Prabhupada sat on his high-backed palanquin which now substituted as an asana, its brilliant red satin cloth forming a canopy over his head to ward off the sun. The forty or fifty initiates sat in two lines in front of him, ladies to one side of the yajna arena, men on the other, and the rest of the devotees stood behind them. The scene was full of natural opulence, with trees and grassy pastures perfectly setting off the fruits, flowers and peacock feather decorations.

Multilingual Guru-gauranga Prabhu, an American, made announcements and gave instructions in five languages, as devotees came forward to receive their beads and their spiritual names.