Tonight marks one of the biggest festivals of the year for Toronto’s Hare Krishna community! Govardhana Puja, also known as the “Sweet Hill Festival” marks the occasion when Lord Krishna lifted an entire hill like an umbrella to protect the residents of his village from torrential thunderstorms sent by the angered demigod, Indra (read more by clicking here).
To celebrate this festival, we build a replica of Govardhana Hill made of various opulent foods, worship Lord Krishna as the lifter of Govardhana Hill, worship the hill as His incarnation, and worship the cows and bulls who are dear to the Lord. At the end of the festival, the hill of sweets is distributed to the public.
Festivities will kick off at 6pm (sharp!) and will continue until 9pm. Toronto’s Hare Krishna temple will be welcoming HH Bhakti Vasudeva Swami and will be welcome home HH Bhaktimarga Swami! The schedule for the program will be as follows (subject to change):
6:00pm to 6:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:40pm – Welcome & Announcements
6:40pm to 7:30pm – Class
7:30pm to 8:00pm – Special Presentation
8:00pm to 8:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm to 8:45pm – Damodarastakam
8:45pm to 9:30pm – Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)