Mayapur, A Spiritual City

T he G anges flows from the H imalayas , eternal as time, and nearly as powerful. Even though all rivers are holy in their own way, a gift from God to maintain the life of His child­ ren, the Ganges has rightfully achieved fame as an espe­ cially sacred current in the history, religion, and everyday life of the people of India. As it travels across the land, it branches out, creating new rivers and streams, receiving its tribute of water from other rivers in return. In this way the Ganges, in her perpetual flow, is constantly giving and receiving for the benefit of all. About 135 km north of Kolkata, Mother Ganges flows through the lush West Bengal countryside. Past villages of mud huts perched on her banks, past glistening fields of rice, wheat and vegetables, past grace­ ful palm and mango trees, she arrives at a point of confluence with the Jalangi river. At their junction, one can see the blue-green water of Jalangi swirling through the golden Ganga, their currents as distinct from eachother as words on paper. They then become one river, flow­ ing on to Kolkata, and then beyond to the bay of Bengal. The Jalangi and the Ganges form their boundaries of another point of confluence, this time on land, and perhaps even more powerful than that of two rivers. Sri Mayapur Dham is a small town in the district of Nadia, in the state of West Bengal. To the casual observer, Sri Mayapur is an obscure little pilgrimage town. But history has shown that Sri Mayapur is a place of extraordinary encounters - between history and progress, spirit and matter, nature and humanity, Sri Mayapur itself and the world beyond. Like the Ganges, Sri Mayapur has given much - unique historical and spiritual gifts to the world that few are aware of. The International Socie­ ty for Krishna Consciousness, through its head-quartars in Sri Mayapur, has worked ceaselessly for nearly 40 years to share these gifts with the people of India and the world - sharing the divine love that flows through Sri Mayapur from the spiritual realm to the rest of the world. Through Sri Dham Mayapur the Hare Krishna movement seeks to in­ crease that flow. For this current of love to reach all who thirst for it, we must join our own love to it, just as the Jalangi joins the Ganges. This confluence of love will then flow beyond Mayapur, sprea d throughout India, and eventually innundate the rest of the world.

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