Sankirtana during the summer solstice at Stonehenge

Ratha Yatra

While at Bhaktivedanta Manor, I heard about devotees going to Stonehenge for the summer solstice to do harinama and distribute prasada and books – leaving at about ten p.m. and getting back at 10 the next morning – an all-nighter. I still have an adventurous spirit, so I decided to go. Some of you know that I take rest early and wake up before two to chant my rounds. Well, I threw my regulation out the window to give some of Prabhupada's mercy to the people at Stonehenge. It is said, "Life begins when we step out of our comfort zone." Or as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says, "If one has life he will preach."

I started distributing at midnight and met many nice people who found Srila Prabhupada's books interesting, and thus started their journey home. One man was from Taipei, Taiwan. He came all the way from the Pacific to experience the solstice at Stonehenge in England, and little did he know that more important than that was his getting his own Bhagavad-gita. There were 30,000 people at Stonehenge, one of the most mysterious ancient monuments in the world, and three of us distributed books, so a good number of books went out.

Not many devotees know about the only Ratha-yatra worldwide that begins at midnight every year at Stonehenge. Along with that, there was constant, free prasada distribution and the world-famous Harinama Ruci doing harinama the whole time, about 8 hours. By the time we left we were all inspired seeing all of the people benefiting from their contact with Krsna, but we were also tired.

Attached is a picture of the Ratha cart and Harimana Ruci just before sunrise.

Your servant,
Vijaya Dasa
www.iskconbookdistribution.com

Sankirtana

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