By Mathura Lilesvari Devi Dasi
Thaipusam is a festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. The festival commemorates the occasion when Mother Parvati gave Lord Skanda a Vel “spear” so he could vanquish the daityasura Soorapadman. Thaipusam is a public holiday in Malaysia.
Thousands of Hindus gather every year at various temples nationwide to celebrate Thaipusam. ISKCON Malaysia has stamped our presence at these temples every year since the late 80s. In Kuala Lumpur the festival is celebrated in a grand manner at Batu Caves which is likened to Palani Malai in Tamil Nadu.
The Skanda Temple committee invite vendors to set up booths selling various things ranging from Indian sweets to Indian attire. Close to 150 business take the opportunity to earn some profit in a place where a large gathering of their target audience is gathered.
ISKCON Malaysia National Headquarters – Sri Jagannath Mandir Kuala Lumpur (SJMKL) too rented a booth selling Srila Prabupada’s books and devotional paraphernalia. We are the only booth which was there to spread the message of love of Godhead.
Temple President, HG Kripa Sindhu Krishna das said, “Malaysia is a great place as we have the opportunity to participate in various festivals like this that enables us to share Krishna Consciousness with the masses in one place. This also provides a platform for members of our temple who are mostly working grhastas to get the taste of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s book. This year we saw a very encouraging turn out by the devotees who were inspired to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of ISKCON. I wish to thank all of them for their sincere efforts” he added.
It is the hope of the devotees that more and more souls are benefited from reading Srila Prabhupada’s book and that their small endeavor brings people closer to self-realization.
The booth successfully distributed more than 1000 books including 3 Srimad Bhagavatam sets and 230 Bhagavad Gitas.
Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18937
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