Liquid-Gold Mine Discovered

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With the Chinese New Year gone by, it is expected that the sun will scorch the land for a few months at a stretch in this part of the world. That means we have a challenge. In our 4-acre farm, around 2 acres of land is used for farming various types of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Needless to say, that requires a lot of water.

We got an idea. The land adjacent to our farm has a large water body which extends beyond the boundary of that land and occupies parts of two other plots of land. Upon Sundar Gopal Prabhu’s suggestion, on the 9^th of February, 2011, we bought a pump to suck the water from that pool for our irrigation purposes.

After we bought the pump, we went near the location where we wanted to place the pump and extend the suction pipe into the water body. Little did we expect that we were in for a big surprise!

As we went to the point a little inside the boundary of the farm where we wanted to place the pump, we saw a small underground stream percolating out from a hole in the land. The water is crystal clear. We even drank the water. This water has been going to the big lake in the adjacent plot of land.

By Krishna’s mercy, the Malaya Giri Dham houses its very own natural spring! All our irrigation problems will be solved if we hold this water. We wanted to test it out. We made a small trench in the path of the stream and when water accumulated there, we used the pump to suck that water in and use it for watering the crops.

It was a huge success! That evening, Sundar Gopal Prabhu called the contractor and we surveyed the place. On the 12^th of Feb, the bull dozer was called in to dig at the site. As of now, the well is being constructed. It is expected to be completed by the middle of March.

Hare Krishna!

 

An Invitation To All Prabhupadanugas

Humbly requesting the attention of all sincere devotees of Srila Prabhupada,

We, at Malaya Giri Dham, the only Hare Krishna farm community in Malaysia, being a strictly Prabhupadanuga community, would like to invite like-minded Prabhupadanugas to come and stay for life and engage in positive service to Srila Prabhupada and engage in preaching activities in the region of South-East Asia (if not farther).

Some salient features of the farm are as follows:

• 4-acre freehold land completely owned by our society, Sri Krishna Mandir.
• Replete with full infrastructure – temple building, guest house, ashram for full-time devotees, goshala (2 cows & 2 calves), auditorium for festivals, fruit orchard, flower garden and vegetable farm – all completely organic.
• Conducive Association – Strict daily morning program as enunciated by Srila Prabhupada, strict principles, friendly devotees.
• Regular Deity Worship of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai.
• Serene Atmosphere – Hilly region, surrounded by greenery, moderate temperature – mode of goodness.
• 10-minute drive from the Kota Tinggi town. 30-minute drive from the famous Kota Tinggi waterfalls.

Now that the infrastructure is up, we are planning to make this farm as the hub for many devotional activities such as travelling preaching parties in and around Malaysia and the whole of South-East Asia, retirement facility for elderly devotees, Gurukula, cow protection, organic farming and Food For Life.

Please visit https://malayagiridham.wordpress.com for the latest news on developments at the Malaya Giri Dham.

If you are interested to join in the expansion of the real Hare Krishna movement, please write to us at malayagiridham@gmail.com.

The First Ratha Yatra

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The Malaya Giri Dham project is going leaps and bounds ahead with the latest development being the first Jagannatha Ratha Yatra! It is quite interesting to know how it became possible.

The original plan was to hold a Ratha Yatra in Klang on the 25^th of December, 2010. Saci Suta Prabhu along with some Malaysian devotees went on an Indian tour from, if I am not wrong, on the 2^nd of December to supposedly the 22^nd of December. But, there was an unfortunate turn of events. Owing to the heavy journey and the intense cold , Saci Suta Prabhu suffered severely. His old back problem aggravated so much that he had to move only on a wheel chair. They came back on the 17^th of December and Saci Suta Prabhu was immediately admitted into a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The doctors informed the devotees there that he would not be able to move for at least 6 weeks and that an operation might be necessary.

It was definitely a setback. That meant that the Klang Ratha Yatra would have to be postponed if not cancelled. The Ratha, or the chariot, which was supposed to carry Their Lordships, was at the farm all the while.

On the Dec 21^st, Monday, 4 days before the scheduled Ratha Yatra, it was confirmed that the Ratha Yatra would not take place. So in the evening of Monday, at around 5:30 pm, as we were in the office of the Singapore temple, we got a call from the farm. Sundar Gopal Prabhu declared that we were going to have a Ratha Yatra in Taman Kota Jaya, an Indian township near Kota Tinggi on the 25^th of December. We thought that it was just an enthusiastic suggestion that would never materialize. But Prabhu was absolutely serious. Prahlada Prabhu and Vraja Kisora Prabhu were sent there to create awareness around the area. Sundar Gopal Prabhu even managed to get Mr. Mahil Vahanam, the leading resident of the township, as the Chief Guest for the festival. Apart from the propaganda, there were some important repairs to be done to the chariot itself. Prabhu managed all this perfectly within the time limit.

The chariot was moved to the venue early in the morning of December 25^th. It was rigged up by Mahaprabhu and Vraja Kisora Prabhu. The Bhoga was cooked for Their Lordships by Mathura Madhusudana Prabhu and Bhakta Ramesh. The whole ride lasted about 3 hours from 7pm to 10 pm. After that we had a sumptuous Prasadam feast.

Mr. Mahil Vahanam was actually supposed to leave 30 minutes after the festival commenced to give his yoga class as he is a yoga teacher but he liked the kirtan and the procession so much that he stayed all the way. He cancelled his yoga class, called all his students to the Ratha Yatra and they all danced to the Hare Krishna kirtan. Indeed, he later commented that he was simply amazed at how we organized a festival of such magnitude in such a short time.

It was a grand success! We were simply amazed at the dynamism and spiritual strength of Sundar Gopal Prabhu. Unless one is spiritually powerful, one cannot sit in a remote farm and organize a grand festival for the pleasure of Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva & Subhadra!

We pray to Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi for the early recovery of His Grace Saci Suta Prabhu so that we can have a grand Ratha Yatra in Klang and in Johor Bahru.

Jaya Jagannatha! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krishna!

Farming Takes Off

Hare Krishna!

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Dear devotees, well-wishers and friends,

We have recently started to cultivate our land for planting vegetables and fruit trees. We have now planted vegetables like brinjal, okras, various kind of gourds, beans, corn, tapioca, sugar cane, bananas, ground nuts, various kind of spinach, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, chikoos, various kinds of lemon trees, longgan ,mangoes, jackfruit, and neem.

We have also planted various flowering plants like jasmine, rose, campaka, frangipani, marigold and Tulasi.

Some of the flowering plants like jasmine have already started to flower and some lime trees have also stared to bear fruits.

It is very amazing to see how the whole place is now being transformed to a very big garden with all sorts of fruit trees and vegetables. We expect the vegetables to fully mature very shortly, i.e. within the next month or so. As for the fruit trees, since most of them are grated trees we expect them to bear fruits in a year or so.

Sri Krishna Mandir is now opening invitations to all devotees, well wishers, friends and donors to plant a fruit tree on our land either in celebration of a birthday, marriage, etc or even in remembrance of someone very dear. The price is only $101/- for any tree of your choice.

We would like to thank Sriman Ravi and Arjuna Prabhu who have donated two mango trees during their recent stay at Malaya Giri Dham.

 

Prelude To Farming

Hare Krishna!

The speed at which Sundar Gopal Prabhu is working is amazing. Just last Sunday, we had a big Govardhana Puja festival and many devotees witnessed and appreciated the progress the farm has made in the last 6 months or so. They were pleasantly surprised at the changes since the Boat festival in September.

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As if that was not enough, two days later, the farm sports a whole new look. The entire land was ploughed for farming. I was surprised when I went there on Wednesday morning to pick up Prabhu for the Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day festival at Singapore Sri Krishna Mandir. Well, the pictures speak for themselves.

Hare Krishna!

A Fabulous Govardhan Puja

Hare Krishna!

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Back after a long break – with a bang! For the past one month, Sundar Gopal Prabhu has been practically alone at the farm-temple. Dynamic that he is, a lot of interesting developments took place. The kitchen was extended and tiled flooring was laid down for the same. A new big stove added to the charm. So now, cooking for big festivals will be no problem as was evinced during the Govardhan Puja. We’ll come to this festival after a while.

Other developments include gorgeous tiling of the temple room and the altar. The temple room looks classy now! All the guest rooms were furnished with double-decker cots and mattresses.

Apart from the building, all the thick long grass that was spread out at the back of the farm was uprooted using a bull-dozer. Farming will commence soon. We are planning to farm a variety of vegetables there.

All that culminated in a very successful Govardhan Puja on the 7th of Nov, 2010. We organized two vans to ferry about 30 devotees from Singapore. It was a two-day one-night package tour for the devotees. So there was a total attendance of more than 50 devotees for the festival. Quite a number for a remote farm! This was the first time in the history of Sri Krishna Mandir that we did go-puja (cow puja) with our very own cows! That’s a remarkable achievement! Since Lord Krishna is the well wisher of the cows and brahmanas, we are sure that He is most pleased with this endeavor.

At about 11:00 am, we had the go-puja done and from 12:15pm to 1pm, we had Govardhan puja following which all the devotees had sumptuous prasadam. At 3pm, the Singaporean devotees left for Singapore in the two vans.

The real intention of the tour was that we wanted to give the Singaporeans a chance to get out of their urban lifestyle at least for 2 days and most importantly attend the full morning program which includes Mangala-arati at 5am, chanting japa along with the devotees, Darsana-Arati, Srimad Bhagavatam class and breakfast Prasadam.

This solid program keeps one above the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. Then one can appreciate real transcendental life. Once one gets a taste for serious Krishna consciousness, one will be able to give up one’s affinity for deep-rooted materialistic life.

We feel very encouraged to hear from the people who participated when they appreciate the experience of a devotee lifestyle. The importance of the Malaya Giri Dham project is becoming more evident day by day.

So we would like to take this opportunity to extend special thanks to Sundar Gopal Prabhu who worked single-handedly and relentlessly on this project despite many inconveniences. We would like to also extend our thanks to Raghupati Prabhu for arranging the devotees’ transportation from Singapore to the farm and back. Our special thanks to all the Matajis headed by Candralatika Mataji and Gandhini Mataji for the nectarean Prasadam.

Thank you!

Hare Krishna!

Temple Hall Sports A Beautiful New Look!

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‘Food For Life’ Kicks Off At MGD!

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Food For Life, posted with vodpod

Now that the infrastructure is up, the next thing is preaching. We are glad to inform you that we have already started our preaching activities also. We approached the schools in the vicinity to ask if they would want us to provide them free mid-day meals for the poor children as part of our Food For Life program. They extended us a very warm welcome and very much appreciated the idea. Some of our friends in the surrounding areas are also coming forward to help in whatever best way they can. At the moment we are feeding 50 children, twice a week. Our target is to feed as many as 500 children, all five working days of the week within the next few months. So the necessary arrangements are being made and the kitchen is also being equipped will all the necessary equipments for the large-scale cooking.

Cowshed’s up and functioning!

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cowshed, posted with vodpod

Within just a matter of two weeks, a proper cowshed has been built according to the master plan and the cows have now been moved to the cowshed. They are kept in the cowshed during the night and taken out for grazing during the day. There they have facilities for water and other requirements have also been taken care of. Everyday we would nice clean it and lay some grass for the cows to lye on. They seem extremely comfortable in their new home.

The Cows Make A Touchdown!

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Cows Make A Touchdown, posted with vodpod

Two beautiful cows – Yasoda and Rohini made their arrival in the farm on Sunday, the 5^th of September which happened to be the auspicious day of ekadasi. They were there well before time for the grand festival that was organized last month. All the devotees who were present for the festival were overjoyed to see the cows who had been eagerly waiting for their arrival. The cows have brought about a very pleasant atmosphere. Both the cows have one calf each – Krihsna and Balaram and they seem extremely happy and comfortable in the farm. The cows were donated by some of the devotees in Malaysia.

Although they took a while to get accustomed to the new place, the cows have now become extremely friendly with the devotees and are greatly satisfied with the wonderful facilities given to them. At the time of the festival, they were being tied to the trees as the building, which initially started off as the shed to accommodate the cows was made necessary alterations and utilized as a function hall for the festival, which was perfectly suitable for the purpose. Therefore it was decided later on, even due to some other reasons, that this particular shed be permanently used as a function hall for the big festivals that are going to be hosted hereafter. Therefore there was a dire need for a proper shelter for the cows with necessary facilities. So work immediately commenced and within no time, the shed was ready.