Chandan yatra to be celebrated in ISKCON Mayapur from tomorrow

Devotees of ISKCON Mayapur will begin celebrations of Chandan yatra festival at Sridam Mayapur Chandradaya temple, starting tomorrow.
Devotees from all corners of the world are expected to turn up in large numbers to get an opportunity to grind the chandan (sandalwood), which is used as a paste to smear over Radha Madhav, a release issued today by ISKCON said.
For the next 21 days, a large procession, carrying deities on a palanquin will be taken out within the campus in the evening where thousands of devotees will sing and dance.
The deities will be placed on a decorated boat and will be taken out for a ride in the pond.

During this time various pastimes of Krishna - Rasa Leela, Govardhan Leela, Aghasura Vad, Gajendra Uddhara and others will be depicted in the temple. Large quantities of delicious prasadam like cakes, sweet rice, laddoos, halua, pakoras will be distributed everyday, it said.
As per the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, Chandan yatra is being celebrated for almost 700 years when Krishna in Vrindavan instructed his devotee Madhvendra Puri to fetch Malaya Chandan, make paste of it and smear it over the deity of Gopal to get relief from the heat.