Surrounded by dense forests in the midst of a highland area called Fruska Gora, the Serbian Summer camp took place last week (7 – 15 July 2012). Due to the name of the place, Sacinandana Maharaja playfully called the camp “Fruska Goranga”. The camp is already a tradition as it has taken place for many consecutive years now and many great devotees participated such as HH Bir Krsna Maharaja, HH Sacinandana Maharaja, HH Jayapataka Maharaja, HH Dhanavir Goswami, HH Prahladanandana Maharaja, HH Bhakti Vaibhava Maharaja, HG Krsna Ksetra Prabhu and of course HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaja.
Kadamba Kanana Maharaja arrived at the camp on Monday (9 July) and stayed until Friday (13 July). The highlight of the festival was a Ratha Yatra celebration that took place in a close-by town called Novi Sad on Wednesday (11 July) . Not only was it the first Ratha Yatra ever held in there but actually it was the first time ever that Lord Jagannatha mounted a chariot in the whole of Serbia. Three television companies and a local newspaper reported on the event the next day, calling it a “Chariot Festival”, and very positively described it. The people in Novi Sad also showed a lot of appreciation for the parade as many joined in the dancing and singing. Enthusiastic kirtanas were led by Sacinandana Maharaja, Bhakti Vaibhava Maharaja, Krsna Ksetra Prabhu and Kadamba Kanana Swami.
Next day’s schedule consisted of 12 hours of kirtana. The spirit was ecstatic since all the devotees were still very enthused from the previous day’s preaching activity. Maharaja’s evening slot was a typical rocking KKS kirtana which got all the devotees on their feet and dancing, and it was followed by meditational tunes by Sacinandana Maharaja.
On three occasions Maharaja gave morning Bhagavatam classes. The first two classes focused on practical application of spiritual life in our everyday practices and contained useful principles for keeping our devotional lives steady. In the final class, which was given on Friday just before leaving the camp, he spoke on the Caitanya Caritamrita, creating a relaxed mood by telling many biographical stories of himself and other devotees in connection to the early days of ISKCON.
It was an inspiring spiritual adventure, blessed by beautiful weather and sweet devotees.
If you cannot view the slide show below, just visit flickr!
And here is another slideshow from Nama Rupa, Sweden. If you cannot view the slide show below then view it online.
