Jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me:
"O Lord of the Universe, kindly be visible unto me."
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Srila Prabhupada's father, Gour Mohan De, taught his son how to worship the Deities of Radha and Krishna. Srila Prabhupada describes this with great affection in the dedication to his Krishna Book:
"To My Father, Gour Mohan De (1849-1930), a pure devotee of Krishna, who raised me as a Krishna conscious child from the beginning of my life. In my boyhood ages he instructed me how to play the mrdanga. He gave me Radha-Krishna Vigraha to worship, and he gave me Jagannatha-Ratha to duly observe the festival as my childhood play. He was kind to me, and I imbibed from him the ideas later on solidified by my spiritual master, the eternal father."
As a small child, Srila Prabhupada worshiped his beloved Deities, Sri Sri Radha Govinda, and he also re-enacted the Jagannatha procession of Rathayatra in his childhood play at the tender age of five years old. Later in life, Srila Prabhupada introduced the authorized worship of the arca-vigraha (or Deity form) of the Lord in many temples around the world. Official worship of Lord Jagannatha began in San Francisco which was christened with the spiritual name, New Jagannatha Puri, after the original Jagannatha Puri in Orissa, India, where the worship of the Deity form of Lord Jagannatha has been going on since at least medieval times.
In this particular video, you'll witness the building of the Jagannatha carts (or cars) by the original San Francisco devotees, headed by Shyamasundar Prabhu and Jayananda Prabhu, who primarily made it his life's service to lead and organize Rathayatra Festivals in pursuance of Srila Prabhupada's desire to see this glorious festival in honor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Jagannatha, performed in major cities all over the world. In fact, it's still going on throughout the world today. In this rare video you'll witness a major part of Rathayatra history enacted in its humble yet sincere beginnings in the Western world.
All glories to Lord Jagannatha!
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