The Harinam party of ISKCON Mayapur goes out chanting. It's been doing so for three to four hours every day since March 2006. Every week and every month of every year. Besides singing from village to village in the greater Navatwip area, once a week or so it also carries by rickshaw and occasionally by boat enormous spots of hot kitchery after it has been religiously offered to Lord Krishna.

This Prasad as it is called coupled with the sweet singing of God's holy names will certainly please the hearts the tongues and stomachs of today's scheduled villages. This young singer is Nitai Priyadas, a PLS Kirtan leader, the son of African-born Shastra Das, here on the right. Together with a handful of international converts to India's devotional path, they've kept the flow to this program on both sides of the Ganges River like a God-given mission. The jolly boatload alights some 20 minutes downstream to the greetings and excitement of their hosts, who paradoxically will be the ones treated to dinner tonight.

Khichdi is India's staple food, a mixture of rice, dal, vegetables, not to forget the hot chilies, lots of them. around Maya beings no matter how low or poor are described in holy scripture as special beings serving them is said to be very pleasing to God this place is where the now worldwide food for life charity started in answer to the urgent call of Iskans founder Sheila Prabhupada no one should go hungry within 10 miles of Mayapur, he said. While realizing that the sound of God's holy name is more easily appreciated on a full stomach, ISKCON officially created the Naga Sankirtan Department in 2007, which currently engages 26 full-time volunteers. As the project runs entirely on donations, Shastra Das has launched a website where people can easily donate or become patron members. A plate of khichdi costs 7 Indian rupees, so a program like this, where some 300 villagers attend, costs about 2,000 rupees, roughly 40 US dollars. brimming with jubilation it's time to go home though not without a feeling of sadness an afternoon is long enough to form bonds especially between the youths for some villages and volunteers alike today was also not their first meeting as they say in these parts Puri Dhaka Hobi Mahaprabhu Ashirpadi see you next time by the grace of our great master the great master is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu the avatar of Lord Krishna who took birth 500 years ago in Mayapur itself Mahaprabhu revived the chanting of the mantra we've been hearing today it comes from the ancient Kali Santarana Upanishad where a Sanskrit verse predicts, Iti sodasakam namnam, Kali kalmasanasanam.

In the modern age of Kali, the chanting of these 16 combined names of Hari, Rama and Krishna would be most effective for spiritual realization. Tonight's smooth ride home down the oily Ganga. What could be easier indeed than bathing one's soul in Krishna's holy name.