Sri Nityananda padukas arrive to New Ekachakra Dhama in Slovakia during TOVP Euro Tour 2018

Tuesday, 24 April 2018 / Published in European Tour Diary, Fundraising, Tour

TOVP Euro Tour Day 6 – Slovakia, New Ekachakra Dhama

This miraculous visit to New Ekachakra Dhama on Wednesday, April 18th has become another history making event on the TOVP Euro Tour. So much so that we will also include some related lilas that led to the planning and arrival of Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari in Slovakia.

The story begins in 2015 with Mahasankarsana prabhu, one of the temple leaders from New Ekachakra Dhama, speaking with Tukarama prabhu in Mayapur.

“He took me inside the TOVP and showed and explained everything. I was immediately inspired and had the desire that the Slovakian Yatra must support this project. I was thinking how to do this ever since that time. Then, recently I saw the Euro Tour poster on the TOVP Facebook Page and to my surprise, Slovakia was included. I immediately called Trilokatma prabhu the temple president and he confirmed the visit on April 18th, but it would only be a stopover with no special program. I was very disappointed to hear this and after some discussion it was arranged with Braja Vilas and Sukanti Radha devi dasi, the tour coordinator, that we would have a full program at the temple. She wrote us a really inspiring letter to encourage us and confirm the importance of the TOVP for every devotee to support.”

Sukanti Radha devi dasi is the UK TOVP office manager and coordinator of the TOVP 2018 Euro Tour. Many European countries offered to participate at the 2017 Euro GBC meetings in 2017. After praying to Mahaprabhu for help and guidance on how to proceed with the planning of the tour, Sukanti Radha experienced a vision that nine countries would participate. In the meantime and to her surprise, many countries withdrew from their participation and nine countries miraculously remained. She then received a surprising letter from Trilokatma prabhu (New Ekachakra temple president) stating that he was also withdrawing from the tour because the country and devotees were very poor and he didn’t want the TOVP Team to come all the way to Slovakia and not receive any good donations. However, Sukanti Radha convinced Trilokatma that Lord Nityananda wanted to come there at least for a stop-over on the way to Hungary. After all, Ekachakra Dhama is the birth place of Lord Nityananda and He would surely want to pay a short visit to New Ekachakra. The vision of nine countries remained intact and in the end the Slovakia ‘stopover’ on the way to Hungary also became a full-fledged fundraising event.

Mahasankarsana prabhu continues,

“On the day of the program over 70 devotees, some from the Czech Republic, attended, as well as His Holiness Smita Krishna Swami. What a great blessing for all. We had a huge welcome for Lord Nityananda’s Padukas with a big kirtan, then an abhishek, then speeches from Maharaja, Jananivas prabhu and Braja Vilas prabhu. When the fundraising began it was really amazing. In the first moments one devotee pledged for a Srivas Coin (EUR 9,000/USD 11,000), then another, and another, five in all! Almost every devotee offered a nice pledge and in the end the total pledges came to almost USD 90,000. Everyone was very happy and blissful, and amazed at what had just happened. All the devotees invested a lot of energy into this event and the results came, like everything that we do for the pleasure of the Lord.”

Miraculously and without prior planning, the TOVP Tour arrived in Slovakia on the most auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya. Through the mercy of Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda this became a most successful fundraising event that surprised everyone and is now the 3rd highest collection on the transcendental TOVP Euro Tour fundraising score board.

All glories to Lord Nityananda! All glories to Lord Nrsimha! All glories to all the devotees of the Lord!

The next stop on the tour is Hungary. The complete Euro Tour schedule is below.