Traveling sankirtana party (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"TSKP" |"traveling party" |"traveling sankirtana" |"traveling skp" |"traveling with a sankirtana party" |"travelling Hindu sankirtana party" |"travelling party" |"travelling sankirtana" |"travelling skp"

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Karandhara -- Bombay 30 November, 1970:

Your program to visit nearby cities and towns with a travelling party is nice. Krishna Das has also started this program in Germany and the success has been good.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Gaura Hari -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1971:

Yes, I am so glad to hear about your travelling Sankirtana Party. That is very good news. So engage yourself in this program whole-heartedly. I have got all my blessings on you and the other members, so do everything nicely.

Letter to Makhanlal -- Los Angeles 14 July, 1971:

I have received one letter from Gaura Hari about his travelling sankirtana party across Canada and have given my blessings for such venture.

Letter to Nityananda, Kanya Kumari -- London 26 August, 1971:

I am so glad to hear that your program is going on so nicely there in New Orleans and especially that Sankirtana and BTG distribution are so successful. That is very encouraging. This Sankirtana and BTG distribution is our main business and you should give as much energy in this direction as possible. Also your travelling Sankirtana party to various universities in the Southern cities is wholly approved by me. So do it nicely and in conjunction with Satsvarupa Prabhu. He is guiding you all.

Letter to Makhanlal, Tilaka -- Nairobi 24 September, 1971:

Your proposal for a grhastha travelling Sankirtana party is a very good one but the temple work should not be neglected. Both things should go on simultaneously. Our process is to work on Bhagavata and Pancaratriki systems simultaneously. Deity worship is pancaratriki system and preaching is Bhagavata system. If we keep both systems in a regular way that will help us solidly in our advancement in Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Visnujana -- Calcutta 4 November, 1971:

I understand from Kirtanananda Maharaja that there is a nice scheme for travelling sankirtana party. So I think that your joining them will be super-excellent scheme and I have my full hearted sanction for your joining the party if you like.

Letter to Kirtanananda , Vrindaban Candra, Silavati -- Calcutta 6 November, 1971:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters just now received by me here in Calcutta and describing your plans for travelling Sankirtana party, and it is very much encouraging news for me. Silavati Prabhu said that this was her long cherished dream. It has been mine also. If there were three or four such travelling parties, it would be a grand scale propaganda. So do it with great enthusiasm and surely you will have the blessings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And wherever you go, if there is good response you can try and open a center there. This is first class scheme and surely will be "The greatest show on earth."

So far Visnujana Maharaja joining your party, that is super-excellent idea. Already, at your request, I have written him one letter to the San Antonio address, that he has my full-hearted blessings for joining the party.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Delhi 14 November, 1971:

This traveling Sankirtana is very good; to go from village to village as Lord Caitanya has predicted.

Letter to Lalita Kumar -- Delhi 15 November, 1971:

I note that you have got a nice van—why not have some travelling Sankirtana parties in the surrounding countryside, distributing our literature in new places?

Letter to Sri Galim -- Delhi 20 November, 1971:

Regarding your proposed festivals, yes, that is a good idea. Please do it very nicely. These public festivals have proven very effective in spreading knowledge about Krishna Consciousness to all the citizens. In fact, I have directed the GBC to organize such festivals and travelling sankirtana throughout their zones. The festival we are holding at present in Delhi has been extremely successful, and by Krishna's grace everyone is appreciating this Movement by seeing the beautiful deity worship, by hearing the melodious kirtana, and by seeing the bright faces of my students.

Letter to Krsna dasa -- Vrindaban 30 November, 1971:

I am especially pleased that you want to organize a travelling SKP in Europe. We are doing the same thing here in India with very good results. And from all over the Society I get reports that such parties are having good success. So try to organize it very nicely in Europe also, especially to distribute our books and magazines, as many as possible. So far this printing of literature, there must always be sufficient stock for distributing everywhere you go. So you have to plan nicely in advance, either by consulting with ISKCON Press or by printing locally. Even if it is only a few pages, something must be there. You may organize your travelling party on the lines of a festival which moves from city to city, and if there is good field, a camp may be set up and you may carry on with our Hare Krishna Festival as long as there is good response. In this way, you may move from country to country as the weather permits. And you can equip yourselves to be completely self-sufficient—sleeping, cooking, everything. This program is very very pleasing to me.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Delhi 4 December, 1971:

I am very much pleased by this travelling Sankirtana program. Kindly execute it nicely, and sell as many books and magazines as possible, so that by reading Krishna philosophy, and by seeing you, they will become fully convinced.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Delhi 12 December, 1971:

I am especially pleased that your travelling Sankirtana Party is being organized nicely under your supervision, and that it is meeting with good success. This travelling SKP is busses carrying tents is very encouraging. It should be continued all over the country. One thing is that all the students on the party must strictly follow the rules and regulations. Cleanliness is most essential, rising early, taking bath, etc. It is not that because we are travelling that we can neglect our routine work and become irregular in our habits. No, we must make every effort to remain regulated and clean, this is the solid basis for our work. When our routine work, like chanting, reading books, nice arati, deity worship, etc., is very nice, then our preaching will have effect. That is the secret.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Delhi 12 December, 1971:

I was thinking that you could send that Cadillac car to India, but I understand there are no spare parts available here, so what is the use? So use it for equipping your travelling party as you see fit.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Bombay 17 December, 1971:

Our travelling Sankirtana parties are having good success all over the world. I think you initiated this travelling Sankirtana in Canada, so now you go on introducing it in other places and perform that program very nicely. I am very very pleased to see our Sankirtana travelling parties are having good results.

Letter to Giriraja -- Bombay 28 December, 1971:

Wherever there is preaching strength there is also success, no matter it may be pandal-show, or making members, travelling Sankirtana party, whatever it may be—just maintain our strong position of purity of routine work and preach and distribute literature, that's all.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Kulasekhara -- Bombay 10 January, 1972:

Your songs and poems are very much liked by me. Syamasundara. informs me your proposal for travelling party for roving all over England and Wales, just like Kirtanananda is doing in America. I think this is a good proposal, and you may compose many such nice songs for attracting the young people from villages and towns. I very much approve of such travelling SKP program.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Bombay 5 February, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your report of January 28, 1972, and I am very pleased to hear that you are putting your full energy into distributing books and magazines very widely all over Canada. It is not so much the numbers of books sold, it is the sincerity which Krishna appreciates, and I am encouraged by your determined enthusiasm to increase in every respect. The travelling SKP and teaching in the schools and colleges which you are organizing is excellent proposal, and I think that this is the best program for pushing on this Lord Caitanya's Movement: simply travelling and preaching, and infiltrating the schools where young boys and girls are interested to learn something which will satisfy them. In both activities you may distribute many of our literatures, and that will please me very much.

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Sydney 2 April, 1972:

Also, you ideas for travelling SKP are very much liked by me. Here in Australia they have got one double-decker bus, like you have seen in London streets, and they have painted it very brightly, and as it moves there is kirtana party chanting very loudly inside, and on top floor there is sleeping space and kitchen. On the whole, it is so nice that I am suggesting Dayananda that he supply you and Krishna das with information, how you may purchase such busses in London and drive them all over European continent, and these "Hare Krishna Movement" busses will make us famous all over the world. I am enclosing one photo of their Australia bus in Sydney.

Letter to Revatinandana -- Sydney 2 April, 1972:

I think your idea to canvass the youth groups and colleges in England is good proposal, so do it nicely in cooperation with Dayananda and the others there, and I am sending Kesava there to England soon to organize the book-distribution and travelling Sankirtana Party, so you know him, now you help him very seriously to increase these two programs, because I think especially that England is the best field in the world for distributing our books, as good or better than USA, so I want that you all should be very active to increase the scope there. Kesava is the recognized expert in these fields, so you take direction from him how to do it, and you preach wherever you go throughout the British Isles, and make this travelling SKP a great success, a greater success, than it is now in your country.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Sydney 10 April, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 17, 1972, and I am very much pleased to hear from you that everything is going nicely at our Gurukula school, and also that two travelling SKP parties from Dallas are having such good success by turning in $3000 to my Book Fund in one month only. That is such nice service to Krishna, and it is news that makes my heart gladdened.

Letter to Dayananda -- 26 April, 1972 Tokyo:

Now I am sending Kesava there to help you organize widespread distribution of books and traveling SKP, and he may stay for two months minimum, or at least until I leave there.

Letter to Giriraja -- Tokyo 2 May, 1972:

I am very much pleased about the children's classes. These are very, very important program, so let it go on nicely, even if Madhudvisa leaves there. I have heard that some men have come from USA, so if Gurudasa needs some help, some can go there to help him. Also, Gargamuni wants to form a travelling party for raising funds, so some men can be given him, not more than four.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Tokyo 2 May, 1972:

My blessings to Visnujan, Silavati and all others. I am very much pleased with all these activities. This is carrying out the order of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One thing, is prasadam being distributed profusely on this travelling party?

Letter to Bhagavan -- Honolulu 12 May, 1972:

I am glad to hear that you are consolidating you energies to expand Krishna consciousness more effectively throughout midwestern zone, and I am pleased to learn that you are organizing travelling Sankirtana Party. That is our real business, travel and preach, distribute literature and prasadam. I want now that all of my GBC secretaries do my work. Let me sit tight in Los Angeles and write my books. Now you be always travelling here and there, visiting the centers in your zone, seeing how things are going on and how the students are making spiritual progress.

Letter to Dayananda -- Los Angeles 20 May, 1972:

It is not good if small numbers of devotees open a center and then fall away. Association of devotees is the most important thing. So I think in the future at least 10 or 12 men must open a center. But you have done the right thing to concentrate our forces on travelling sankirtana.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 26 May, 1972:

Your plan for traveling in Australia and New Zealand is very good. Sydney is naturally the center for that zone and if you have constantly traveling sankirtana parties roving in Australia and New Zealand, that will be first class proposal.

Letter to Gargamuni -- Los Angeles 28 May, 1972:

So far your travelling party is concerned it will only work if Indians go out with you. The problem is that as soon as you go out of the city no one will speak English. If you simply chant and do not speak then that would be all right, but there must be some speaking. Because if there is no speaking everyone will say that we are just like Devanand's film. So to be very respectable, we must speak our philosophy, and that would be impossible for you in Hindi and other languages. So I do not think it is a very good plan for travelling outside of the big cities like Bombay. Concentrate yourself in Bombay. Take many men and go in the suburbs. You can travel up to 100 miles from Bombay to places like Thana, Poona, Ahmedabad, like that. Just purchase a monthly ticket on the train and travel in the Bombay area very extensively. Just like Ville Parle is a big city, so there are so many suburbs like that in Bombay. First you organize this program for widespread distribution in Bombay. In Bombay, the people have money but in the villages no one has got any money, so what is the use of going there for collecting for our Juhu project? Besides, our books are in English, and they can neither read them or purchase them. The money is in __. So organize your travelling party to go all around Bombay __ distributing and collecting, and that will be the best ___ Tamala Krishna how he is doing in East India.

Letter to Giriraja -- Los Angeles 28 May, 1972:

I have written to Gargamuni Maharaja that his traveling sankirtana party should concentrate for distributing our literatures there in Bombay suburbs. The money is in Bombay. What is the use of going village to village when the village people not only can they not read in English but also they have no money. And we will not be able to preach to them. So I think best thing is to thoroughly travel into the suburbs and all sections of Bombay city, sometimes going to Thana, sometimes to Poona, somethimes to Surat, like that, and distribute our books in these places and collect.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 12 June, 1972:

Actually you may be misunderstanding the present position or policy of this GBC. I have instructed all of the GBC men to give up their staying in one place and to remain always constantly traveling throughout their zones from temple to temple. Recently, I have given Sannyasa order of life to Rupanuga, Satsvarupa, and Bali Mardan, and I have made Brahmananda the GBC man for Africa, and I wanted that you should be GBC man for South Pacific zone. So being Sannyasi is no hindrance for being also GBC. In fact, the duties of the GBC men are now to be just like the duties of the Sannyasis. I want that the GBC men should leave the management of the individual centers to the local presidents and concentrate themselves upon preaching work. They should be constantly traveling from one center to another center to see how the students are learning and to give whatever advice is necessary for improving the temple standards. In addition, the GBC men will open new centers, distribute literature, and they should always be traveling with a sankirtana party to accompany them. So practically there is no difference between the Sannyasi duty and the GBC duty, and because you are my veteran disciple and you have had very good experience, I think there will be no trouble for you to accept the GBC position, I do not think it will in any way inconvenience you program of traveling. But for the time being, if you prefer, Mohanananda can work conjointly with you for managing. We shall decide finally after some months.