Girls' Mela at the Jagannath Temple in Rajapur

Our teenagers go through a very special phase in life. They need to gradually establish themselves in this world, and want to be accepted as individual and almost grown-up personalities, with their own desires, talents, inclinations, hopes and plans for their future.
They don't like to be corrected and instructed by their parents any longer - they have heard this for so many years! Now they need other role models, heroes and mentors, who guide and inspire them. It does not mean that they are ungrateful to their parents - no, they are forever grateful for all the care and love their parents have given to them, but now they want to be treated and respected as adults, and want to see their parents as friends to whom they may turn whenever they feel like.

They want to have some fun and explore the world. They need some adventure within the frame of Krsna consciousness - otherwise they might look outside for it. They want to experiment and learn from their own mistakes and decisions, and take responsibility for them. They don't like to be pushed and forced to do things - otherwise they might even become rebellious.....!

To offer such fun within the frame of Krsna consciousness, we organized a three-day International Girls' Mela at the Jagannath Temple in Rajapur, just outside of Mayapur. The event was for girls between 13 and 20 years of age, coming from different parts of the world, many of them living permanently in Sri Dham Mayapur.

Initially we had planned this Mela to take place in Ekachakra, and we had discussed the details of the arrangement over the past six months. Then, in the last minute, there were all kinds of hesitations and objections coming up, Ekachakra being too far away, etc. So we quickly changed plans in order not to cancel the event.

Sri Hari Priya Mataji and her good husband Hari Nama Prabhu were the driving force behind it - they have two teenage daughters and two younger boys and deeply understand the importance of engaging the youth. A couple of years ago they moved from Israel to Mayapur and since then have become good friends and associates in serving the mission of offering training combined with fun to our youth.

We stayed for two nights at the Guest House next to the Jagannath temple, and the last night the girls were camping outside in our seminar pandal at the beautiful mango grove behind the temple, since most rooms were booked by a marriage party. This added some special excitement and fun!
We started the day joining mangal artik - I was happy to see many of our girls eagerly attending! After darshan artik we went on a Harinam procession all the way to Kolavecha Sridhar's house, where Hari Priya Mataji shared pastimes of Kolavecha Sridhar and Lord Gauranga with us, and afterwards the girls were playing some interesting games.

After breakfast prasadam back at the mango grove and a little rest we conducted our seminar entitled "Fascinating Womanhood In Spiritual Culture". The main topics included the differences between spiritual culture and material culture, the power of chastity, two kinds of beauty, men's and women's nature and entering married life. The girls found the seminar very intriguing, and it inspired them to ask many interesting questions which deepened their understanding of the subject matter. They also performed sweet and meaningful role plays, and we all had a good laugh. During the little break we served them my favorite sweet: Vanilla Pudding and mango chutney, which they really liked.

During the afternoons the girls went swimming in a nearby pond, and Sri Hari Priya Mataji arranged harmonium and singing lessons, Mehandi practice and foot reflexology demonstrations for them - I volunteered to make my feet available for practice...
In the evenings we had bonfires, and the girls had great fun in the association of new as well as old friends.
On the last day everybody offered a wrapped up gift which I re-distributed to each and everyone, so we all offered a gift and received one aswell, which was a sweet note to conclude the event.

​The girls absolutely loved the Mela - some didn't even want to return home! I was struck how many profound comments and questions came up - often deeper and more meaningful than from a general audience. They definately have good Krsna conscious samskaras in them, and they deserve all our attention and care to support them further. The new headmaster of the International School of Mayapur also took part and brought her daughter. The entire event was a major break-through in regards to offering some humble service to the Mayapur community. Back in Mayapur many of the parents expressed their deep gratitude to me. We feel inspired to conduct such Girls' Mela every year....

Your servant, Devaki dd