Sri Krishna first grazed cows on Gopastami. Yesterday, locals and tourists celebrated Gopastami in all of the temples and traditional homes of Braj. ISKCON Vrindavan follows the tradition of dressing Radha Rani as a Gopa, which means that Gopastami is one of 2 days per year when Radha Rani gives charan darshan. The tradition of dressing Radha Rani as a Gopa comes from the lila where Subhala and Radha Rani exchange clothes so that Radha Rani can escape from her in-laws house to be with Krishna for the day. Another legend related to Gopastami is that it marks the anniversary of the first day when Krishna-Balaram were entrusted with the task of taking calves out for grazing. Gopastami is one of the most important festivals in Braj because this is the land where Sri Krishna chose to enjoy his childhood, in rural surroundings, with plentiful milk and butter. Read more (Hindi)
P.C. Amar Ujala
Politicians’ Billboards torn down. In the lead up to local elections, hundreds of politicians’ billboards have been taken down by the municipality. Owing to a law against billboards in the lead up to elections, hundreds of boards and banners are being removed across the town. On Saturday, the municipal team removed 25 billboards, 35 banners and 150 small boards. The cleanup began in Mathura on Saturday. The cleanup teams are scheduled to begin clearing the boards from around Vrindavan today. Read more (Hindi)
P.C. Amar Ujala
Woman collapses upon seeing her house demolished. Yesterday, Radhakund: A woman was taken to hospital after she collapsed during the demolition of houses on the Radhakund parikrama. The National Green Tribunal has ordered the demolition of all buildings in the area that do not have proper zoning permission. To date, around 200 houses and shops have been demolished in the Goverdhan-Radhakund area. Yesterday, Yogeshwar Ashram was among the buildings demolished. The Sadhus from the ashram came out in protest and criticised the administration, saying that it is wrong to say that there is no room for Thakurji in His own town. Read more (Hindi)
P.C. Sulabh International
Rawal fails to become a model village. Under the Modi Government’s Swachh Bharat program, several villages were adopted and attempts were made to make them into ‘model villages’. Radha Rani’s own village, Rawal, was adopted by actress-turned-politician, Hema Malini. Malini visited the village herself to educate villagers and Sulabh International constructed 75 toilets in the village. There are 150 houses in the village so not everyone benefited from the scheme, and, it was discovered later that some households had received two toilets. In one case, the householders refused to use the toilet and converted it into a temple. As well as the difficulty in changing the villgers’ mindset about toilets, there are also practical reasons that the toilet installation has not stopped open defecation – for a large family, one toilet is simply not enough. Recent estimates state that around 40% of villagers still go out to the fields to defecate. This is a shocking indication of the failure of the Model Village Program, as Rawal was supposed to have become a model village by 2016. Read more (Hindi)
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