Sri Govinda Mela 2024 – All are welcomed!
We are very happy to announce that the Govinda Mela festival and retreat will be held here at the Soquel Seva Ashram for 8 days starting Tuesday July 18 through Tuesday July 25.
These are the presiding deities in the temple, Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharvika Giridhari. Our founder, His Divine Grace Srila B.S. Govinda Maharaj installed Their Lordships in 1996 for the spiritual benefit of everyone.
“The manifestation of the Deity gives us love for the Lord because the Deity’s manifestation is very near and very close to our mental position. Within this mundane environment we are habituated to be with our relatives. Now the Lord, in his manifestation as the Deity, is present here among us in the form of our relative. The Lord is so attractive and so sweet and so beautiful and so ecstatic and He is very near and very dear to human society, human beings and human experience.”
– Srila B.S. Govinda Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj is the acharya and spiritual leader of the Seva Ashram.
In his morning classes, Srila Janardan Maharaj reads from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, a holy scripture describing the pastimes and teachings of Lord Chaitanya and the essence of Gaudiya Vaishnava philosphy.