Petersburg Sightseeing

Petersburg

After attending the various classes and activites at the VedaLife festival in Lahta, it was time for some sightseeing here in Petersburg.

Our intrepid driver Navin K. drove us to the city center of Saint Petersburg.  This northern seaport was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 as a gateway to the West.

The Alexander column watches over the Winter Palace of the Tsar and the Hermitage Museum. 

We began our walk near the ¨Singer¨Building which houses a book store and a restaurant with a view of the city. 

The ladies shopped at different stores taking a look at tea sets, samovars, matroshkas, and other sourvenirs. They mostly window-shopped without stopping to buy.

While at little more than 300 years old Petersburg is a young city, it is filled with striking architecture. This is a statue of one of the generals who had some success against Napoleon, I think it´s Kuznetzov.

This is the local parliamentary house for Petersburg.

The nearby cathedral belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church. Before the Russian Revolution of 1917,  the Russian Orthodox Church was an integral part of the Tsarist state, sharing power with the army and the royalty as the official religion of Russia. After the religion, the church was surpressed for nearly a hundred years. Now it is enjoying a resurgence. 

Orthodox churches are filled with Icons of the different saints and patriarchs of the church. Prominent among these are Saint Nicholas and Saint Gregory. 

After visiting the central Cathedral we moved on. 

Russians love books. We decided to have tea at the Singer book store. There we perused volumes of poetry and communed with the great minds in Russian literary pantheon. There was Pushkin and Gogol, Chekhov and Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Osip Mandelstam, and Joseph Brodsky offering their observations through poetry and prose. 

I bought a volume of Mandelstam for a translator friend, Pushkin for a scholar I know, and Brodsky for a modern thinker.  It was Osip Mandelstam who commented, "Only in Russia s poetry respected, it gets people killed. Is there anywhere else where poetry is so common a motive for murder?"

Later we took a boat excursion and wound our way leisurely through the quiet canals in the shade of linden trees on our way to the Church of the Savior, On Blood. In this way, we wandered the sunny streets of Saint Petersburg.

More on Vedalife in Petersburg

I arrived in Saint Petersburg in the middle of the VedaLife festival which is a yoga jamboree put together by Avadhuta Mahārāja. Thousands of people turned out in Moscow for street-parties, Indian and Hare Krishna world  music concerts, and tasted vegetarian food at the Hindu, Yoga, and Vegan gastronomy festivals. Here in Petersburg the VedaLife festival was held in Lahta.

Lahta is a small section of Saint Petersburg located to the North of the city on the Gulf of Finland.

The temple was established 25 years ago by Vijai Raman Prabhu, Avadhut Maharaja, and Govinda Maharaja as an extension of the Sri Caitanya Saraswat Math.  They've been going strong ever since. 

Goswami Maharaja inviting me to participate

I was invited to attend as a special guest by B.B. Avadhuta Maharaja and B.S. Goswami.  This was my third visit.  Aurora and I stayed as the guests of Vijay Raman Prabhu. There are many dachas here. A "dacha" in Russia is a kind of summer cottage or home. Just outside our window they set up a stage where different bands played. There was Indian raga with flutes and sitar and a more modern set played by a kind of "New Age" band.

The temple itself is a close replica of a Vedic temple. Govinda Maharaja himself contributed many ideas to the architectural design. It has a special heating system with pipes under the floor for the harsh arctic winters, so it's always nice and cozy.

Avadhut Maharaja led a traditional kirtan and aroti ceremon. Among those present were different sannyasi leaders: Goswami Maharaja, Madhusudana, Dandi, as well as Bhakti Lalita, Rohini Shakti and many other great souls who have done so much to bring Krishna consciousness to the Russian people.

The uproarious kirtan could be heard far outside the temple walls.

Meanwhile, the beach outside the festival was populated with brightly colored tents and pandals where a number of different activities took place.  There were readings from the Vedas, astrological readings, yoga classes and even a bed of nails where aspiring fakirs could practice penance and austerities.

As the bhajan band took a japa break...

The gods were so pleased they sent some sunshine our way.

Even Lord Shiva gave his blessings.

As you can see the Gulf of Finland was pleasant for the three days of the festival and the weather  was perfect with just enough breeze to fill the sails of the windsurfers.

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Newlyweds fresh from the fire sacrifice

As Goswami Maharaja spoke on subjective evolution of consciousness, others held talks on the nature of truth, the origin of existence, and the path to peace and surrender. 

Lord Shiva was dancing

I feel fortunate to have been allowed to participate in this gathering of sincere souls and hope that I may get further blessings from all of you. Hare Krishna and Peace.

Next stop: Vedalife Ukraine.

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