| sahsk_2017-2020_report__1_.docx |
Jai Sri Radhey Shyam
Sri Nitai Gaur Haribol
Sri Guru kripa hi kebalam
Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya
Three-yearly report of charitable activities 2017-2020
The activities of Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya Charitable Trust (SAHSK) are situated mainly in the Holy town of Sri Vrindavan Dham, U.P., India. The charity was founded in 1996 to support the running of the Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya in the temple, Sri Radha Giridhari Mandir. Also, to support the spiritual and charitable work of Sri Vinod Vihari Goswami, including the running of a small clinic, a Gaushala, a temple, ashrams, training Brahmacaris, translating texts from Sanskrit and Bengali into English, educating people about the path of Sri Sri Radha Krishna bhakti, and many other charitable activities to help the lives of the people in Vrindavan. We also have several ashrams, one other in Vrindavan, Sri Nityananda Kuti which houses and supports Sanskrit students in return for running the small temple, preparing bhoga,etc. and one in Chhattisgarh, Sri Radha Vinod ashram. Sri Radha Vinod ashram is the base from which runs our health care project for the surrounding villagers, administrated by Tulsi Education and Kalyan Samiti. They mainly run outreach medical services in the remote villages as well as an ambulance service and health education in the schools. There is also our annual Nam Yagya festival program.
Our main charitable activity in the last 3 years, pre-lockdown, was the running of a small primary care clinic, Vraja Clinic which treated appx. 60 patients everyday for various complaints ranging from cough and cold, diarrhoaea, fever, body pains, malaria, typhoid and asthma. Since it began in 2010, the clinic has helped over 2 lakh of the poorest patients in Vrindavan and the surrounding villages receive healthcare. When the clinic was open patients came from as far away as Agra and Palwal to find relief from their symptoms as the clinic had such a good reputation for being trustworthy and free to those with no money and 10 rupees for those who could afford something. With the increase in pollution in recent years, the nebulizer was a crucial service that we were able to offer, saving lives for those unable to breathe. The clinic was open in the morning for approximately 2 hours, 6 days a week. We hope to resume this service soon following any new measures for the prevention of spread of Covid-19. In certain cases patients without money have asked for help with the cost of operations. Our supporters in the U.K. have been able to raise the funds necessary for operations ranging from cataracts, brain surgery and kidney replacement. There is a short film about our clinic here.
https://youtu.be/os-rhV5Byvw
In times of water shortage we supply water to the local people from our borehole.
During the flood of the Jamuna in 2010 we supplied drinking water also as well as cooked food, mosquito nets, dried foods and started the emergency clinic as typhoid and malaria were widespread due to people living on their rooves.
In the winter months we have distributed warm clothes collected by our supporters in the U.K. to those most in need in Vrindavan.
Every year the director, Sri Rashamay Das journeys with his Guru brother, Sri Mahadev Das to the U.K. to teach his devotees about SriSri RadhaKrishna bhakti, sing kirtan and organize the U.K. Nam Yagya festival. During this time many devotees and well-wishers are eager to learn about and help raise funds for the charitable work of the Trust. One devotee cycled from London to Paris in France to raise funds to help the clinic continue. On International Yoga Day, Yoga Prema school of Yoga’s students performed a sponsored 108 Surya Namaskar to raise funds for the clinic. The devotees in the U.K. are inspired to support the crucial work of the charity and fundraise all year round to keep it going.
During the Covid crisis with the help of our sister charity in the U.K., Sri Radhey Seva Trust, we were able to distribute urgently needed dry food parcels to those most vulnerable, the sadhus, disabled and widows. They had previously relied on begging from visitors and free Prasad distribution from ashrams which had subsequently closed for lockdown. We also helped feed stranded labourers miles from home and the local villagers who had lost their livelihoods. Over 300 parcels of dry foods, rice, etc. were handed out. Then it became apparent that many no longer had a way to cook (as they could not afford gas) and were lining the side of the parikrama Marg hoping for someone to come and feed them. So, we started distributing kichori, halva, and then mango nectar when it was extremely hot. To see our short film please visit https://youtu.be/eBfZgQGFr2Y
We were also able to help a similar project in Radha kund and Govardhan area to help the sadhus, widows and poorest villagers.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2548540472025749&id=1452300271649780?sfnsn=wiwspmo&extid=8GwRgqfxhTtESikt
We place great importance on seva and often hold bandharas to honour the sadhus and others for widows. All attendees receive Prasad and dakshina.
A full program of Seva to our deities, Sri Sri Radha Giridhari, Sri Sri Radha Shyamsunderji and Sri Sri KishorKishoriji in our temple, Sri Radha Giridhari Mandir continues daily. During festivals, such as Sri Sri Janmasthami and Sri Sri Govardhan Puja many visitors come and stay at the ashram. We offer basic accommodation and Prasad meals at a highly subsidised rate to allow for poorer devotees to come and have the chance to visit Sri Vrindavan Dham at least once in their lifetime. During the lockdown a live broadcast of the kirtan and evening arathi provided much needed solace to many.
We look after a small herd of Gau Matas in our Gaushala at the ashram in Vrindavan. We believe it is an important part of our Indian cultural heritage to honour, protect and care for these divine animals. The ashram is self-sufficient in milk, butter, yogurt and ghee. The cow dung is used by our Gau sevaks family to make pots as well as to fertilise the land to grow crops and as an ingredient in the fire yagya.
We have between 6 and 12 kirtaniyahs living in the ashram to keep the singing of Harinam flowing continuously as the most powerful form of spiritual sacrifice in these times. In our endeavour to safe guard the spiritual and cultural heritage we very much encourage the names to be sung to the ragas that correspond to the different times of day and night. Many expert singers stay with us to maintain this spiritual offering and are happy to pass on this knowledge and skill to any wishing to learn.
In line with the Indian Government’s wise innovation, attama nirvar bharat, we are inspired to try and grow as much as we can in our gardens. We grow flowers, tulsi, bael leaves, durva grass for the temple and vegetables and salad for the kitchen and Thakurjis bhoga. We also have many medicinal plants such as aloe vera, sefali leaves, papaya leaves, neem and tulsi which local people come and take for their remedies. The papaya leaves have saved many lives of those suffering with dengue fever. Even our local hospital has sent patients’ relatives to us to take them. We have started to try and become more self-sufficient with a recent addition of solar power for our temple and kirtan. As funds allow so we will convert more of the ashram to solar power to decrease our demand on the Earth’s natural resources.
As Sadhus, we always try to carry out all work in line with the ancient guidelines of the scriptures with honesty, simplicity and humility at the core of any seva. Through serving others we are serving our Ishtadev.
Sri Nitai Gaur Haribol
Sri Guru kripa hi kebalam
Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya
Three-yearly report of charitable activities 2017-2020
The activities of Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya Charitable Trust (SAHSK) are situated mainly in the Holy town of Sri Vrindavan Dham, U.P., India. The charity was founded in 1996 to support the running of the Sri Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan Mahayagya in the temple, Sri Radha Giridhari Mandir. Also, to support the spiritual and charitable work of Sri Vinod Vihari Goswami, including the running of a small clinic, a Gaushala, a temple, ashrams, training Brahmacaris, translating texts from Sanskrit and Bengali into English, educating people about the path of Sri Sri Radha Krishna bhakti, and many other charitable activities to help the lives of the people in Vrindavan. We also have several ashrams, one other in Vrindavan, Sri Nityananda Kuti which houses and supports Sanskrit students in return for running the small temple, preparing bhoga,etc. and one in Chhattisgarh, Sri Radha Vinod ashram. Sri Radha Vinod ashram is the base from which runs our health care project for the surrounding villagers, administrated by Tulsi Education and Kalyan Samiti. They mainly run outreach medical services in the remote villages as well as an ambulance service and health education in the schools. There is also our annual Nam Yagya festival program.
Our main charitable activity in the last 3 years, pre-lockdown, was the running of a small primary care clinic, Vraja Clinic which treated appx. 60 patients everyday for various complaints ranging from cough and cold, diarrhoaea, fever, body pains, malaria, typhoid and asthma. Since it began in 2010, the clinic has helped over 2 lakh of the poorest patients in Vrindavan and the surrounding villages receive healthcare. When the clinic was open patients came from as far away as Agra and Palwal to find relief from their symptoms as the clinic had such a good reputation for being trustworthy and free to those with no money and 10 rupees for those who could afford something. With the increase in pollution in recent years, the nebulizer was a crucial service that we were able to offer, saving lives for those unable to breathe. The clinic was open in the morning for approximately 2 hours, 6 days a week. We hope to resume this service soon following any new measures for the prevention of spread of Covid-19. In certain cases patients without money have asked for help with the cost of operations. Our supporters in the U.K. have been able to raise the funds necessary for operations ranging from cataracts, brain surgery and kidney replacement. There is a short film about our clinic here.
https://youtu.be/os-rhV5Byvw
In times of water shortage we supply water to the local people from our borehole.
During the flood of the Jamuna in 2010 we supplied drinking water also as well as cooked food, mosquito nets, dried foods and started the emergency clinic as typhoid and malaria were widespread due to people living on their rooves.
In the winter months we have distributed warm clothes collected by our supporters in the U.K. to those most in need in Vrindavan.
Every year the director, Sri Rashamay Das journeys with his Guru brother, Sri Mahadev Das to the U.K. to teach his devotees about SriSri RadhaKrishna bhakti, sing kirtan and organize the U.K. Nam Yagya festival. During this time many devotees and well-wishers are eager to learn about and help raise funds for the charitable work of the Trust. One devotee cycled from London to Paris in France to raise funds to help the clinic continue. On International Yoga Day, Yoga Prema school of Yoga’s students performed a sponsored 108 Surya Namaskar to raise funds for the clinic. The devotees in the U.K. are inspired to support the crucial work of the charity and fundraise all year round to keep it going.
During the Covid crisis with the help of our sister charity in the U.K., Sri Radhey Seva Trust, we were able to distribute urgently needed dry food parcels to those most vulnerable, the sadhus, disabled and widows. They had previously relied on begging from visitors and free Prasad distribution from ashrams which had subsequently closed for lockdown. We also helped feed stranded labourers miles from home and the local villagers who had lost their livelihoods. Over 300 parcels of dry foods, rice, etc. were handed out. Then it became apparent that many no longer had a way to cook (as they could not afford gas) and were lining the side of the parikrama Marg hoping for someone to come and feed them. So, we started distributing kichori, halva, and then mango nectar when it was extremely hot. To see our short film please visit https://youtu.be/eBfZgQGFr2Y
We were also able to help a similar project in Radha kund and Govardhan area to help the sadhus, widows and poorest villagers.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2548540472025749&id=1452300271649780?sfnsn=wiwspmo&extid=8GwRgqfxhTtESikt
We place great importance on seva and often hold bandharas to honour the sadhus and others for widows. All attendees receive Prasad and dakshina.
A full program of Seva to our deities, Sri Sri Radha Giridhari, Sri Sri Radha Shyamsunderji and Sri Sri KishorKishoriji in our temple, Sri Radha Giridhari Mandir continues daily. During festivals, such as Sri Sri Janmasthami and Sri Sri Govardhan Puja many visitors come and stay at the ashram. We offer basic accommodation and Prasad meals at a highly subsidised rate to allow for poorer devotees to come and have the chance to visit Sri Vrindavan Dham at least once in their lifetime. During the lockdown a live broadcast of the kirtan and evening arathi provided much needed solace to many.
We look after a small herd of Gau Matas in our Gaushala at the ashram in Vrindavan. We believe it is an important part of our Indian cultural heritage to honour, protect and care for these divine animals. The ashram is self-sufficient in milk, butter, yogurt and ghee. The cow dung is used by our Gau sevaks family to make pots as well as to fertilise the land to grow crops and as an ingredient in the fire yagya.
We have between 6 and 12 kirtaniyahs living in the ashram to keep the singing of Harinam flowing continuously as the most powerful form of spiritual sacrifice in these times. In our endeavour to safe guard the spiritual and cultural heritage we very much encourage the names to be sung to the ragas that correspond to the different times of day and night. Many expert singers stay with us to maintain this spiritual offering and are happy to pass on this knowledge and skill to any wishing to learn.
In line with the Indian Government’s wise innovation, attama nirvar bharat, we are inspired to try and grow as much as we can in our gardens. We grow flowers, tulsi, bael leaves, durva grass for the temple and vegetables and salad for the kitchen and Thakurjis bhoga. We also have many medicinal plants such as aloe vera, sefali leaves, papaya leaves, neem and tulsi which local people come and take for their remedies. The papaya leaves have saved many lives of those suffering with dengue fever. Even our local hospital has sent patients’ relatives to us to take them. We have started to try and become more self-sufficient with a recent addition of solar power for our temple and kirtan. As funds allow so we will convert more of the ashram to solar power to decrease our demand on the Earth’s natural resources.
As Sadhus, we always try to carry out all work in line with the ancient guidelines of the scriptures with honesty, simplicity and humility at the core of any seva. Through serving others we are serving our Ishtadev.
