Downtown Program

Sankirtan and drama

Early in the afternoon, after lunch, about eighty devotees take the Metro to downtown Saint Petersburg, to go on harinama sankirtan — congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

The nagar-sankirtan party, led by six sannyasis — Avadhut Maharaj, Ashram Maharaj, Acharya Maharaj, Siddhanti Maharaj, Paramahamsa Maharaj, and Trivikrama Maharaj — cuts a colorful swathe through the Sunday afternoon crowds.

At five o' clock, everyone goes to the Esoteric Cultural Center, Drugoy Mir (Another World) to see the dramatic production of a scene from the Indian epic, the Ramayana, featuring Rama, Laksman, Sita, Hanuman, Valmiki, Lava and Kush. The play, which is presented entirely in Russian, has been arranged by Avadhut Maharaj.

Srila Gurudeva arrives at Drugoy Mir at 6:00 p.m. He expresses his appreciation to the actors for their professionalism and for the quality of the drama, and lectures for about an hour to the large audience of about three hundred people.