Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Here I am at the Ratha Yatra Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 19, 2008. During the summer every year, these festivals in honor of the Hindu god Jagannath, a representation of Lord Krishna (God) who lived in India five thousand years ago, are celebrated in small villages up to large cities all over the world. The first festival was held in the year 1558.

My religion is Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Hare Krishna), a sect of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).

Here are two of the many photos that my wife Debbie took of myself at the festival.

In the first photo, you can see me help pull one of three colorful chariots for a few miles through the streets of the city. One of these chariots, which are about 45 feet high and 35 feet in length and width, can be seen in the background. The "tents" on the chariots had to be lowered and then raised again whenever the chariots passed under traffic lights.

In the second photo, I am holding a plastic bag of halva in my right hand that was given to me at the festival. While my shirt has a Hindu prayer printed on it in the Sanskrit language, it does not represent the official garb of the Hare Krishnas. The cloth bag hanging from my neck, which has a Hindu prayer printed on it in Sanskrit and IS carried by the Hare Krishnas, contains mala (prayer beads). My necklace holds a golden, colorful pendant of the Hindu god Jagannath.

About an hour after my wife took these photos, I was taken to the hospital by ambulance with heat exhaustion. After all of these years, I continue to thank my wonderful wife for accompanying me on my spiritual pilgrimage.