ISKCON Joins "Mummers' Parade"

With roots in pre-colonial America, Philadelphia's New Year's Day Mummers' Parade of elaborately costumed string bands and colorful floats has been a city-sponsored classic since 1901. This year's parade was certainly unique for Krsna and Arjuna were there, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself along with His most heroic devotee, riding on their chariot surrounded by chanting, dancing Hare Krsna devotees. Televised live during the parade and highlighted on the evening news, the prizewinning Krsna chariot and marchers were the result of a joint effort by ISKCON and the Charles Klein New Year's Association, a famous Mummers' Parade marching club of over sixty years' standing.

When the members of the Klein club saw ISKCON's Ratha-yatra parade in Philadelphia last year, they marveled at the spontaneous joy and enthusiasm it generated. They immediately called ISKCON's Philadelphia temple to find out how they could create at the Mummers' Parade the same surcharged atmosphere and spirit they felt at Ratha-yatra. "They contacted me, wanting to make their Mummers' Parade theme 'Hare Krsna,' " explained Philadelphia temple president Rabindra Svarūpa dasa Adhikari. "They asked our advice and participation in the parade."

The Klein Club then designed and built a dazzling sixteen-foot yellow and red chariot, complete with canopy and "drawn" by three life-size white horses. The chariot was designed and decorated according to the famous Krsna and Arjuna painting on the cover of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. In addition, the Republican Party donated a large white elephant mounted on wheels, which was later draped with a crimson Hare Krsna banner.

On the day of the parade, the magnificent chariot, carrying a beautifully dressed Krsna and Arjuna, preceded by the elephant, and surrounded by a jubilant mass of singing and dancing devotees, rolled up Broad Street in central Philadelphia. The transcendental spectacle won a parade prize as well as live television coverage. In addition, the official program magazine of the Mummers' Parade featured a three-hundred-word description of Lord Krsna's appearance in this material world five thousand years ago. Explaining how Krsna carried out His divine mission of protecting the pious and annihilating the unrighteous on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, the official statement, which was later read on television, concluded: "So chant along with us Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare as this great moment in ancient India is relived today here on Broad Street. Hare Krsna!"