Date:31/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/31/stories/2006123104800200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Vaikunta Ekadashi at ISKCON

Staff Correspondent

BANGALORE: International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Bangalore, threw open its "Vaikunta Dwara" to a large number of devotees on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi on Saturday.

Devotees carried a flower-bedecked palanquin with Sri Radha Krishna in the Ananthasayana Vishu Alankara through a specially erected golden gateway to the main temple.

The ceremony was marked by the chanting of Vedic hymns and prayers and a "Nadawswaram" recital. Devotees also performed the "Laksharchana" or "Krishna" ritual.

The festival, also called Mokshada Ekadashi or Mukkoti Ekadashi here, is observed, by tradition, on the eleventh day of the brighter half ("Sukla Paksha") of the month of December/January.