Hare Krishna Everyone!
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga!
My name is Amiya Radhika Devi Dasi. I am very grateful to be part of this course with you all. This opportunity came at just the right time me.
I took birth in New Delhi, India but my parents migrated to the United States when I was 9 years old, so I grew up in Florida. My mother got connected with the devotees first and introduced me to Krishna Consciousness. After completing my university degree, I had the good fortune to move in full-time into ashram life and I served in this capacity for many years. My primary service was always Sankirtan, book distribution, outreach programs.
I had an opportunity to travel to many ISKCON Temples around the US in an all-Girl’s TSKP (Traveling Sankirtan party!) and connect with many, many special Deities across US! (Especially those established by Srila Prabhupada.) The first Deities/Temple who I really connected with were Sri Sri Radha Govinda in Brooklyn, NY. The devotees there also told me the chota Sri Sri Radha Krsna deities on the altar were actually Srila Prabhupada’s personal deities (Please correct me if this is not true - I want to make sure what I heard is true). I have a desire to serve Radha Govinda one day.
In the course of my travels, I noticed the dire need of pujaris across various temples and this planted a seed of desire to have the skill and ability to render a much needed service to the larger ISKCON community. And what a beautiful and intimate service!
My husband and I got married two years ago and moved to Austin, Texas, where we currently reside. We received an opportunity to serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission through a local outreach center here. We don’t have established deities yet but someone entrusted the care of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai to us and I want to eagerly know how to serve Them properly.
Eventually, I want to be able to learn the standard of Deity Worship for big temples but that can be overwhelming so I feel this course will gradually lead me there!
Again, really looking forward to this journey!
Thank you so much,
Amiya Radhika DD