The Adhika Masa Satsang, Govindapuram, June 2026
The Hindu calendar, in its ancient wisdom, prescribes an intercalary month once every three years, an adhika masa, a gift of time inserted to keep the lunar and solar years from drifting apart. Also called Purushottama Masa, this extra month is not empty time to be filled, but sacred time to be spent. And spent it was, in the ever holy village of Govindapuram.
Out of His boundless compassion for us, His devotees, Sri Swamiji ordained a special ten day satsang in Govindapuram during the sacred adhika masa, offering all a precious opportunity to immerse themselves in nama and bhakti during this most auspicious period. From the 5th to the 14th of June 2026, devotees from across Tamil Nadu arrived in Govindapuram by buses and vans, streaming in from Namadwaars near and far to partake in this blessing bestowed by our Swamiji. Each morning at 5:45, before the day had fully opened its eyes, they took to the streets of Govindapuram, flags raised high in their hands, spirits higher still, singing the Mahamantra in veedhi bhajan, letting the nama precede the dawn. Then, from 6 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, they gathered within the kuteeram hall to chant the Mahamantra without interruption, circumambulating the beautiful Nila megha shyama krishna standing at the heart of the Kuteeram hall.
Each evening between 4 and 6, Muscat Srivats Bhagavathar, in the divine presence of Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Jagannath, and of Mahaprabhu and Nithyananda as well as our Swamiji, delivered a discourse on the divya charitram of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Day after day, he traced the oceanic depths of Mahaprabhu’s love and bhakti. The hall responded to the quotes, the songs, and to the eruptions of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, chanted in the style of Mahaprabhu himself, no hands left still.
On the fourth day, after a lecture covering Mahaprabhu’s pivotal visit to Gaya and his darshan at the Vishnu Paadham there, Sri Swamiji, along with the devotees present, walked to the Vishnu Padha in Govindapuram, situated just metres from the Bodhendral Adhishthanam. For two hours, He chanted the Hare Krishna mahamantra and the Vishnu Sahasranama while a special abhisheka was performed simultaneously by the temple priest. The following evening, the Vishnu Padha was adorned with chandana and a spread of beautiful flowers, and Sri Swamiji offered flower archana. As we have savoured in satsang, how Sri Krishna’s footprints are his living seal upon the sacred land of Vrindavan, this Vishnu Padha stamps Govindapuram as the Dakshina Gaya, the Gaya of the South.
On the 11th of June, the procession of Sri Sri Anna’s padukas moved through the streets of Govindapuram after the evening lecture, accompanied by the resounding chants of “Sadguro Pahimam, Parama Dayalo Rakshamam.” The residents of Govindapuram stepped onto their doorsteps, receiving the mahan’s procession with folded hands and open hearts.
The final day brought the satsang to a luminous close. The last lecture ended amidst chanting born of hearts melted by the charitra of Mahaprabhu and Sri Vishnupriya. Thereafter, Sri Swamiji offered His pranams at the Hanuman Sannidhi, chanting the Hanuman Chalisa and singing Rama bhajans before proceeding to the Bodhendral Adhishthanam.
An astonishingly intricate flower pandhal arched above the samadhi of Bodhendral Swamigal, the ever chanting pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt who continues to bless all who come before him. In that sacred presence, Sri Swamiji chanted Rama nama, sang shlokas in his honour, and offered deeparadhana. Having circumambulated Bodhendral’s adishtanam, He paid His respects at the samadhi of Swami Balakrishnananda with the recitation of the Bhagavata Dhyana Shloka. The devotional procession concluded at the sannidhi of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, where Sri Swamiji offered deeparadhana and blessed all those gathered with maladus, roasted gram balls, distributed as Yogi prasad.
And so, joyously and blessedly, the ten days of the adhika masa satsang came to a close in Govindapuram, where the nama has always lived, and where, for these ten days, it rang a little louder.
-Nirmalasriskandhan T Mannargudi
