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IN THIS ISSUE, three articles have to do with pilgrimage. “The Authenticity of Spiritual Places” discusses the qualifications of holy sites and the proper mood for visiting them. The cover story takes us to the holiest of holy places—Vraja Maṅḍala—where for the last fourteen years Hare Kṛṣṅa devotees from around the world have gathered during the month of Kārttika (October–November) to tour the sacred spots where Lord Kṛṣṅa sported fifty centuries ago. In contrast to the barefoot pilgrims walking miles a day around Vraja Maṅḍala, in “The Ride to Rama Giri” two pilgrims on motorcycles make their way to a holy site connected with Lord Rāmacandra.

Although the original places associated with Lord Kṛṣṅa and His incarnations are all in India, His devotees create new pilgrimage sites wherever they carry His message. Each summer, Indradyumna Swami and a group of devotees put on dozens of Kṛṣṅa festivals in Poland. Thousands of people attend, attracted by the spiritual culture of India. But not everyone welcomes a pilgrimage site in his homeland. “For the Gentle and the Ruffians” shows that devotees of the Lord sometimes have to face danger to deliver the message of Kṛṣṅa to lands far from His Vraja Maṅḍala home.

Hare Kṛṣṅa.—Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor

Our Purposes

• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary. • To expose the faults of materialism. • To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life. • To preserve and spread the Vedic culture. • To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. • To help every living being remember and serve Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead.