Palace of Gold to celebrate West Virginia Day with 24-hour fest

June 13, 2010 @ 11:15 AM
2010/The Herald-Dispatch
Herald-Dispatch.com
On June 19, New Vrindaban will host a free 24-hour music festival, and will offer discounted admission to Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold in celebration of West Virginia Day.

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. —  On June 19, New Vrindaban will host a free 24-hour music festival, and will offer discounted admission to Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold in celebration of West Virginia Day.
 
New Vrindaban will host the fourth annual 24-hour kirtan, beginning at noon on Saturday, June 19, and ending at noon on Sunday, June 20.  Entrance into the festival is free and open to the public.

Kirtan is a form of folk music that arose from the devotional Bhakti movement of 15th century India. The primary musical feature of kirtan is the use of call and response, a feature that also deeply informs Western bluegrass, gospel music and jazz. The form is simple: a lead group calls out the melodies and the mantras, and the rhythms build and accelerate. The crowd responds by clapping and dancing.

The mantras that are used in kirtan are mainly Sanskrit names for the Divine. Sanskrit is the oldest language known to man, and its sounds and their meanings are primordial. Kirtan is a consciousness-transforming and consciousness-raising activity.  The mantras quiet the mind and the music frees the heart. Music and song are used to bring everyone together in a beautiful experience of collective expression of the Divine.   

Legendary kirtan artists – from across the US and beyond – will be traveling to Marshall County to participate in New Vrindaban’s 24-hour kirtan.  Artists include Sivarama Swami from Hungary.  In 2009, Sivarama Swami received the Gold Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, the second highest civil award in the country.  
 
Award officials noted that under Sivarama Swami’s leadership, the Hungarian Society for Krishna Consciousness has become “the fourth most popular and supported religious community among hundreds in Hungary.”  Furthermore, Sivarama Swami helped found Krishna Valley’s eco-village. According to award officials, “During the last fifteen years, Krishna Valley has become a prime destination in Somogy County for domestic and international tourism, with 30,000 visitors coming annually to see the ecologically self-sustaining community based on spiritual principles.”
 
New Vrindaban Community is located south of Moundsville – Wheeling, off Route 250.  For more information, contact (304) 843-1600 or mail@newvrindaban.com.
You can read more about a weekend trip to the Palace of Gold in Dave Lavender’s travel book, “Dave Trippin: A Daytripper’s Guide to the Appalachian Galaxy of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia” available at the Herald-Dispatch, Borders, Empire and online at www.davetrippin.com.

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