"In this connection there is a story about a brahmana who was offering sweet rice to the Lord within his mind. The brahmana had no money nor any means of worshiping the Deity, but within his mind he arranged everything nicely. He had gold pots to bring water from the sacred rivers to wash the Deity, and he offered the Deity very sumptuous food, including sweet rice. Once, before he offered the sweet rice, he thought that it was too hot, and he thought, "Oh, let me test it. My, it is very hot." When he put his finger in the sweet rice to test it, his finger was burned and his meditation broken. Although he was offering food to the Lord within his mind, the Lord accepted it nonetheless. Consequently, the Lord in Vaikuntha immediately sent a chariot to bring the brahmana back home, back to Godhead. Thus it is the duty of every sincere devotee to accept the arca-vigraha at home or in the temple and worship the form of the Lord as advised in authorized scriptures and directed by the spiritual master." Srimad Bhagavatam 4:30:28 Purport

The Vaisnava calendar is literally filled with festivals and religious observance days. Appearance and disappearance days for more than 75 saints and transcendental incarnations are joined by more than 40 major festival and lila pastime remembrance days.

Included below are just a few of the most important festival days celebrated by Gaudiya Vaisnavas. In the future, we’ll provide detailed information on all the festival events under the “Religious Observance” section of the website.

The Feast Menus that follow are drawn from Srila Prabhupada’s books, Gaudiya Vaisnava literature, devotee cookbooks, and a host of other resources. Most of the recipes are directly connected in some way with a specific feast event, while some are included to balance the menu.