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Bhagavata Seva Fall 2023 -1
Not every home kirtan is tied to the festival calendar. Families across the Bay Area have also hosted ISKCON Silicon Valley’s devotees for the personal milestones that matter most — a new home, a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a difficult season, or simply a desire to gather and chant together. This page is a directory of those occasions, plus the full calendar of festival kirtans, each with its own scriptural grounding and its own reason for a kirtan.
Every occasion and festival below shares the same offer: trained devotees travel to your home and lead a free, two-hour program of bhajans, a short katha, and an arati with dance.
“For those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form, I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.”
— Bhagavad Gita 9.22
Choose Your Occasion
🏠 Griha Pravesh / Housewarming
Consecrate a new home with the sound of the Lord’s names before ordinary life begins.
🎂 Birthday
Mark another year of this rare human birth with gratitude and congregational chanting.
💍 Wedding Anniversary
Renew the sacred witnessing of your marriage with family and friends gathered to chant.
💃 Pre-Wedding / Ladies Sangeet
Open the wedding season with joyful bhajans alongside mehendi, sangeet, or roka.
🪔 Shraddhanjali / Death Anniversary
Offer the Lord’s names on behalf of a departed loved one, with care and sensitivity.
💼 New Job / Promotion
Begin a new professional chapter with gratitude and blessings before the busyness starts.
🎓 Graduation
Thank teachers, gurus, and family for years of learning with a blessing kirtan.
🙏 Health & Healing
Gather loved ones to chant on behalf of someone facing illness or recovery.
👨👩👧 Visiting Parents / Grandparents
Honor visiting elders with an evening that mirrors the devotional life they grew up with.
✨ Any Auspicious Occasion
No specific milestone needed — any reason, or none at all, is enough for a kirtan.
Festivals & the Vaishnava Calendar
These posts follow the Hindu festival calendar roughly in order across the year — from Lohri in January through Dhanurmasam in December-January.
🔥 Lohri
Welcome longer days with a bonfire-season kirtan on the eve of Makar Sankranti.
🕉️ Maha Shivaratri
Deepen your Shivaratri by understanding Lord Shiva’s own devotion to Krishna.
🎨 Holi
Celebrate the festival of colors rooted in Krishna’s own Vrindavan and Barsana Holi.
🏹 Ram Navami
Mark the appearance of Lord Rama, a direct incarnation of Vishnu.
🐒 Hanuman Jayanti
Honor Hanuman’s perfect devotion with bhajans in his glory.
🦁 Narsimha Chaturdasi
Remember Lord Narsimha’s protection of His young devotee Prahlada.
🌙 Purushottam Maas (Adhik Maas)
Make the most of this rare extra month, traditionally the most auspicious for devotion.
📿 Guru Purnima
Express gratitude to spiritual teachers on this day of guru-worship.
🛺 Rath Yatra
Join Lord Jagannath’s chariot festival with kirtan brought to your home.
🌧️ Shravan Month
Chant through this sacred monsoon month, including the Jhulana Yatra swing festivities.
🦚 Janmashtami
Celebrate the appearance of Lord Krishna Himself at midnight.
🌸 Hartalika Teej
Honor this women’s vrat for marital blessing with an evening of devotional song.
🐘 Ganesh Chaturthi
Invoke Ganesh, gatekeeper-devotee, at the start of your sankirtan yajna.
💐 Radhastami
Celebrate the appearance of Srimati Radharani, Krishna’s own hladini-shakti.
🪔 Navratri
Nine nights honoring Shakti as Krishna’s own energy.
🙏 Durga Puja
Celebrate Durga, described in the Bhagavatam as Vishnu’s own younger sister.
🏆 Dussehra (Vijayadashami)
Mark Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana with a Vijayadashami kirtan.
🌕 Karwa Chauth
Bless this vrat of marital devotion with an evening of bhajans.
🪔 Diwali / Govardhan Puja
Diwali night is also the night Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill — bring both stories home.
🌿 Tulsi Vivah
Celebrate Tulsi Devi’s sacred marriage to the Lord.
🪔 Kartik (Damodar) Month
The most sacred month of the year for offering a ghee lamp to Krishna.
🎶 Dhanurmasam (Margazhi)
South India’s month-long tradition of devotional song at dawn.
🌗 Ekadasi
Twice-monthly fasting and remembrance days, elevated with kirtan.
Book a Home Kirtan
Whichever occasion or festival brings you here, booking works the same way: visit our home kirtan booking page to check available dates, or send us a WhatsApp message with your occasion and preferred timing. The service is entirely free, sponsored by ISKCON Silicon Valley for Bay Area families. For temple programs, see iskconsv.com/programs.
Kirtan Volunteer · ISKCON Silicon Valley
Gaurav has been leading bhajans and kirtans in Bay Area homes for more than 10 years. He teaches harmonium for kirtan on YouTube, shares bhajan albums on SoundCloud, and coordinates the Vrindavan Mellows home kirtan service across the San Francisco Bay Area.