Question: I was reading your biography on your Facebook today. I have to translate it into Chinese. Please kindly clear my doubts. Question 1: It is said that when he first arrived in Mayapur, understanding that he was in the holy land, he offered his obeisances and then dipped his head into the cool Ganges mud to get the blessings. Please kindly confirm that you dipped your head into the cool Ganges mud instead of the Ganges water? Question 2: March 1974 the first Gaura Purnima festival was held, and so it was 1974 and not 1972?

Jayapataka Swami: When I came to Mayapur the first time, I came from Swarupganj by the ferry from …. to Hulaghat. At that time there was no, where the ferry is today it was not there.  I crossed over I bowed my head down in the mud.  It was not actually the Ganges, Jalangi, Ganges!  I saw the mud and I saw the ground, I just thought this is the holy land of Lord Caitanya, and I immediately offered my obeisances!
Jayapataka Swami: Actually let us say the first internationally well attended festival was 1974. But actually Srila Prabhupada came there and stayed in the grass hut in 1972.He called all his god brothers and disciples of his god brothers. And he laid the foundation stone, the Anantasesa for the whole project. So actually, I always consider that 1972 was the first Gaura Purnima festival. Maybe it was not a big international affair, very few devotees came, but it was observed as Gaura Purnima. I don’t know how they said 1974.
23-MARCH-2020 SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, INDIA