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Prabhupada lectured at Laudium Civic Centre hall in Pretoria

Riddha Dasa : On October 18th, 1975, at Pretoria, South Africa, Srila Prabhupada lectured partly to the Indian community. The Indian townships of the Transvaal such as in Lenasia and Laudium were quite extensive. An ecstatic lecture was given at Laudium Civic Centre hall in Pretoria.

Like the devotees back at the temple, many of the Krishna bhaktas, such as Mr. N. Patel and friends, were overwhelmed by the fact that a pure devotee of the Lord should come and grace their presence. Some of Mr. Patel's family had prepared all the free prasadam for distribution and many of those bhaktas prepared the hall throughout that day. 

Although the guests were familiar with pictures of Srila Prabhupada from his books, they had never seen him in person and, because of the congregation of Mr. N. Patel's Hare Krishna Bhajan Group, many of them knew that Srila Prabhupada was no ordinary man. The Hindus asked challenging questions, but were satisfied by the answers that Srila Prabhupada gave. 

As Srila Prabhupada left, he was surrounded by people trying to get his blessing. The devotees had to protect him as the crowd queued up to touch Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet. Three fortunate souls managed to do this: Mr. N. Patel, his wife and their niece. As Srila Prabhupada went to his car, many of the crowd followed. He had simultaneously touched their hearts and sown the seeds of Krishna bhakti. Still, to this day, the community in Laudium is favourably disposed towards the devotees.



Reference: Mission in the service of His Divine Grace - Riddha Dasa Adhikari