The smell of vegetarian food and the sound of miniature hand cymbals filled the air Saturday around the Gainesville Krishna House during its Musical Meditation Festival.
More than 100 people attended the festival, at which devotees conducted Gainesville Krishna’s first 12-hour Kirtan, or chanting for the glorification of God, said chaplain Carl Woodham.
Tulsi Rani, 26, a six-month member of the Gainesville Krishna, smiled as she danced around the lawn to the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.
“It’s wonderful to come together and chant,” she said. “These words are filled with such a high spiritual frequency that it improves your mood no matter what.”
Inside the house, barefooted guests sat on gray mats playing instruments and chanting the mantra into three microphones.
A TV displayed the translated lyrics as “O Lord, O Energy of the Lord. Please engage me in Your service.”
A variety of people led the mantra with their own rhythms and melodies for 30-minute segments, but everyone sang the same words.
Rani said the words were so powerful that it wasn’t tiring to sing the spiritual message all day.
Frank Orlando, a 33-year-old family medical doctor from Jacksonville, said the spirituality of the Kirtan wasn’t just being experienced by those who were singing.
The trees, everyone walking outside and the animals were all celebrating, said Orlando, who also goes by Dina Bandhu das.
“It’s a philosophy that an individual of any religion can experience,” he said. “It brought me happiness.”
“Singing and dancing are the basic forms of human expression,” said Michele Lis, a 20-year-old UF anthropology junior. “I love that this allows us to express together.”
The devotees are currently observing the month of Kartik, a month where every devotional act is expanded, and there is more spiritual benefit from everything a person does, Lis said.
“Doing this Kirtan during Kartik just makes everything and everyone more uplifted,” she said.
A group of Hare Krishnas chant and dance at the 12-hour Kirtan of the Musical Meditation Festival on Saturday at the Krishna House, 214 NW 14th St.
