"Taking absolutely no credit"

His Grace Uttama Caitanya Dasa Brahmacari has and will always be my uncle; the younger brother of my mother’s brother-in-law.

It saddens me so, hearing the sudden demise of such a great soul. My beloved chitappa’s younger brother served as the Temple President of Sri Jagannath Mandir, ISKCON-Kuala Lumpur (SJMKL), Malaysia since 2001 until the day of his passing and has shaped the temple to be one of the leading temples in Malaysia. Now, after reading all about him; how a serious, dedicated devotee and a highly respected preacher he is and all the praises he has been receiving from all around the globe, I am truly regretting the fact that I have never met him, never took the effort to share my thoughts with him and to hear his preaching’s.

Being a devotee of Bhagawan Shri Sathya Sai Baba, I have been imparted the basic knowledge of what Hinduism is all about and even being a 17 year old, I am sure I would have truly understood the very meaning of all that he had to say.

In this ever materialistic Kali Yuga, everyone is waiting for the very moment as to how they are able to show off to the world the amount of wealth they have accumulated, the pride of being someone ‘great’ in life. And to know that His Grace has left a comfortable life to join Sri Jagannath Mandir, Kuala Lumpur; to be of service of mankind and lead his life as an offering of love to his dear Guru Maharaj and taking absolutely no credit for any service that he has done makes him truly an amazing soul, and that is what being great is all about.

There are no words to express the loss felt in my heart. He was so near me, yet so far away but now that he is so far away, he is close to my heart.

Sincerely,
Prathiba Rajasekharan

"My hero and inspiration "

Please accept my most humble obeisance's at your lotus feet
All glories all glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories all glories to You!

Can we count how many heroic services you have performed in your years as an obedient servant to your spiritual master and ISKCON Founder Acarya Srila Prabhupada?

It really saddened me for not being there at your final service to pay obeisances and respect unto you. I humbly pray to Lord Sri Sri Radha Vallabhaji, the presiding Lordships in Melbourne city to accept you as Their eternal servant.

You have invested all your hardwork and energy in establishing and overseeing dynamic and vibrant urban outreach centres which give so many Malaysians a chance to recieve the full mercy of Lord Caitanya's sankirtan mission. So many wonderful achievements. But most of all through your selfless and loving service you have set the example to me of what sacrifice it takes to give Krsna pleasure.

I still remember the day where you came to me and asked me whether I wanted to go back to Godhead, and i nodded "yes"... and then you said, Here you go, dress up Srila Prabupada daily. Thank you so much Uttama prabuji for blessing my spiritual live with a wonder seva which pleased my Gurudev. You were so kind enough to allow me in deity worships seva and especially doing Lord Jaganath's and Lord Baladev's night headgears and doing Deity dressing in the morning. You are one of a kind and have touched my live in so many profound way. There will be never another Uttamaji nor anyone can immitate. I hope that I can be of some assistance to you in your efforts at bringing Srila Prabhupada, Lord Caitanya and Radha and Krsna pleasure.

Thank you so much for your sacrifice and for being my hero and inspiration in giving pleasure to Krsna. I love you, Uttama prabu.

your servant
Satyavrata dasa

" A remarkable and sincere Vaisnava"

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

The passing away of HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu is a great loss for ISKCON, and more specifically to all the congregational members of Sri Jagannath mandir Kuala Lumpur (SJMKL). Being part of the SJMKL congregation, I am able to relate to the deep impressions that he has created within all of our hearts. We indeed have lost the personal association and guidance of a remarkable and sincere Vaisnava.

HG Uttama prabhu has many amazing personal qualities, of which, that touched me the most is his leadership qualities. He had both a high level of maturity and realizations. Uttama Prabhu has left a wonderful legacy by building an excellent managerial setup at SJMKL to manage all the departments of Sri Jagannath mandir very nicely. He has created this machinery to carry out his wonderful vision of love, care and training for every devotee. I have seen him presenting the organizational structure of SJMKL to the congregation and was truly amazed to see how prabhu and his team have organized themselves with such acumen. Being a visionary leader, Uttama prabhu gradually trained up so many other leaders under him to lead and effectively manage all the departments in SJMKL. This is the sign of a great leader who produces more leaders to carry on the mission of Srila Prabhupada.

The Congregational Development ministry is probably the one most dear to him. This has grown tremendously over the last few years under the present departmental leaders. So has the harinama department which has growing by leaps and bounds. The great organization and orderliness of temple programs such as the Damodara festival also reflect on the wonderful machinery he has setup. A true leader creates new leaders, and we can see today many wonderful devotees have taken up responsibility in the management of temple affairs. This itself is a great tribute to prabhu.

At the personal level, I am convinced that in order to carry on with what he has left us with, we have to simply carry on with the wonderful arrangements he has setup for all of us, by working co-operatively under the guidance of those whom he has trained up. Then, we will not go wrong. I myself wish to remain as a humble servant in this wonderful setup to carry on the good work that he has done. That will indeed be the best way to remember and value his contributions.

Your aspiring humble servant

Kumar

"The sky is the limit"

Memories of HG Uttama Caitanya das with Gokul Garden

I’ve known HG Uttama prabhu for quite a number of years now but I only got to know him better after HG became SJMKL’s temple president. After I had taken initiation about 4 years ago, I was a little lost as to what service I could take up to please my Guru Maharaj. Few months later, when HG told me to take charge of Gokul Garden (GG), I felt as if the instruction came directly from my Guru Maharaj Himself. Managing GG was not easy. There were the initial teething problems. However, HG kept on encouraging me. In one of his emails to me, HG wrote:

“We understand that no matter what we do, there will ALWAYS be discontented parties. It would be naive for us to believe that we can please everyone. I personally have received negative comments and I have no one to defend me on that issues. I take it in a stride because I act based on my conscience. If I were to resign due to ill comments, I would have quit years ago.”

Reading this made me realize how much of responsibility he had to shoulder as a Temple President. Being a well-educated young man, HG could have easily settled down with a nice job and family but HG sacrificed his life to preach Krishna consciousness. It was through HG’s example that I had silently promised that I would never quit GG for my own selfish reasons.

HG emails to me on GG have always been inspirational and motivational. Being a very learned and intelligent personality, HG had great visions in promoting Spiritual Education at SJMKL. Following is an email reply from HG on GG dated 19 July 2006 which has been a source of inspiration to me for all these years:

Hare Krsna mataji Pamho agtsp agtsgg

It is very enlivening and encouraging to read your mail. All these are happening by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and as a result of your dedication and commitment. I am happy to note that you want to upgrade the place. Spontaneity is very good. Please do whatever that is good for GG. Yes when I did the partition, I just did the minimum. Of course the benches are behind schedule. It will definitely be done by 29th July. I apologize for the delay.

1. 40 and growing! That is wonderful. Soon we will run out of place. I pray that the 2nd phase will take off as soon as possible. Then we can have better facilities for the children. Nevertheless, no matter whatever facility we have or don't have, the best we can offer the children are love and care. I have seen in Vrndavan Gurukula how many boys were attached to a particular teacher because of his kind nature. I am sure our teachers are also doing fine.

2. The children are the best preachers. If they become good devotees and are well behaved, the parents will have faith in education. We have the best. Now it is a matter of presenting and disseminating. The best method of teaching is also by example. I am sure one day many of the parents will take up KC.

3. It is our desire that one day we set-up a formal education academy that deals with Vedic or neo-Vedic subject matters. That is why we initially named our place Bhaktivendanta Centre for Vedic art and culture. We cannot stop at SJMKl alone. We have to have many branches all over KL and then around the country.

For some time I have been planning to get a place in Brickfields - to be used as a preaching centre. If that materializes, we will start a weekly GG there as well. I agree it is not an impossible dream. It will happen if we are sincere in our endeavor. Yesterday's dreams are today's realities. I have some materials with me on BG for children. I have collecting some over the years. I also bought some books and CDs in Vrndavan. I am sure all these are sufficient. We have to compile them systematically.

We will not only spruce up the classroom but the outside area as well. We have too many things to store with too little space. Anyway we will do what is necessary. Yes, education/training is close to my heart. One day I hope we can set-up an academy like what they have in South Africa BCEC. They have a spiritual education syllabus from nursery till Degree.

The sky is the limit. But for now, we can focus on the groundwork. We pray may Lord Jagannatha bless us in our endeavor.

Dasanudasa Uttama Caitanya dasa

HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu was a great personality who had made some lasting impressions in my life. I sincerely pray to Lord Jagannath to please bestow His kind mercy upon HG. May HG partake in the nectarine pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna and never return to this miserable material world ever! With this I pay my final respects to HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu and my humble obeisances to HG’s wonderful parents for having brought HG into this world and blessing our lives with HG’s association.

Your useless godsister,

Vrnda Sakhi devi dasi.

"Such an advanced devotee "

Dear Devotees of KL yatra
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It was only last year that after my visit to Indonesia I decided to stopover in KL for a short visit. Since I did not know anyone there I did not plan to stay for very long. Before traveling I managed to contact HG Uttama Chaitanya Prabhu by email to inquire if there would be any chance of kirtan seva for me. This was my first contact with him, I did not know him before that. He was so warm and inviting in his response. He apologized for not having any guest house accommodation but invited us for darshan and prasadam etc. Eventually it was arranged that I could come one evening for kirtan even though it was a week day - an odd day for the congregation to attend temple program.

Still it is always my desire to serve the Deities and Their servants through kirtan no matter what day it is and so we were eventually in Malaysia. I remember how the sudden heavy rains delayed my coming to the temple but eventually when we could reach there - we were HOME. Uttama Chaitanya Prabhu displayed Vaisnava qualities that would surely make Srila Prabhupada and his spiritual master very proud. Apart from his compassionate and humble nature, I could see that he even had very good management skills. I could also see that he was loved very much by the congregation devotees because they were so obedient and eager to serve around him.

I remember that it was very late and normally the Deities would be put to rest for the evening, but in my heart I was praying that They will stay awake a little longer so that I could complete my kirtan. Krishna must have conveyed my desire to His pure devotee Uttama Caitanya Prabhu as the altar was kept open a half hour longer so that I could continue to sing. At the end a smiling Uttama Chaitanya Prabhu thanked me and expressed his desire that I visit KL again and again.

In fact, he even invited us immediately the next day for prasadam before we could go to the airport to catch our flight out of Malaysia. He constantly kept checking that we were honoring prasadam properly, that we had prasadam for our journey, his caring was immense. I remember thinking at that time, that generally a brahmacari will not give so much attention to matajis.

I recalled a lecture in which my spiritual master had mentioned the three type of brahmacaris. The first type sees women as snake and stays far away from them, the second type sees women as mother and respects from his heart but keeps a distance and the third type sees women as spirit soul and offers all respect, service and loving compassion! - for the first time I had met a brahmacari of the third type. He obviously was such an advanced devotee that he saw every one as part and parcel of Krishna and always wanted to please Krishna and His devotees. Such a devotee will surely be missed..............if Krishna will give me the chance again to visit KL I will surely miss the presence of Uttama Chaitanya Prabhu but I will render kirtan always in memory of his greatness. I pray that all the devotees of your yatra will be strong and dedicated to continue with the yatra in the manner that he did,

Your servant
Sacidevi dasi
Mumbai

"Mentor, spiritual guide loved by many"

Article appreared on The Malay Mail
Shiv Das
Friday, July 24th, 2009 03:05:00
http://www.mmail.com.my/content/8937-mentor-spiritual-guide-loved-many

He was born Uma Kanthan and his early life, first in Batu Gajah and then Tapah, provided some indication as to what he would end up doing eventually but that's on hindsight. After graduating with a degree in business studies from Universiti Sains Malaysia, he flirted with being an airline pilot and applied to join Singapore Airlines.

Although he passed all the preliminaries, such as physical and IQ tests (he was one of 16 on the shortlist from over 100 applicants), he failed when it came to actual flying. He froze every time he had to land his small training plane.

He then gave journalism a shot, joining Business Times as a sub-editor. He took to it readily enough but it didn't grab him somehow. Instead, he found himself drawn to the Hare Krishna movement he had come in contact with when he was in university and had actively led a group of university mates in learning the philosophy, partaking in various religious festivals and doing outreach work, providing tuition to needy children.

It suddenly came to him - the movement was where his calling lay and he wasted little time becoming a monk and dedicating his life to the movement rather than some material pursuit.
On being ordained a monk, he took the name Utama Caitanya Das and such was his leadership and devotion that by age 35, the movement's elders decided that he was just the person to head the Sri Jagannatha Temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Taman Yarl, off Jalan Klang Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

But on July 18, some seven years later, he died aged 42. He collapsed while playing futsal with congregational members he had gathered in Klang for a three-day convention, said a visibly shaken Ramananda Gaura Das, a KL delegate. Some 70 devotees had come from Thailand, Bali and Singapore to join their Malaysian counterparts to plan for the movement's growth.

The death had come as a jolt but at a class given two days earlier, Uttama had said it would be his last and, in an e-mail he sent to all those helping run the KL temple and movement, he encouraged them to take on the various responsibilities without having to refer to him for each and everything.

It was as if he knew his time had come. The large gathering that filled the temple for his last rites and subsequent cremation at the Loke Yew Crematorium, with its traditional wood burning, was testimony of the love and respect he had won from them.

"He was a missionary and visionary," summed up Dr Shanti Rupa, a devotee of some 25 years.
"The (international) movement's leaders had great faith in him. He was very personable and not only was he able to preach well, he also involved himself and excelled in activities such as cooking and even acting (in temple dramas). Everyone, young and old, was comfortable with him."

His proficiency in English Bahasa and Tamil was a great help and editorial skills picked up while working with the business paper he put to good use in bringing out temple publications.
Youngest of four siblings, a sister and three brothers, his father, Ramasamy, was an electrical chargehand with a large British-owned tin mine in Batu Gajah before the family moved to Tapah.

It was there that Utama completed his primary and secondary education up to Form Six. He decided to resit his STPM at the Tunku Abdul Rahman College in KL and was staying with his elder brother Sundararajah, currently the executive vice president and head of dealing, EON Bank Group, when he gained entry to USM.

"Even as a little boy Uma used to pick flowers for altar worship in the house and smear ash on his forehead. We called him samy (priest). He was always careful with his things and we still have a box he filled neatly with his toys and pencil box he never discarded," said Sundararajah.

At university, Uma sported long hair and in sharing his spiritual knowledge with fellow students he came to be called Rock Samy for the high jinks he occasionally indulged in.

Shanmuga Nathan, his other brother, who is a departmental head at the Daya Teachers Training College in Sabah, said Utama was a high achiever and an allrounder in school.

Devotees who came to bid farewell agreed that the best way to show their appreciation for one who cared for them was to continue walking the spiritual path that had been opened for them.

All present also felt that ISKCON founder, the late A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, would have been pleased with the missionary zeal of one so young to heed his call.

“For the world you are someone but for us you are the world”

Our hearts broke into pieces when we received the SMS informing that HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu has left his body. Why… why… did he leave us so early when we are still in need of his guidance to continue our service in Krsna Consciousness. He is our master and inspiration. He taught us to be good quality devotees in Krsna Consciousness.

Still fresh in our minds are his wonderful non stop kirtans, never ending classes and the delicious prasadam he cooked for us on Deepavali day (2005). I asked my husband to speak a few words about HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu but he told me that no words can describe our VALUABLE Temple President.

My daughters are going to miss the word “mol” that he always calls whenever he sees them. We feel very sad to think that we have to attend Sunday programs without him. HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu is a gift that paints a smile in our hearts and gives memories that will stay in our hearts not for a while but FOREVER.

We pray to dear Lord Krsna to shower HIS mercy upon our dearest Temple President HG Uttama Caitanya Das. We miss you a lot ……. HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu

Your servants,

Bhayga Caitanya Das, Laksmi Gowri DD,
Nivashini & Akshara SJMKL

"Perfected his life so quickly "

One of the 1st stories we heard when we joined:
In the tape of Srila Prabhupadawas the story of blessing given by a saint to 4 different kinds of people.

Saint gave blessings:-

to a prince - ma mara, "do not die"

to a devotee - either you die or live

to a butcher - do not live, do not die

to a brahmacari he said you die.

Why brahamcari die? Because he has to struggle so much, better you die and go back to Godhead.

We think Krsna was more eager to have him there in the spiritual world than taking his service in this world. Krsna is independent. We had interaction with prabhu, he was pleasing and had a instant likeable disposition. We heard him speak once or twice, he was deeply grounded in our philosophy,and kept interest of the audience. In his dealings we experienced air of simplicity, rather than pride,even though he was the president of a successful temple.

He kept in touch with overseas devotees to gain lot of understanding and their experience to use and implement in his yatra back in Malaysia.We felt great dismay and shock why Krishna took him so early? But we all know philosophically whatever Krishna does to His devotee is perfect from His point of view. We can only pray that we can have a glimpse of His point of view.

Meanwhile we can simply reflect on the good fortune of ours to have some association of Uttama Caitanya pr and his great good fortune that he came in touch with Srila Prabhupada's mission and perfected his life so quickly and attracted the blessing of the saint of the same caliber, who said you brahmcari you die and go back to Godhead.

Uttama Caitanya pr we miss you. We all pray that you pray for us, so that we can also fully dedicate our remaining life fully in the service of guru and Gauranga.

Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir,

Chowpatty, Mumbai

"I will sorely miss him"

Dear Devotees of ISKCON Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur
Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I have just this minute heard the stunning news of the passing away of his Grace Uttama Caitanya prabhu. I have been unable to access E mail for 5 days, thus I was aware of this nor able to write before. I will sorely miss him. For so many years he has faithfully and dedicatedly served the sankirtan mission there in KL.

Today I will do a special offering and prayers with heartfelt love for him. In this world there are inevitably misunderstandings but when it comes down to it, devotees in this world are such great and amazing souls. For sure he has acquired tremendous devotional credits and I pray that he is on the way back to Godhead or coming back here to continue his service in a much more effective way. It’s not easy to manage a temple, especially in the circumstances he was in and I hope the pressure of it all has not been instrumental in this occurrence. Either way nothing happens without the will of the Lord and He has a plan for us all, of that there is no doubt.

When Uttama first joined he assisted me in compiling the book “Prabhupada in Malaysia”. Since then he has tried so hard to be an instrument in fulfilling Prabhupada’s will. I pray that all of you now come together, putting our petty interest’s aside and work cooperatively to further the mission, complete the temples there and expand in all directions. This further reminds us the necessity of putting Srila Prabhupada’s will in the forefront not our own.

Also another warning to us all that we had better be serious about the business of this life. I am sure many of you are not taking the vows of chanting etc. seriously enough. Do not take it for granted – death may come at any time. Chant seriously.

I pray that you may all have the strength and enthusiasm to endure this test.
You servant

Janananda Gosvami

"Unlimited wonderful vaishnava qualities"

Dear devotees of ISKCON, Malaysia
Please. accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

I am very much shocked to hear sudden departure of H.G. Uttama Caitanya Das. He has unlimited wonderful vaishnava qualities. He is a dynamic leader. Always smiling. He was a President ISKCON KL for 10 years. During his Presidentship with only few temple devotees he developed a lot. He worked very hard to develop Congregation. He is a good speaker of Krishna katha. Not only in Malaysia, in India and other Countries devotees love his classes and seminars. I am sure he is under the shelter of Lord Krishna. I thank him for all his services

In the service of Guru and Gauranga
Bhakti Vrajendrananadan Swami

"A first class devotee"

Dear Devotees
Dandavat pranams

Although late from my side but as all I am very much sad and shocked to inform all of you, that our very dear God brother and a first class devotee, HG Uttama Caitanya Prabhu ( Temple president of ISKCON Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia) left his body recently on July 18th (ekadasi). His early and unexpected departure have shocked the community of devotees who have served with him and all those who know him will miss him a lot, he was very much dedicated to Srila Prabhupada and have sincere and pure love to serve our Gurumaharja.

All the services that have been requested to him, were done with a very high level of professionalism. He was very austere, never liked nor demanded any comfort, nor he never ever asked for any personal seva as I know but all for the devotees and krsna’s mission. He is an inspiration to all of us. HH Jayapataka Swami has a very high esteem for him and considered him a very dear son, that even when the circumstances demanded Gurumaharaja used to correct him directly and personally without any need to use any polite words or methods but straight as talking to his very dear son.

We don’t know why the Supreme Lord took him so early and we are all sure that he in serving Radha Krsna’s lotus feet at this moment.We pray for him always and to Lord Narasimhadeva to protect him.

Your Servant,

Tusti Mohan Krishna das

"A leader to be cherished"

It was during Damodar month in 2003 that I had first met HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu when my wife organized the festival in our home. He was such a humble person and he easily captivates a person with his intelligence and knowledge on Vedic scriptures. I was truly amazed by prabhu when he said to me “Krsna would be in the middle of your home by the next Damodar Festival”. True enough it happened within the one year period when our whole family joined ISKCON and during the following Damodar Festival the altar was in our living room and Krsna was in our heart as well.

During the encounters with Uttama prabhu we always felt that he was one of our family members, as he is very simple and easily approachable. We used to invite him to our home and he would never decline even with his busy schedule. At one of his visits during lunch, he gave “initiation” in his own way by naming my children Damodar, Jaganath, Shyama Kishori and Kannaiya. We were very moved by his action and the children were very happy about their names and informed they want to maintain the names when they were to be initiated in future.

This is how he motivates devotees to advance further in KC. He always makes a point to talk to devotees during Sunday Feast or festivals and remembers’ everyone by their names. He was a cheerful person and always goes out of the way to assist devotees. He was our counselor and he conducted weekly class on Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam with about 20 devotees.

During the class last Friday, he emphasized a lot on performing services in the temple; quality chanting; hearing and association with devotees. He also discussed about auspicious things which happens to many devotees after joining KC. There were a lot feedback from the group, but the only thing we did not tell him was that knowing him and to be with him was the very most auspicious thing that happened to us.

We will miss you Uttama prabhu but we know you are happy in the abode of Krsna.

Your servants,
Visvaksena Dass,

Suseela Devaki Dasi,

Jaganath,

Damodar,

Shyama Kishori

Kannaiya.

"Remembering his wonderful spirit"

My sincere prayers to Sri Sri Radha Shyamsunder to offer shelter and service at Their lotus feet for this noble soul, HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu.

I've seen his dynamic spirit during my visit to Mayapur dham and we often used to discuss about college preaching. It is a great loss to vaishnava community to miss such a special soul.

Remembering his wonderful spirit, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the mission of Guru and Gauranga more and more. Thank you for sending me this valuable mail. It is very inspiring and heart touching!

Hare Krishna.

your servant

Radheshyam das,

Temple President,

ISKCON, Pune Director,

VOICE (Vedic Oasis for Inspiration Culture and Education)

"A very sweet devotee"

Dear Prabhus/maharaj,

Please accept my humble obeisance .

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am extremely sad to hear this news of passing away of Uttama Caitanya pr. He is a very sweet devotee. Even if he was president of the biggest temple in Malaysia, still he was always behaving in a very simple way like a child. It is a great shock for me to hear that all of a sudden he left his body. He is a memorable devotee. He is very approachable by nature and I am sure a dedicated devotee like Uttama Caitanya pr. will attain the goal of having love of Godhead and go back to serve the lord .

Thank you very much.

Your humble servant

Bhakti Purusottama Swami

"Practices what he preaches"

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
All Glories to Guru and Gauranga

All Glories to HG Uttama Prabhu

My family and I had to accept with the great sorrow and shock, when I received the news about the sudden departure of HG Uttama Prabhu from this material world. My wife and I came in association with him sometime in 1998, initially just as just as one bramachari in temple and over the years as the Temple President at SJMKL. He was one of the very instrumental persons in our path towards Krishna Consciousness especially with regards to accepting diksa. There is so much to say about Uttama prabhu that I don’t know where I should begin as he was an expert in every all aspects from cooking right up to acting, besides his immense knowledge of the scriptures, Krishna Katha, so many other things.

He was a born leader with so many good qualities that a true Vaishava displays. His Grace is one who practices what he preaches. Of the many such qualities, some of those that caught got my eyes over these years were his simplicity, caring for others, humbleness, jovial and above all, the very high level of austerities he undertook, during Ekadasi and other festivals etc.

During festivals after a long day of complete fasting, with kirtan, spiritual discourse and so many other things to handle, most times he would not take any prasad and just a cup of water after everything is over. Despite all the problems that he has to face as a Temple President, he always remains calm and composure. He has indeed left such a big vacuum for all of us to fill up as he was a pillar of strength of SJMKL and its congregation.

He has taken the hearts of everyone including my kids, who are very fond of him. We have to accept the fact that Krishna, has taken him back, back to his real home, his real birth place in the spiritual world. The important lesson from his departure for me would be HIS WAKE-UP CALL to get serious in my practice of devotional life properly and not to wait for tomorrow to come, as tomorrow might not come.

To HG Uttama, please accept my humble obeisance and forgive me for any wrong doings committed upon you whether knowingly or unknowingly. We pray that the Krshna would always keep you at his lotus feet.

HG Uttama Prabhu Ki Jai”

Your servants
Sudhir sundara das, Nama Nista dd,

23 July 2009

" The original 'Uttam atma' "

Dandavat pranam.

It was very disheartening and heavy impact news, the sudden departureof His grace Uttama Caitanya prabhu, from us. When we think that we will not have the very friendly, caring, and inspiring association of Uttama prabhu again in this birth, the silent grief surrounds us. No doubt, vaishnavas never die, but practically the loss is for us, now. We know how difficult it is to find a true vaishnava -really caring andcompassionate.

We really miss our brother.....

All the devotees of Simhadesh (Spore) pray from the heart, for the original 'Utthma atma' to continue his seva at the lotus Feet ofGauraNitai in a absolute pure and blissful association.

Your Servant,
Haladhara Priya Das.
Simhadesh (S'pore)

" A very rare brahmachari, with sharp intellect and down to earth character"

I had an opportunity to interact with H.G. Uttama Caitanya Prabhu on two occasions. One was during my first visit to KL in the month of Dec. 2003, next was during Sri Pancha-Tattava Deity installation festival at Sri Mayapur Dham during Feb. 2004.

In our first meeting itself he connected very well with me as if known to me for several years. I never felt like a stranger when I visited Sri Jagannath temple for the first time. He was very warm, loving and jovial and made me feel comfortable. It was like a comfort zone in his association. He was very receptive to our thoughts regarding developing a congregation.
Subsequently he spotted me at Mayapur during Feb. 2004. He was once again kind and affectionate and told me, when he visits Mumbai, he would meet me.

He was so natural, a very rare brahmachari, with sharp intellect and down to earth character, a blessed devotee. I was indeed shocked to hear about his disappearance, but was glad to know about his glorious departure. But still the loss of such a great soul can never be replaced.

I pray to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai that H.G. Uttama Caitanya Prabhu under Their shelter and by the blessings of his gurudeva, guide his dedicated team to continue with the task which he initiated at KL for the development of congregation.

Your Servant,
In the Service of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga,
Jaganmohini Devi Dasi(BSDS)

"A tribute to a true leader, par excellence"

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga

The bereavement is deep; the parting is tragic, heartbreaking and painful to accept. No words can fully describe the tragedy of the loss of one so young, one who is so supremely intelligent, talented, vibrant, full of energy and life.

Unfortunately HG’s time and presence with us was snuffed out so prematurely before we could all enjoy the full benefit and association of this trained intellect and dedicated disciple of HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj. Above all, HG’s humility will be greatly missed and it shall stand forever tall as an inspirational beacon. Few or none that I know have ever uttered a harsh word of HG Uttama Prabuji and likewise never have I seen or heard of a word of admonition uttered by HG. Admiration and awe of him were the order of the day; neither spoken nor expressed but universally felt by one and all, hence the outpouring of grief, shock, disbelief and sadness on Sunday 19th.

HG stood tall amongst devotees and visitors. A GIANT of a Vaishnava he was, wise and selflessly helping each and everyone who came his way, nay; he went out of his way to accommodate devotees and guests of SJMKL. He was always one of the last to take prasadam at the Sunday Feasts, choosing instead to mingle with the assembled devotees to exchange a few lilas and sharing thoughts and always enquiring lovingly over devotees’ sadhanas. HG was always caring and encouraging in his ways, gently calling forth the importance of discipline in the ways of a Vaishnava and to move north in the quest for KC.

His infectious and inimitable laughter shall linger long in our memory as will his dedication to the cause and service to ISKCON. Never selfish with his knowledge and training; always appreciative of assistance rendered. Ever so quick to chant the holy name in gratitude and blessing, made more memorable by his bright infectious smile, facial radiance and persona. That was HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu, a true leader who will be profoundly and sincerely missed by his beloved devotees.

The feeling of sadness and loss is greater still as we are now not in a position to say thank you in person, for one last time, to prostrate before him in humble obeisance, for HG has indeed given so much to so many. In the days gone by HG would never accept a thank you from devotees but would always quickly brush off our sense of appreciation and admiration to him with hands raised and a chant of His holy name, accompanied by his ever captivating smile. That was the simplicity of HG, all efforts were his but every bit of adulation, gratitude and accolade were for his guru and the cause he served so well and tirelessly too.

HG was a leader par excellence, delegating as much as he could, not for lack of skill or ability but for the far sighted wisdom of training others via participative leadership. Whilst he delegated, HG never let up on being kept in the loop of the on goings and was always there to guide and share his wealth of knowledge and experience. It is perhaps this distant, yet hands-on involvement with all and sundry that prompts devotees to feel so deeply attached to HG and makes his passing ever more difficult to bear and to come to terms with. HG was there for each and every one of us, unselfishly.

HG was eloquent both in English and Tamil, speaking off the cuff and quoting Vedic literature with ease, much to the awe and admiration of all present. HG’s fluency in Tamil must be given its due credit and reflected in its true perspective, for a leader such as HG trained himself in the language for want of better service to his congregation. HG’s formal education was in English and BM only. Kudos and my humble obeisances to you, Your Grace, what more can a novice devotee, taking shelter like me, say of your efforts to serve us better.

I remember vividly HG’s zest for ecstatic Kirtan and the sharing of the joy of group participation at the September 2008, Vaishnava sammelan (gathering) in Port Dickson. HG led the Kirtan till the wee hours of the morning, 1am to be exact; full of vigour and energy such that the last mrdanga player, Sriman Biran Prabu almost gave up trying to keep pace with HG; palms and fingers aching. As may be expected, I was late for the next day’s morning mangala arati. HG however, was one of the first to arrive and later chided devotees in a friendly, affectionate way for not finding the discipline in them to make it on time for prayers, even at an auspicious meeting such as that. The sign of a true leader - HG Uttama Chaitanya prabhu.

As a dramatist, HG led from the front and took his various roles as would a duck to water. In June, at a skit in the SJMKL, during the Snana Yatra Festival, HG while dressed as King Indrayumna (less the headgear) made the mandatory general announcements, proceeded to introduce and warmly welcomed new comers to SJMKL (totally oblivious to giggles and laughter of the assembled devotees, who were more accustomed to HG dressed in saffron then in theatre attire) and thereafter immediately assumed the Kingly role upon adorning the headgear. He gave a splendid performance, no less and added much joy and spontaneity to the front row devotees with acknowledging yet impromptu eye and facial gestures as he had done before in his role as Kamsa at Sentral and Dewan Soma ... a committed actor, a dedicated scholar, a passionate teacher, an unswerving vaishnava, a friend and true leader, par excellence.

Your Grace, we will all miss you so dearly.

We pray that Lord Krishna may reward you with a place of eminence at His lotus feet.
Hare Bol!
Sriman Raaj

"He had a vision of Vrndavan"

His Grace Uttama Caitanya prabhu had many many wonderful qualities. He was an extremely rare personality who in his brief years in the temple, managed to touch the lives of so many people in various profoundly deep and meaningful ways.

He involved himself deeply in every arm of the temple, from deity worship, which was very dear to him, to cooking, book distribution, FFL, what not... Over the years, he was instrumental in organizing and executing every major festival at one time or another. He was expert in everything (another quality of a devotee)...from deity dressing, arathi, cooking, managing, preaching, drama, kirtan, in short, there was never an excuse to learn something for the service of Srila Prabhupada.

....And his classes.., equally eloquent in both Tamil and English, his lectures were highly instructive, moving and saturated with devotion, all delivered in a most engaging manner with never a dull moment owing to his disarming sense of humour.

His Grace was singularly passionate about devotee care and he did his utmost to reach out to hundreds (or thousands) of people to make them feel appreciated and cared for, and he did this sincerely with the desire of helping us to feel at ease in this family. One did not have to be privileged to seek his counsel or assistance. He was very approachable and freely gave himself to anyone. He had an infectious smile, a razor sharp wit, and coupled with his mesmerising charisma, he would expertly engage everyone blissfully in services, never letting us being idle or feeling left out. I know of many people he had touched that had made all the difference in their lives.

How rare was this jewel amongst vaishnavas. His Grace Uttama Caitanya prabhuji was one person who had an immaculately clear vision of the spiritual world, and he endeavoured selflessly and tirelessly uphill amidst many obstacles to establish Vrndavan in Jaganath Mandir for our benefit. He really did! In this, there was no doubt that he really understood the heartfelt desire (mano bhistam) of his Gurumaharaj and Srila Prabupada. There were many who helped him, but it was his vision that propelled and unified the congregation and fuelled our enthusiasm collectively.

For me, HG Uttama Caitanya prabhu is all of the above and more. He is one of the three pillars in my life. He was my first siksha Guru and still remains one. I owe it to him that I joined ISKCON. I owe him many things. For my wife and me, he has made all the difference in our lives and we will always cherish his memory. We consider ourselves inconceivably blessed for getting his association and the chance of serving him.

... And we will keep him alive always in our hearts.

Sincerely from our hearts,
Sudarshan Das, Kaumodaki Devi Dasi & Prahlad

"A warm smile to welcome me "

I'm struggling to accept that Uttama Caitanya prabhu has left his body. He was one of those few people who made strong impression on my early days inkrsna consciousness.

Although I'm no longer a regular at the temple, he's treated me without partiality. He's always had a good word and a warm smile to welcome me whenever I visited the temple.I will be missing his kindness and sense of humour. And that distinct laugh of his.

I can't imagine how hard it must be for all of you who have had sucha close relationship with him. It must be very sobering to realise how temporary our positions are. Very sobering too that we can 'go' at anytime.It is a loss to the temple, congregation and devotees of Malaysia that Uttama Caitanya prabhu has left us to continue his services to Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna in a different capacity and different sphere.

I hope the KL congregation will gradually recover from this loss and move forward to continue with their wonderful preaching activities. It will be afitting tribute to Uttama Caitanya prabhu.

Your servant
Asraya Nitai dasi