From Russia and Ghana to the Falgu: foreign devotees perform pind daan after a visit to ISKCON Gaya

During the Pitru Paksha Mela, when pilgrims pour into Gaya to perform rites for their ancestors, ISKCON Gaya’s volunteers have been boarding trains with packets of prasad for more than 2,000 pilgrims a day, and two groups of foreign devotees, five Russian women and two devotees from Africa, one of them the Ghanaian spiritual consultant and Vedic priest Devarishi Das Asamoah, have performed pind daan on the Falgu river after learning the rite at the temple.

GAYA, Bihar — The ISKCON temple in Gayaji has been running a “travel prasad” service for the pilgrims of the Pitru Paksha Mela, reaching more than two thousand people a day at Gaya Junction and inside the trains themselves, Dainik Bhaskar reported on 1 October 2026.^[1] A week later, on Thursday 8 October, five Russian women devotees performed pind daan at Devghat on the Falgu, and an IANS photographer captured two African ISKCON devotees, one of them Ghana’s Devarishi Das Asamoah, performing the same rite at Pretshila, both groups having been introduced to the tradition by the temple.^[2][3]

Prasad on the platform and in the carriages

Temple president Jagdish Shyam Das told Dainik Bhaskar that pilgrims from across India and abroad come to Gaya in their lakhs during the fortnight to perform rites for their forefathers, and that serving them is “a matter of good fortune for ISKCON”. The prasad service, he said, would continue until 10 October.^[1]

Because the pilgrims are travelling, the temple gives them dry prasad that can be eaten on the move; at the time of the report it was packets of vegetarian soya biryani. Volunteers go to the passenger sheds, to the reservation counters and into the trains; on Wednesday 30 September they distributed prasad to passengers on the Mahabodhi Express.^[1] The newspaper names Ramakant Murari Das, Ramnarayan Das, Aman, Loknath, Akash, Dharmik, Brajesh and Anand among the volunteers preparing, packing, transporting and handing out the prasad.^[1]

The temple’s manager said the food is cooked in the temple’s Radharani Rasoi, with a different preparation each day, packed “with full purity”, and that a special dish would be distributed on 2 October. He thanked the donors supporting the service.^[1]

Five Russian women at Devghat

On Thursday 8 October, five Russian women devotees, dressed in Indian clothes, sat on the ground at Devghat on the Falgu river and performed the full pind daan ceremony under the guidance of priests, the Hindi daily Agniban reported.^[2] According to the paper, the women had visited the ISKCON temple in Gaya in July, as tourists, and learned there about the city’s religious significance and the tradition of offerings to the ancestors.^[2]

“After learning about the religious significance of rituals performed for ancestors and the ancient pind daan tradition, these Russian women decided to perform it for their forebears in Gaya.”

Jagdish Shyam Das, ISKCON Gaya, to Agniban, 8 October 2026^[2]

He added that interest among foreigners in experiencing these practices directly is growing, which he attributed to ISKCON’s work abroad.^[2]

Two African devotees at Pretshila

The same day, Social News XYZ published an IANS photograph of two African ISKCON devotees, identified in the caption as Mickal and David, whose initiated name is given as Dev Rishi Das, performing pind daan rituals at Pretshila during the mela “for the salvation of their ancestors”.^[3] The caption gives no further detail about who organised their visit.

Akincana Gocara has identified the second devotee, the man at the centre of the IANS photograph above, as Devarishi Das Asamoah, a Ghanaian devotee who describes himself on his Instagram account, which carries the Ghanaian and Nigerian flags, as a spiritual consultant, Vedic priest and humanitarian, and who runs the YouTube channel Astrodevaraj108. On 8 October his account posted a reel from Gaya, tagged Vishnupad, with the caption “One offering. One sacred vow. Generations of ancestral blessings.”^[5]

The Times of India reported his visit separately on 7 October. According to the paper, Asamoah, described as a spiritual consultant and healer from Ghana, arrived in Gaya on Wednesday 7 October, more than 9,000 km from home, to perform pind daan and tarpan for his ancestors at Dev Ghat on the Falgu, under the guidance of the local preacher Loknath Gaud. It was his second visit to Gaya.^[6]

“It is a privilege for me to perform the ancestral rituals. When you perform pind daan, the ancestors shower their blessings, bringing happiness into your life and all family members. … If you honour your ancestors, your children and grandchildren will honour you.”

Devarishi Das Asamoah, to The Times of India, 7 October 2026^[6]

The two reports place him at different ghats on consecutive days: The Times of India at Dev Ghat on Wednesday, the IANS photograph at Pretshila on Thursday, where the caption says he was accompanied by a devotee named Mickal.^[3][6]

Background

Pitru Paksha is the fortnight of the lunar calendar devoted to offerings for departed ancestors; Gaya, with its Vishnupad temple and the Falgu river, is the traditional place to perform pind daan, and the state-run Pitru Paksha Mela draws pilgrims from across India each year. ISKCON Gaya has reported prasad distribution at Gaya Junction during the mela in earlier reports this season as well.^[4]

Akincana Gocara has not independently verified the daily figures given by the temple to Dainik Bhaskar, and the names of the Russian women were not published.

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Sources

1. “तीर्थयात्रियों की सेवा : प्रसाद बांटने ट्रेन तक भी पहुंच रहे हैं स्वयंसेवक”, Dainik Bhaskar (Gayaji), 1 October 2026. bhaskar.com/g/local/bihar/gayaji/news/serving-pilgrims-volunteers… (archived copy)
2. Digvijay, “सात समंदर पार से देवघाट पहुंचीं रूसी महिलाएं, पूर्वजों के लिए किया पिंडदान”, Agniban, 8 October 2026. agniban.com/russian-women-traveled-from-across-the-seven-seas… (archived copy)
3. “Gaya: African ISKCON devotees perform Pind Daan rituals during Pitru Paksha Mela” (IANS photo gallery), Social News XYZ, 8 October 2026. socialnews.xyz/2026/10/08/gaya-african-iskcon-devotees-perform… (archived copy)
4. “Gaya Junction: ISKCON temple distributes food among pilgrims” (video), Hindustan, late September 2026. livehindustan.com/videos/bihar/gaya-junction-iskcon-temple… (not reopened for this draft)
5. Devarishi Das Asamoah (@astrodevarajofficials), Instagram profile and reel “One offering. One sacred vow. Generations of ancestral blessings.” (#gaya #vishnupad), 8 October 2026, read 8 October. instagram.com/astrodevarajofficials; instagram.com/astrodevarajofficials/reel/DeO2cs6qGMt
6. Alok Kumar, “Ghana spiritual consultant performs pind daan in Gaya”, The Times of India (Patna), 7 October 2026. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/ghana-spiritual-consultant…