Page - 70 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

70 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18Debora Baldelli | Parading in the city’s public space In 2016 and 2017, The Ratha Yatra was co-organized with Lisbon City Hall, “Festas de Lis- boa” (EGEAC), Social Rights/Lisbon City Hall and Lusofona University/Science of Religions, with representatives of these institutions participating in the religious opening ceremony, which is presented in Portuguese and English. Several migrant communities also contributed to the Ratha Yatra financially, which gave them the freedom to parade with their flags, as was the case for the Hindu Community in Portugal. The festival had professional coverage in photos, video, and even air recordings made by a drone. TV Arroios, a local channel that covers the area of the city where Ratha Yatra started the parade, also did a special report on the event. Ratha Yatra cannot happen without the support of the hindu communities since the Hare Krishna Movement doesn‘t have a sufficient number of devotees to make a large scale parade. The festival was the first attempt of the Movement to create a dialogue with Lisbon City Hall, and it focused on showing the Ratha Yatra and the Hare Krishna Movement as a hindu tradition with good dialogue with other hindu communities such as the Hindu Community of Portugal, Shiva Temple, Gurdwara Sikn Sangat Sahib (Sikkh temple), BAPS Sri Swamirayan Mandir, Bangladesh Community in Portugal and Durga temple, all collaborators of the festival. Although most hindu communities are not interested in an in-depth dialogue with the Hare Krishnas, the Ratha Yatra create a possibility for hindu representation and occupation of the public city public space. As mentioned in the beginning if this article, although the Hare Krishna Movement (ISKCON) is an offshoot of Hinduism, it was not developed in India. The Hare Krishna Ratha Yatra route map, 03/09/2016, http://www.rathayatralisboa.pt/