In 1927, after just six issues of Kalyan had been published, a powerful idea emerged at satsang: that collectively chanting the Hare Ram, Hare Krishna mantra, with participants across India recording and reporting their jap counts, would be a profound national spiritual act.
The target was set at 3.5 crore (35 million) repetitions of the mantra. Through Kalyan magazine, ordinary people across India were invited to participate: any person, on any date, in any location. The only requirement: to chant, to count, and to report. The annual completion ceremony falls on Falgun Shukla Purnima.
Each year since 1927, millions of participants (farmers, housewives, students, merchants, the elderly) have sent their jap counts to the Namjap Vibhag at Gita Press. The total is published annually in Kalyan, creating a visible, growing record of India's collective spiritual practice.
This is, in all probability, the world's largest decentralised collective meditation programme, running continuously for nearly a century, with no subscription fee, no registration, no organisation beyond the simple act of counting and reporting one's own naam-jap.
"हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे।
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे॥"
How Namjap Works
- Anyone, anywhere can participate; no registration, no fee
- Chant Hare Ram, Hare Krishna at home, at any time, any date
- Count repetitions and record your count
- Send count to Namjap Vibhag, Gita Press, Gorakhpur
- Annual total published in Kalyan magazine
- Collective completion celebrated on Falgun Shukla Purnima