The International Committee for the Banner of Peace

In this life, I have been fortunate to visit wonderful and magical places.

One of these is a place called “Isvara”, which in Sanskrit means "place of light".

 Isvara, is a beautiful farm surrounded by a lake and beautiful "verioskas", which is typical Russian tree whose leaves dance along with the wind.

Isvara is close to St. Petersburg (Russia) and was the summer home of Nicholas Roerich. Today it is a beautiful and welcoming Museum.

 The illustrious Roerich, Initiator of the Banner of Peace, once said:

"All the happiness and beauty in my childhood is related to Isvara”

It is in this place that Roerich learned to respect and to love nature. Here his interest in archeology began, finding prehistoric artifacts. It is here that he first began painting and he was a happy and peaceful child.

The last time I had the privilege of being there it was autumn. The colors of the leaves where yellow, brown, orange, red and fuchsia. Fall in Russia is truly amazing.

I arrived very excited for my third visit to the house of Roerich when a man I did not know, and that proved to be the Curator of the Museum, very respectfully approached me and said:

"The last flower of the Isvara summer, for the Master's favorite disciple"

Those words touched my heart.

The tone of his voice was sweet and parsimonious.

And as if it were a religious ritual, he showed me around every corner of the garden and house.

The place where Nicholas slept on his vacations, that still retains his vibration, the room his Mother meditated in, the Virgin of Peace with the symbol of the Banner of Peace, and the small lake where Nicholas found archeological pieces.... Everything was magical. The presence of my beloved Master Roerich, the same presence that comes to me every time I present the Banner of Peace anywhere in the world, was there surrounding me, livening me and making me the happiest woman in the world.

I share here the pictures taken on that wonderful Russian autumn, so to see them, they can feel the same excitement I felt seeing those landscapes.

A.R.

Translator: Iván Sawyer García