As you may have heard, several houses of devotees in Kazakhstan were bulldozed hours ago. Forum 18 News has a detailed report. The demolition contradicts earlier Kazakh official assurances that all actions in the authorities long-running attempt to take over the commune would be frozen.

A Norwegian based religious freedom group reported that authorities in southern Kazakhstan today began the demolition of the only Hare Krishna commune in the former Soviet Union. Forum 18 quoted a Hare Krishna spokesman, Maksim Varfolomeev, as saying riot police sealed off the 48-hectare farming commune before the bulldozing began.

The managers expected at most 1000 and 2,300 came. One can not help feel that the Lord, down through the parampara and Srila Prabhupada, has revealed a new chapter and offering for for his dependents, a real unifier for ISKCON, that will purify and protect us in our future projects and ventures ahead.

Restorers from New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) are working on Sarvamoola Grantha which expounds on the essence of Hindu philosophy, the meaning of life and the role of God. This priceless collection of 36 erudite commentaries was written in Sanskrit by Sri Madvacharya (1238-1317 AD), one of India’s greatest theologians.

Bhajans began and our MC, Michael Terry, a recent graduate of Wake Forest Univ. and former announcer for NPR who has been practicing Krsna consciousness, spoke with confidence as he publicized all the goings-on. Jane Priddy-Charleville, the Mayor of Danbury, spoke in praise of Stokes County and its Hare Krsna residents.

Oxford College of Hindu Studies achieves full recognition Oxford University has given its official seal of approval to the Oxford College of Hindu Studies (OCHS) by awarding it the newly created status of “Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University”

A new service to Srila Prabupada is at hand with the 1st annual Puri Parikrama 2006. It is stated that if one does parikrama of Nilachala Dham at this tithi that this will equal a the full caturmasya vrata. Over 1500 devotees(mostly from India and many internationals) from Iskcon have now congregated to perform this yajna.

Those few seconds seemed like a few hours but luckily we were all out. There was still a lot of terror and confusion. Two guys were now dealing with the excruciating pain of the pepper spray. The young girls were hysterical. One of the girls had been hit in the face and was cut.

By asking Americans how they perceive God, researchers have constructed four religious view points. An extensive survey divided religion into four ways of seeing God, which they say is a better indicator of political and moral attitudes than denomination

The kirtan went on and on we didn't want it to stop. The mrdanga was pulsating and the harmonium was emanating mind absorbing music. The holy name was dancing on people's tongues, people were dancing in circles, clapping. This was a Krsna conscious RAVE!

In this interview with Dr. Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org he chants Hare Krishna Hare Rama and praises the glories of Ramayana and Mahabharata!

Devotees scrambled for shelter, I remained alone on the scene, blinded, nauseas and unable to stand, mucous poured out of my eyes and nose. The pain was very intense like liquid fire. I chanted the Nrsnga kavacha for the devotees I saw being attacked and somehow I was not attacked in my incapacitated state.

On thursday 26th October New Vrindaban was graced by the presence of HH Bhaktimarga Maharaja who visited for the weekend. The aim of his visit was to inspire the local devotees to start up a drama troupe with the aim of putting on regular performances for devotees and guests alike.

Vraja was their lead cow. He was like their father or grandfather. Since they were babies, he was the big protector and decided where the herd would go and who could do what. When anyone would come into the field, Vraja would approach first and analyze whether they were friend or foe.

Here you can see a video of Govardhan abhishek and building the hill of rice. Apologies for sending it late - due to some engagements that we have to attend these days, we hope to catch up with postings by the end of next week.

With a live band in the background, Mohini Chacon, 16, dances in front of the temple’s shrine to Krishna. “My main goal,” she said, “is to meet new people. What we follow is what we believe in, and I never want to be anything else.”

A man of God is in town to challenge Darwin. Researcher Michael A. Cremo, like many of Darwin’s critics, doesn’t believe that man descended from monkeys. But unlike most of them, he turns Darwinian theory on its head, using the Vedas, believe him or not. “We haven’t evolved from monkeys. We have devolved from pure consciousness,” he says.

The event at the Bhaktivedanta Manor ISKCON Temple, in Aldenham, has been organised by the Hindu Forum of Britain and forms part of a series of community outreach dinners with leaders from different political parties.

This official attitude fuels social intolerance of religious freedom. Kamaliddin Saidov, a Khorezm resident and Krishna devotee, was imprisoned with his wife by his father for fifteen days in a separate room. His father demanded that he renounce his faith and forced Saidov and his wife to eat meat and drink vodka (Krishna devotees do not eat meat or drink alcohol). When they would not deny their beliefs, Saidov's father expelled them from the house after seizing all their documents.