{"id":23149,"date":"2016-01-03T13:38:18","date_gmt":"2016-01-03T12:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=23149"},"modified":"2016-01-03T13:38:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-03T12:38:18","slug":"hare-krishna-movement-celebrates-50th-anniversary-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=23149","title":{"rendered":"Hare Krishna Movement Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

By ISKCON Communications Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJoy of Devotion\u201d Inspires a Half-Century of Growth<\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.\u20141966 was a significant year. Chairman Mao Tse-Tung\u2019s \u201cLittle Red Book\u201d was published for the first time. Despite mass protests, the United States began to bomb Hanoi, North Vietnam\u2019s capital. The Soviet Union\u2019s Luna 9 made the first soft landing on the Moon. Actor Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. Indira Gandhi visited Washington. Walt Disney died. The Beatles performed their very last concert in San Francisco\u2019s Candlestick Park.<\/p>\n

And, on New York City\u2019s lower east side, surrounded by a handful of young followers in a small storefront temple on 2nd Avenue, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada incorporated a fledgling religious society. He named it the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON. On that hot summer day, the 13th of July, the Hare Krishna movement was born.<\/p>\n

Few noticed the event. Fewer still would have expected this 70-year old swami and his band of reformed hippies to be more than a blip in the avant-garde history of New York City. But, fifty years later the society Prabhupada created is arguably the largest and most influential of global Vedic (Hindu) organizations, and the 600 plus Hare Krishna temples around the world attract an estimated nine million worshippers per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides scholars, few people know the depth of the Krishna movement\u2019s roots in India\u2019s historic Vaishnava tradition, nor ISKCON\u2019s impact as a leading proponent of devotional bhakti yoga around the world,\u201d says Dr. Ravi Gupta, head of Utah State University\u2019s Religious Study Department. <\/p>\n

Srila Prabhupada passed away in November 1977. But, the movement he began has proven to be a resilient one. ISKCON today claims not just 600 temples, but 65 eco-farms and 110 vegetarian restaurants. Its affiliated Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is the world\u2019s largest publisher of Vaishnava literature and has distributed 516 million books and magazines.<\/p>\n

In addition, ISKCON\u2019s affiliated Annamrita Food Relief program feeds 1.2 million school children every day in India, and ISKCON is the official faith partner with the British government for the Krishna Advanti schools, which oversees multiple schools. ISKCON\u2019s world headquarters in Mayapura, West Bengal India, draws one million pilgrims each year and a new Temple of Vedic Planetarium is under construction that will hold 10,000 people in the main worship hall.<\/p>\n

As early as 1975, scholars took note of ISKCON\u2019s growth. Dr. A. L Basham, author of the famed book, \u201cThe Glory That Was India,\u201d wrote that \u201cThe Hare Krishna movement\u2026 is historically very significant, for now, for the first time since the days of the Roman Empire, an Asian religion is being openly practiced by people of western origin in the streets of western cities.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cISKCON teaches that every living being is an eternal soul, and that happiness comes from awakening our relationship with God, Sri Krishna, the all-attractive person,\u201d said Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON\u2019s Communication Minister. \u201cPeople know that a consumer driven life is a dead end; when they experience the joy of bhakti, or devotion, they realize this is what they are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

ISKCON inaugurates a year of celebrations marking the 50th Anniversary on New Year\u2019s Eve. Throughout the year events will include major Rathayatra (\u201cGiant Chariot\u201d) parades down New York\u2019s 5th Avenue, Washington\u2019s Independence Avenue, Toronto\u2019s Yonge Street, and London\u2019s Trafalgar Square; as well as celebratory festivals and events to coincide with the July 13 anniversary date.<\/p>\n

In addition, gala VIP dinners are planned for Sydney, London, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Washington. And, a 64-year old Krishna monk will walk for six months across the entire United States, commemorating Prabhupada\u2019s teachings and ISKCON\u2019s growth across America and the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"HareBy ISKCON Communications Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.\u20141966 was a significant year. Chairman Mao Tse-Tung\u2019s \u201cLittle Red Book\u201d was published for the first time. Despite mass protests, the United States began to bomb Hanoi, North Vietnam\u2019s capital. The Soviet Union\u2019s Luna 9 made the first soft landing on the Moon. Actor Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. Indira Gandhi visited Washington. Walt Disney died. The Beatles performed their very last concert in San Francisco\u2019s Candlestick Park. And, on New York City\u2019s lower east side, surrounded by a handful of young followers in a small storefront temple on 2nd Avenue, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada incorporated a fledgling religious society. He named it the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON. On that hot summer day, the 13th of July, the Hare Krishna movement was born. Few noticed the event. Fewer still would have expected this 70-year old swami and his band of reformed hippies to be more than a blip in the avant-garde history of New York City. But, fifty years later the society Prabhupada created is arguably the largest and most influential of global Vedic (Hindu) organizations, and the 600 plus Hare Krishna temples around the world attract an estimated nine million worshippers per year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announce","category-iskcon-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23151,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23149\/revisions\/23151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}