“The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud”. The arrival of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada materialized the above praxis when he arrived in South Africa in October 1975 during the height of the apartheid regime. The juxtaposition of apartheid, its racial and ethnic segregationist policies and the restlessness of a suppressed people caused the message and teachings of Srila Prabhupada to resonate widely and be felt deeply. He came...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would lay foundation stone for the first Golden Temple in the State by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Vijayadasami Day (October 22). Preliminary works like construction of sheds and rearing of cows at the Cow Protection Centre (Gosala) began a few months ago at Lord Krishna’s temple close to Kondaveedu Fort of Guntur district with a budget of Rs. 200 crore in 80 acres of land given by the Stat...

The summit is expected to be the “biggest gathering of its kind in Kerala this year”, the release said. Around 1,400 participants are expected at the summit, which will bring together distinguished scientists, entrepreneurs, industry experts, government representatives and students. Rajeev Dubey, HR and corporate services president of the Mahindra group; Shaurya Doval, MD, Zeus Capital; Ramchunder Singh, advisor to the President of South Africa and Brian Bloch, advisor to the interior departmen...

The Indonesian devotees took up this year's World Holy Name Week with great zest. Youth from all the temples/communities united to perform a Harinama Yajna never before held. On the first day, a 12 Hour Kirtan at the Sri Sri Radha Madhava Asrama (Gianyar, Bali) with His Holiness Kavicandra Swami (Co-GBC for Indonesia), His Holiness Ramai Swami (Co-GBC for Indonesia) and His Holiness Bhakti Raghava Swami in attendance. Devotees from the 5 temples and 3 centres took turns to complete the 12 Ho...

The French Revolution of 1798 is regarded by western historians as one of the most important events in human history. The revolution sparked off at the magnificent Place D' La Republic, this is the location where another type of revolution was to happen, the Krishna Prasad "feeding of the 5,000". A revolution of consciousness, the Hare Krishna revolution. Referred to as the "spotless" Purana, the Bhagavatam is "directed towards bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misd...

The national capital of India witnessed a historic Maha-Harinaam Sankirtan on 27th September 2015 at Janakpuri, New Delhi, organized by ISKCON Shri Shri Rukmini Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka under the guidance of Shri Shri Radha Parthasarthi Temple, East of Kailash. The Maha-Harinaam Sankirtan was marked by Their Lordships Shri Shri Rukmini Dwarkadhish gracing the streets of Jankapuri on their palanquin amidst roaring kirtan. The Rockshow on a 40ft trailer stole the hearts of many bringin...

Thousands of pilgrims, guests and visitors chanted and danced to the sweet Holy Names of Krishna at the Krishna Balaram Mandir for 10 days. The chanting goes on anyway with our 24 hour kirtan department, the ladies group chanting in Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi and the devotees from the Youth Forum engaging everyone in chanting one complete round on beads, in Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi upstairs, everyday. The festival expertly organized by the temple management had different groups par...

ISKCON Mayapur celebrated the World Holy Name Week from 24th September to 4th October. Every day from 27th September to 4th October, there was a Nama Yajna at Srila Prabhupada’s bhajan kutir from 4 PM to 9 PM followed by prasadam. This Nama Yajna started on 27th Septmeber in celebration of Srila Haridas Thakur’s disappearance and it was performed in front of a murti of Srila Haridas Thakur. HH Lokanath Swami’s ecstatic kirtana on 2nd October was one of the most liked kirtana in Nama Yajna. ...

We have split the daily meal serving into a morning group and an evening group. It is difficult to accommodate cooking for all of them in one go in our temporary kitchen building. But we found out who preferred a morning meal time and who wanted an evening meal time and split them accordingly. We celebrated Radhastami (Radha’s Appearance Day - September 21st) by treating them all to a feast of rice, dahl, puri, two varieties of sabji – cauliflower and paneer, and boondi raita. And ...

There is absolutely no greater experience to be had than to be a member of the Harinama Sankirtan party, watching the faces of the members of the public as they smile, laugh, frown or scowl at you while you chant and dance jubilantly to the sweet sound of the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. This 5 minute ecstatic video was recently filmed on the Appearance Day of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. It appears that there was some divine intervention because all of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, 10...

HG Simheswara Das prabhu, the regional secretary of ISKCON Malaysia and chairman of the temple building project called all the BCC youths for a meeting. Unknown to us, he had already planned to give us a project to glorify Srila Prabhupada. His Grace wanted people to know about Prabhupada’s life and especially on His Divine Grace travels in Malaysia back in May 1971. Simheswara prabhu told us that we have to come up with a proposal to achieve this project. Although we have taken on projects...

"Everyone was given the chance to offer Her a stick of incense, a ghee lamp, and a flower," says ISKCON New Vrindaban president Jaya Krsna Das. "They then each wrote a special vow or prayer to Srimati Radharani, which were all collected and offered in a basket at Her lotus feet. Finally everyone got to take a balloon with a heart- shaped label at the end of its string, each marked with a different one of Radharani's 1008 names, and place it on the altar." The festival also included ecstatic kirt...

Devotees often say that Radhastami is the most important festival at New Vraja Dhama. Although the verdict shall be taken according to one's individual preference, i humbly agree with the premise, for She is known as Vrindavanesvari and the mood on Her day at New Vraja Dhama is always additionally surcharged by some mysteriously special substance. "She is not a woman", Jayapataka Maharaja said recently in Mayapur, "She is the pleasure potency of the Lord. If you can please Radharani, and She tells Kr...

We dedicate our time and energy to keep New Govardhana beautiful for the Lord and for the many guests who come to connect with Him. A new temple is the physical manifestation of this consciousness – it is a place where God is worshipped and where we are given an opportunity to experience His kindness and mercy. Such a rare opportunity to build a temple for Krishna is not simply a matter of logistics and finances, but is an effort from all the New Govardhana devotees to increase their spiritual conne...