By Ravindra Svarupa dasaI regard this article as a supplement to my book, Srila Prabhupada: Founder-Acarya of ISKCON. It expands upon discussions relating the importance of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, especially in light of the philosophical and spiritual significance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s parent temple, Sri Caitanya Matha, in Mayapur. As I write, the resplendent Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, its central dome now towering 350 feet above the alluvial soil of Sridhama Mayapur, ...
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- 3 Sep 2016
By Padmapani DasWe started from Port Said today at about 1 p.m. The Port Said city is nice. It has long narrow neat and clean roads with lofty buildings. The city is not at all congested. While passing the rear point of Suez towards Mediterranean sea, the city is clearly seen. But it is a small city with some industrial factories. Although in the desert in the city all varieties of vegetables available. There is also a Marine drive like Bombay Chowpatty beach. I could see a good park in the city. (Port Said is kn...
- 3 Sep 2016
By Tom Zillich“I went through a lot of pain, physical,” Swami admitted. “The biggest challenge of all is walking on an angle – it’s like walking on a beach. But nevertheless, everything else compensated for that (pain), including meeting fantastic people, meeting characters, being confronted by black bears, grizzlies, whatnot, and finally I became an addict, I like it, gotta do it again.” His first coast-to-coast walk was documented in “The Longest Road,” a 2003 National Film Board of Canada movi...
- 2 Sep 2016
By Acarya DasaSankirtana is the heart of padayatra. Wherever we walk, whenever we enter a village or conduct house programs we chant the holy names with every soul in attendance dancing along with us. It’s not a surprise to us since we are traveling with sankirtana eka pitaro, the father of sankirtana Himself, Lord Caitanya. Lokanath Swami said, “Celebrating the ‘World Holy Name’ festival is like celebrating the victory of the holy names all over the world param vijayate sri- krishna sankirtanam [1]. The ...
- 1 Sep 2016
By Singha Bhatta DasThe annual Bhakti Sangam Festival is surely the most amazing event on this planet, with so many Maharajas and preachers sharing their realizations in seminars, and the evenings are spent in most sublime kirtans. Each seminar block has six presentations running parallel in various venues. Since there is such a huge crowd of devotees many topics can be offered by a variety of speakers to suit everyone's needs and attractions. 103 photos from the opening day of the festival, morning program and e...
- 1 Sep 2016
By Gauranga DasISKCON Govardhan Eco Village a 100 acre sustainable farming community and retreat center, based near Mumbai, India received the 2016 Green Apple Awards for Built Environment & Architectural Heritage Award for it’s Green Building initiatives from the Green Organization, UK, at a special ceremony on Monday August 8, 2016 at The Crystal, London Docklands – regarded as the most sustainable events venue in the UK. Radha Mohan Prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta Manor, on behalf of ISKCON GEV, received thi...
- 31 Aug 2016
By Sunanda dasAnish Bikmal is a 15 year old ISKCON Vaisnava who attends South Forsythe High School near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. as a 10th grade student. He plans to pursue studies in Neuroscience and Psychology. His father and mother, Subal Sakha das and Amrta Gaurangi devi dasi, are from Hyderabad, India and moved to America in 1999, work in the IT field, and are initiated disciples of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami. In 2014 Anish and his older brother, Anirudh, co-founded an educational website called Mot...
- 31 Aug 2016
By Emma WynneTaking part in last week's celebrations were Jagattarini Dasi and Bhurijana Dasa. The pair joined the movement at the height of the counter culture of the late-1960s. "We were young and those were hippy days," Ms Dasi said. Prior to becoming a Hare Krishna, Ms Dasi was a young Australian actress that went by the name Janne Wesley and starred opposite Mick Jagger in the 1970 film Ned Kelly. She said a visit to a temple in Los Angeles changed the course of her life. "Something was deeply moving fo...
- 30 Aug 2016
By Sri Krishna Kathamrita BinduEmbedded with various flowers here and there, tied together using jewelled strings; decorated with lines of deeply fragrant jasmines; having a spherical arrangement of jewels hanging at the back from [three] lines of excellent jewels — 0 Radhe! When will I see the excellent dhammilla hairstyle created by the hands of Sri Hari himself? Rasa-kulya Commentary: The term dhammilla means, “Hair tied together in a topknot.” This term indicates that Radha’s hair had been intricately...
- 29 Aug 2016
By Nitya Bhgavata-sevayaBecause of the special attention She received from Krishna, that gopi thought Herself to be the most fortunate woman. She told Krishna that She could walk no further and that He would have to carry Her on His shoulders. Hearing these words, Krishna consented and suddenly disappeared. Now alone in a secluded place, that gopi felt extremely anguished. She desperately began looking for Krishna everywhere. Being unsuccessful, She sat down and cried most piteously. When the gopis found Her in ...
- 29 Aug 2016
By Jagadish Shyam DasIt was first time Janmastami was celebrated at Gaya Gandhi Maidan. More than 10,000 people attended the festival, from 5 PM to night 2 AM. Prasadam was distributed profusely to all the attendants. Hg Rambhadra Prabhu, (Director, IYF- Bihar & Jharkhand) delivered a lecture. He highlighted Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead quoting from scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. A drama entitled 'Advent of Lord Krishna' was performed. It was followed by aarti, a...
- 28 Aug 2016
By Krishna das65 000 guests gathered to celebrate 25th Sri Krishna janmasthami at ISKCON Salem. Celebration started early morning 4.30 am and went ‘till 2 am in the morning next day. Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai alankara was “Kalpa-Vrksa”, surrounded by 108 delicious offerings made by devotees. The darshan queue was way out on the main road. HG Hari-pada Prabhu and HG Phalini Mataji were the chief guests. They lead most ecstatic kirtans, and Prabhuji gave inspiring lectures much appreciated by locals. Program consi...
- 27 Aug 2016
By ISKCON DelhiThis year on Janmastami day, ISKCON - Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir received 5 lakh devotees. The temple was decorated using flowers from India and elsewhere along with several Jhakis depicting the pastimes of the Lord. The temple also featured prominently the theme of '50th Anniversary' along with posters informing the visitors of ISKCON's activities. The dress that the Lordships wore this time was designed by a high-end fashion designer who also designs the clothes of the Royal family of Mo...
- 27 Aug 2016
By Filmwork StudiosBhaktivedanta Manor’s spectacular Janmashtami festival attracts over 70,000 pilgrims to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna on earth 5000 years ago. The festival demonstrates the spiritual variety of India’s ancient Vedic culture in all its glory. On arrival, visitors walk through the newly completed ‘New Gokul’ complex, Europe’s largest cow protection project, as they make their way to the colourful festival site. At the site, the main marquee stages cultural dances and musical extra...
- 27 Aug 2016
By Indradyumna SwamiFor years we have taken pride in doing our summer festival in Kolobrzeg, one of the biggest and most popular tourist destinations along the Baltic Sea coast in Poland. There was a time when we had to fight for permission to hold our programs there, but as the years rolled by, word spread that our event is highly professional, cultural and fun. The city has warmed to us and has even suggested specific dates on which to hold our festival. Unfortunately, last year we were unable to perform in K...
- 27 Aug 2016
By Arya Devi DasiThe weekend’s events started on Friday night with Bhakti Film Fest and a patron’s dinner. The highlight of the weekend was a theatrical, musical, and multimedia performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House with 800 people attending two performances. In attendance were Rachael Kohn from ABC Radio’s Spirit of Things program, the New South Wales Indian Consul General, as well as representatives from Multicultural New South Wales, the Hindu Council of Australia, and the Catholic Church. Numerou...
- 27 Aug 2016
By Kesava Krsna DasaThere is one publication issued by the Watch Tower called, “Mankind’s Search For God.” In this book, they probe all the major world religions and thought systems with a view to guide the readers to the “True God”. Any laypersons reading this book could easily think this is an impartial and balanced analysis, but make no mistake, it is pleasantly biased in favour of the ‘Biblical’ observation that the world is 6,000 years old, and all religions, including Hinduism, spread out...
- 26 Aug 2016
By Vijaya DasaUsually the Bali temple is barely noticed in the world of book distribution, but in July something happened, I don't know what, and the temple had its best month in history, with 15,064 book points: an 849% increase. The devotees there are a quite devoted group, so perhaps they were showing their gratitude to Srila Prabhupada on this fiftieth anniversary of ISKCON. We received shocking news months ago that Russia had passed a new law restricting religious activities to places of worship. We thought...
- 26 Aug 2016
By Sunita SohrabjiSeveral thousand Indian Americans, along with other devotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, gathered together here Aug. 14 to celebrate the 50th annual Ratha Yatra. “I have come every year since 1994,” Mohini Raj, bearing several garlands of marigolds which she offered to Sri Jagannatha, told India-West. The elderly woman brought her young grandchildren along this year, to clap, sing and dance at the joyous festival. “This reminds me of the festivals I would go to...
- 25 Aug 2016
By Sadhubhusan DasIncluding Manipur ISKCON in the worldwide celebration of 50 Golden years of ISKCON, the Youth Forum of ISKCON Manipur organized ‘The Achintya Youth Festival 2016’, from 21st to 24th August 2016 at the temple premises and was completed successfully. A festivity replete with cultural programs, musical performances, debate, quizzies, interesting competitions, interaction with distinguished professors, social workers and celebrities, martial arts presentationa, kirtans, prizes and to complete it...
- 25 Aug 2016
By Kripamoya dasJust last month our teams prepared hot meals for 17,000 in Trafalgar Square. In Glastonbury the Hare Krishna tent fed 15,000 hungry mouths over the festival, and the same team prepare 900 meals daily for the homeless and hungry students. Besides singing and dancing in public places, or distributing books, giving out blessed food or prasadam is the activity for which ISKCON is known. Today, 50 years after it started, that essential activity of cooking in large quantities has been raised to a fine a...
- 24 Aug 2016
By Lee BensenSuffice it to say that the success in Spanish Fork paved the way for plans to build a similar, if smaller, temple in Salt Lake County on property the Hare Krishnas own just east of 900 East and south of 3300 South. Also designed by Vai, the completed temple “will be exquisite,” promises her husband. Caru envisions the Salt Lake temple as a beacon of spirituality for not only the 100 families active in the faith in the valley, but for others looking for positivity and enlightenment as well. “...
- 22 Aug 2016
By SPtributesThe 2016 Srila Prabhupada Tributes book – “the open Vyasa-puja book” – is now available as a pdf file from www.sptributes.com. Physical books have already been mailed. Each year, all initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada are welcome to write offerings for the book. And any disciple who sends an offering will receive a physical copy of the book.If you were initiated by Srila Prabhupada but didn’t receive an invitation to contribute, please write to sptributes (at) gmail.com in order to be...
- 22 Aug 2016
By Nimai Devi DasiISKCON Leicester has welcomed Sri Sri Radha Madhava from ISKCON Belfast to accept worship in Leicester, UK. A special welcome ceremony took place today (Sunday 21st August) to receive the beautiful brass Deities Who have been worshipped in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the last 35 years. The community offered abhishek to the 2.5 feet tall Deities to welcome Them to Their new home in the heart of Leicester City Centre. Devotees travelled from all over the country to witness the special ev...
- 22 Aug 2016