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Southend-on-Sea Jagannath Ratha-yatra Festival 2026

Date: July 12, 2026
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Sunday, July 12 was a very special day as the Southend Hare Krishna Community had the opportunity to organize the 3rd Jagannath Ratha-yatra Chariot Festival in Southend-on-Sea.

This annual Chariot Festival is the sacred occasion when the Lord of the Universe, Lord Jagannatha, bestows His mercy upon everyone. More than three weeks of careful planning and dedicated teamwork went into making th

Dear ISKCON educators and leaders,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

On behalf of the ISKCON Ministry of Education and the Viplavah 2026 organizing team, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in Viplavah 2026 via Zoom or online platform.

We would especially like to offer our sincere appreciation to our esteemed presenters for their enlightening presentations and dedicated service:

His Holiness Hanumatpreshak Maharaj

His Grace Tapan Mis

By Yogeshwar Krishna Das,

ISKCON Patna celebrated the historic Jagannath Rath Yatra 2026 with immense spiritual enthusiasm and grandeur, attracting more than 200,000 devotees from across Bihar. Marked as one of the largest and most historic Rath Yatras ever held in Patna, the festival transformed the city’s streets into a vibrant ocean of devotion. Thousands of devotees joyfully accompanied the magnificent chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Srimati Subhadra Devi, continuously chantin

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,

The Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) in Kolkata will open admissions this year (AY2026-27) for two new postgraduate degrees, an M.A. in Bhagavad-gita and an M.A. in Srimad Bhagavatam, both affiliated with Central Sanskrit University (CSU), Delhi, a central university functioning under India’s Ministry of Education. 

A Decades-Old Instruction

In a letter dated November 9, 1975, Srila Prabhupada wrote to Tusta Krishna Swami: “Your idea for the scholastic inst

By Jananivas Das

Last evening, our home was filled with new and old faces, all gathered around the sweetness of Krishna’s name; it was an intimate, wonderful program. And afterward, I found myself wondering — what did they actually take with them when they left?

Not the words. Words are only the vehicle. Within a day, most of what was said about Krishna’s pastimes, His nature, His call to the soul — most of it will blur, paraphrase itself, or vanish entirely. This is simply how memory works. We

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi, 

Bala Nimai Das has released Inside the Mind, a poetic children’s book drawn from the Fourth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, accompanied by an original short film of the same name. The project distills teachings from one of the Srimad Bhagavatam‘s most detailed philosophical exchanges into accessible verse and imagery for readers of all ages.

A Project Born from Personal Study

The book’s origins lie in the author’s practice of writing poetry to deepen his enga

Last year a church property was purchased in the the Lynnwood area of Seattle, which is a family friendly suburb located 26 km north of the downtown area. It offers a practical, accessible alternative to Seattle’s steep living costs.

There are many devotee families close by and after renovating the building they starting kirtan, class and prasadam programs, along with teaching school to the children. Hari Vilasa and I visited to lead kirtan, class and encourage them in their devotional practices

Today is Hera-pancami or Laksmi-vijaya!

Lord Jagannath along with His siblings leaves for a vacation to His aunt’s place and His consort Mahalakshmi was left behind in the main temple. While leaving he had promised that He would return the next day, but time passed by and He never came back, nor did He give any information. After the 5th Day, she became impatient and hence decided to visit the Gundicha temple to see if everything was ok.

The Hera-pancami festival takes place just five days afte

Hera Panchami is a unique festival associated with famous Rathayatra of Puri. ‘Hera’ means to ‘see’ and ‘Panchami’ means the ‘fifth day’. It is celebrated at Gundicha temple on the fifth day from the start date of the cart festival.

This festival is dedicated to Goddess Mahalaxmi. The temple of Lord Jagannatha is known as Sri Mandira. “Sri” means Laxmi, so the name of the temple as “Srimandira” signifies the fact that Mahalaxmi is the principal Goddess of the Grand Temple. This ritual highlight

By Chaitanya Charan das

“I am my worst enemy.” Some of us may have felt like this when we came under the grip of sudden, irrational impulses, and spoke and acted in ways that hurt others or ourselves or both. We make plans and efforts to change our illogical, uncongenial behavior, yet the heat of the moment often overpowers us. When we repeatedly succumb to the same self-defeating behavior, we may become possessed by the gloomy thought: “Maybe this is just the way I am; maybe this is my unchange

I always wondered why Srila Prabhupad said we are Krishna’s dog. This thought always bothered me why he chose a dog. Few days ago one of a very old friend of my family engaged himself and me in a long conversation. By Krsna’s unlimited mercy I am surrounded by souls who are extremely spiritual in various faiths. This uncle mentioned about qualities of Dog. He said a dog has up to 40 qualities; out of which one of the most important qualities is his humility. No matter how much you hit your dog,

By Atma Tattva Das,

Radhe Dasi, Communications Director for ISKCON South Africa, as chairperson. The appointment places the International Society for Krishna Consciousness at the head of a national advisory body for the first time since the movement’s founding in South Africa in 1975.

Ten Seats at the Table

The CRL Rights Commission is a Chapter Nine constitutional body tasked with protecting cultural, religious, and linguistic rights. CRL Chairperson Thoko Xaluva Mkhwanazi presided over the lau

Bhaktivedanta Manor marked ISKCON’s 60th anniversary with a joyful community celebration honoring Srila Prabhupada’s extraordinary journey from arriving alone in America in 1965 to establishing a worldwide spiritual movement. The program featured the unveiling of permanent plaques displaying ISKCON’s Seven Purposes, historical dramas by the Junior Bhaktivedanta Players and Bhaktivedanta Players depicting Lord Jagannath’s appearance and Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, a nostalgic multimedi

This year’s Jagannatha Rathayatra in Seattle was a grand success. The devotees told me there were more than a thousand who attended the parade and between 12.00pm and 7.00pm around nine thousand came through the park.

Of course, the favorite stalls were the ones serving free prasadam, especially the ice-cream and jelebi. The main stage, which had kirtan and dance, was always packed and the cows and calves were very popular as well. Many books and other products were sold and everyone was in a jo

 On the auspicious day of Jagannatha Ratha-yatra in Puri, two of Lord Chaitanya’s most confidential associates, Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Srila Sivananda Sena, left this world to return to the supreme abode.

The inner moods of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, especially in Puri, were not easy to understand, and they were unknown to most devotees. Only Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, who was the most intimate associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri, could really understand them, and by his gra

Today is Ratha-yatra day.

It is a great honor, privilege, and pleasure to be here on the auspicious occasion of Snana-yatra. The first deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON were discovered in San Francisco in 1967. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, Malati dasi, saw a small figure in an import store, Cost Plus, and brought it to him. When Prabhupada saw the figure, his eyes opened wide. He folded his palms and bowed his head in respect. Then he said, “You have brought