By Praghosa Das
ISKCON will be celebrating a monumental milestone this year, as the movement marks fifty years since its UK incorporation date.
This is a UK wide celebration of ISKCON and every centre is invited and encouraged to participate in these events. ISKCON UK will be holding a month of celebrations to mark the lead up to the inauguration date (15th August – 15th September 2019), which will include a specially commissioned touring pop-up exhibition, a keynote event at SOAS in London, and a UK wide mass mantra meditation day called the Hare Krishna Experience. In addition, there will also be the opportunity for our key national events to be branded as part of our 50th celebrations. As part of today’s launch, ISKCON UK is also unveiling the new 50th UK logo.
To commemorate this historic achievement, ISKCON UK’s theme for the 50th celebrations is Be a Pioneer – Do Something Extraordinary, where we look back to our lineage imbibing a pioneering spirit, from Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mood of spreading Krishna Consciousness to every town and village, the Six Goswamis reasserting the principles of Bhakti, Bhaktivinode Thakur, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Srila Prabhupada himself, and the achievements of the six pioneers that came to London in 1968. We also look forward to how every one of us can be a pioneer today and take ISKCON forward throughout the next fifty years and beyond.
The incorporation of ISKCON UK in 1969 was only possible through the firm faith and incredible efforts of our six devotee pioneers: Shyamasundar Das, Malati Devi Dasi, Gurudas das, Mukunda Goswami, Janaki Devi Dasi and Yamuna Devi Dasi, along with baby Saraswati, who set out from San Francisco with a dream to establish a temple in London on behalf of Srila Prabhupada.
The story documenting their journey in the UK is an enduring and epic one, particularly because they were able to do the seemingly impossible; in December 1968 they met The Beatles, and almost a year later recorded and released a single called Hare Krishna Mantra with the help of George Harrison.
Speaking today, UK GBC HG Praghosa Das said:
“It has been a most momentous 50 years. From the devotees first arriving on UK soil to where we are today and everything in between has been some journey of hard work, good fortune, unexpected twists and turns, great struggle and even a sprinkling of miracles! We look forward to the next 50 years and all it has to bring!”
In addition, ISKCON-London will be hosting a special event commemorating fifty years of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara’s installation and are inviting devotees to submit stories and memories from 1969. Please contact Anantacarya Das on anantacharya@iskcon.london for further information.
For further information about the 50th branding for key national events, please contact Mina Sharma on mina@krishnatemple.com
For media and communications, please contact Mina Sharma on mina@krishnatemple.com
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