By Atma Tattva Das,
The Bhakti Yoga Society (BYS) held an in-person national student retreat at Banana Beach Holiday Resort on South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal South Coast from September 11 to 13, 2026. Organized around the theme “Inner Adventure,” the gathering brought together 66 students and facilitators connected with university outreach in several South African cities. Organizers described it as the first national BYS retreat in more than a decade.
The event was a national initiative of ISKCON South Africa, whose BYS leadership helped inspire the effort and made a substantial financial contribution. Visiting teachers included S.B. Keshava Swami and B.S. Gauranga Swami, South Africa’s youngest and most recent sannyasa initiate. Yoga instructor and WITS BYS alumnus Madhavendrapuri Das joined UKZN BYS facilitators Vasanti Dasi and Madhurya Kadambini Dasi. Organizers included Rukmini Devi Dasi from Durban; Manukanya Devi Dasi, WuSA House temple president and WITS BYS Counselor; Kriya Sing from Pretoria; and Gokulesh Das, ISKCON Cape Town temple president and a university-outreach facilitator.
The retreat took place during ISKCON’s 60th-anniversary year. The movement was founded in New York in 1966, while South African devotees marked 50 years since founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s 1975 visit in 2025. During that visit, Prabhupada addressed university audiences at the University of Natal’s Westville campus, now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg. The 2026 retreat extended that campus focus by asking how young adults can engage spiritual practice while facing questions about identity, belief and contemporary life.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/bys-national-retreat-reconnects-south-africas-student-seekers/
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