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By Hema Jagannatha Das

On New Year’s Day 2026, approximately 400 devotees gathered at ISKCON Plainfield, NJ, to honor a traditional Sri Jagannath Puri–style Maha Prasad buffet featuring 15 courses.

Organized by ISKCON of Central New Jersey (ICNJ), the annual New Year Sri Jagannath Puri–style buffet has been held for nearly a decade. Even during the COVID year, ICNJ volunteers continued the tradition by preparing and distributing 10+ course Jagannath Puri–style takeaway meals for hundreds of devo

A disciple of Shri Madhavendra Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi was Shri Gadadhara Pandit’s guru, and an intimate friend of Svarupa Damodara.

Pundarika Vidyanidhi had other names-Shri Vidyanidhi, Acaryanidhi, Bhaktyanidhi, and Premanidhi (given by Lord Chaitanya). “Simply by hearing his name,” said Shri Gaura, “the whole world becomes purified.”

Premanidhi’s pure devotion caused Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to sometimes cry profusely and call out loudly, “Bop, (father) Pundarika! Pundarika is My father,

Her Grace Gopimata dasi grew up in the midwestern US. In 1977 she traveled to London where she met Srila Prabhupada.

She stayed for ten years in the ashrams there, mostly doing sankirtan. She also served as a pujari and cook as well as performing with the Vaikuntha Players. Later, she married His Grace Ankottha Das and moved back to the U.S. where she and her husband raised 3 sons.

Her Grace Gopimata has been teaching Yoga for over 30 years in Kansas and created the “Yoga with Heart” teacher tr

I felt insulted that he didn’t want my money. I grabbed the book from his hand, threw the book in my briefcase, and walked away quickly, without even so much as a look to say thank you. I’ll read that book, I thought, to find all the faults, and show any shaven-headed fellows next time I met them, that they are just wasting their time with all this religious mumbo jumbo. That if they really want to succeed in life, I could show them how.

——-

I often look back upon that kind soul, unknown to me,

The Manor plays host to book distributors from across the UK and Ireland as we celebrate the National Sankirtan Festival.
It’s a chance to appreciate their efforts in sharing spiritual knowledge, the answer to all of life’s problems, in the form of Srila Prabhupada’s books throughout the year and particularly during the month of December.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117098

By Atma Tattva Das, 

Kamita Kamau, known online as Kamita_Kirtan, is a Nairobi-based Krishna-conscious content creator, musician, grihastha, and entrepreneur whose work documents both his inner spiritual life and the outward expression of Krishna consciousness in contemporary African society. His journey into bhakti began in 2020, during a period of personal searching and questioning. Like many young people of his generation, Bhakta Kamita was seeking meaning beyond career ambition or social ide

By Mahabhagavat Das SDA

In Toronto’s brutal winter, Srila Prabhupada transforms the cold into spiritual gold by encouraging remarkable Sankirtan efforts, exceeding a total of 110 outings in 2025 against all odds for one humble warrior. Battling frigid temperatures and indifferent crowds, Srila Prabhupada tirelessly inspires diverse audiences, from skeptical Sikhs to curious Muslims. Each cold encounter becomes a lesson in humility to the Sankirtan warriors, the transient nature of recognition, a

ISKCON’s Ministry for Book Distribution is inviting devotees and communities worldwide to submit nominations for the 2025 Book Distribution Awards, recognizing outstanding leadership, innovation, creativity, and resilience in the global sankirtan movement.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/global-call-for-nominations-to-honor-sankirtan-excellence-and-innovation/

By Priyagovind Das

As the sun transitioned into Capricorn for Makar Sankranti on January 14, 2026, Ayodhya Dham was transformed into a sea of devotion. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, fresh from their holy bath at the Magh Mela in Prayagraj, arrived at the feet of Lord Ram. To honor this sacred arrival, ISKCON Ayodhya scaled its Food for Life initiative, distributing over 100,000 free prasadam meals.

This massive humanitarian effort is rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita: “The

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit our Adelaide temple again where the presiding deities of Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara are amongst my favorite deities in ISKCON.

The new temple room was beautiful and many devotees and visitors attended. A team worked to prepare Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra cart for the upcoming Australia Day parade on January 26th.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/adelaide-temple-visit/

In spite of the fact that everything comes from the Supreme Being, He is still aloof from it all. He does not disengage Himself from His eternal pleasure pastimes with His devotees in the spiritual realm. So, in the process of creating the material worlds, the Supreme expands Himself into various forms, which are His plenary parts. Krishna is the primeval Lord, the original Personality of Godhead, so He can expand Himself into unlimited forms with all potencies. They are no different from Him,

ISKCON Visakhapatnam was honoured to host the Pan-India ISKCON Leaders’ Summit from January 5th to 11th. Set against the serene backdrop of the beautiful seafront, overlooking the Bay of Bengal, where the gentle waves kiss the shore and the morning sun bathes the horizon in golden light, the summit created a spiritually uplifting atmosphere for reflection, discussion, and fellowship. The week-long summit brought together esteemed leaders, including Lokanath Swami, Bhanu Swami, Bhakti Rasamrita S

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,

Students from Our Little Vaishnavas school in Mayapur recently hosted their annual children’s market day, turning classroom lessons into real-world business experience. Through small booths and creative projects, the children practiced entrepreneurship while embracing Srila Prabhupada’s vision of self sustenance, learning teamwork, responsibility, and practical life skills along the way.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/young-entrepreneurs-bring-prabhupadas

Q.
Dear Bada Haridas,
I led my first kirtan yesterday evening! I was wondering what is the role of the kirtan leader? I know that practically speaking they are playing an instrument and singing the mantra for the group to repeat, but what is their job spiritually?

I felt a little bit nervous to take on the task at first and was wondering if you could share some of your wisdom in that regard. Hare Krishna!

A.
Glad to hear you are leading kirtan. Thank you for asking such a nice question and for

Freedom from painful impediments

In Kingdom of God, there is no hunger, thirst, birth and death, old age, disease, etc. Thus without these sufferings that draw our consciousness in the material world, keeping us absorbed in sorting out problems of life in material world, one can simply focus on service to Supreme Lord without any impediments.

Freedom from material desire

The Vaikuntha residents while travelling in their Airplanes condemn the fragrance of Madhavi flowers in ponds, which indicate