One of the highlights of the Mayapur Gaura-purnima festival every year is, for some, the theatrical drama directed by His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami. Every year, Bhaktimarga Swami works with a diverse cast and crew, many of them second or third generation ISKCON members, to create a dramatic performance for all of Mayapur’s visitors from around the world.
This year at the 2019 Annual Gaura-purnima Festival in Mayapur, Bhaktimarga Swami and his players performed “The Queen’s Secret.” This dramat
Today is the appearance day of Srivasa Thakura is one of the most prominent devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and appeared in Mayapur along with Sri Caitanya in the 15th century.
One of the most striking features of the Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, ISKCON’s World Headquarters in West Bengal, India, are the Deities of Sri Sri Panca-tattva who preside over the temple. These five Deities are cast of eight different kinds of metal and weigh approximately two tons. At nine feet tall and shining
By Kaisori Devi Dasi
Available on Apple’s App Store/iTunes store:
The BBT’s new Krsna Book app
With the full text in English, Russian, and German, with more languages being prepared.
The text is fully – and quickly! – searchable in each language. Easy-to-read with many customizable features, including the ability to bookmark, highlight, and make notes. Full Sanskrit diacritics on the text and a glossary, just as in the print edition.
Switch easily from one language to another – you can compare
I have been a regular visitor to the ISKCON Temple in Jaipur, Rajasthan for almost an entire past decade. Rajasthan being my ancestral state, we make
it a point to travel here once at least every year. To say then, that I have a personal affinity for this state, and the Jaipur ISKCON temple wouldn’t be an exaggeration… from being a simple
By Jambavati Devi Dasi
Yesterday in Dunedin New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was visiting a local Mosque to comfort and reassure the Local Muslim Community after the recent terror attack in Christchurch where 50 Muslim Worshippers were brutally murdered while praying.
She then made her way to The Otago University Clubs and Societies Building where ISKCON Dunedin holds their Krishna Lunch Program.
Daily feeding at least 250 hungry and very grateful students and staff..delicious nutrit
By Radha Sakhi Dasi
Who is a hero? In simple words, a person of distinguished courage or ability admired for his/her deeds and noble qualities. Then who is a legend? A Legend is a person who is extremely famous in his/her field whose glories and valour are celebrated through traditional stories coming down through time. Touchstone Media’s ‘Pauranic Caritavali’ celebrates the glories of the true legendary heroes from the Puranas.
The Puranas herald the tales of heroes of different times since cr
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
Sometimes I feel that the temple is transcendental, the Bhagavad-gita is transcendental, the holy name is transcendental, and the devotees are transcendental. Everything is transcendental expect me; I am not transcendental. But to some extent we are elevated to the transcendental platform, because we are chanting Hare Krsna, taking Krsna prasadam and engaging in devotional service.
So the transcendental energy is working through us at times, and then we are on a transcen
On Saturday March 16th, just a few days before Gaura Purnima (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Appearance Day), around 250 people visited Manhattan’s Bhakti Center for the Roots of Kirtan festival – described as “dynamic, creative and overflowing with devotion.”
Attendees were a mix of bhakti practioners and newcomers who had heard about the event on social media or in their yoga class.
Roots of Kirtan is one of a series of introductory events by The Bhakti Center that correspo
By Madhava Smullen
Previously, Rathayatra in Dallas was a small scale affair, with ISKCON Dallas devotees pulling Lord Jagannath’s chariot through their local neighborhood.
But last Spring saw them partner with the Dallas Arts District to put on “Festival of Joy,” a major cultural event for the entire Dallas area.
Despite an unexpected cold front during which temperatures dropped to 29 degrees, three thousand people still turned up. Large outside heaters and hot chai helped, and the activity
In his grand vision for New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada regularly described cow protection and local agriculture as the “main business” for its residents.
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of cow protection in New Vrindaban – it was back in May 1969 that Prabhupada met and named the community’s first cow, Kaliya. So it’s the perfect time for ECO-Vrindaban to begin a worldwide search for a president to oversee its steadily expanding operations.
ECO-V is a non-profit enti
The Shantipur festival was first celebrated in the 15th century by the great saint Sri Advaita Acharya. The festival took place at his home in Shantipur on the occasion of the disappearance day of his spiritual master, Madhavendra Puri. On that day he fed all the devotees who came to his home prasadam, or sanctified food offered to the Lord.
Lord Caitanya attended the celebration and ate along with all the devotees. He stated that whoever comes to Shantipur and honors prasadam on this day will
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
In The Nectar of Devotion there is a reference to ‘sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā,’ that we must make devotional service more dense. One of the symptoms of bhava is avyartha-kālatvam (Cc. Madhya 23.18-19) – not to waste a moment. In theCaitanya-caritamrtait is said that while the associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu were taking prasadam they were chanting the holy name in between bites. So they were not wasting a moment; their devotional service was very dense.
It is also said tha
Some devotees think, that because they are devotees, they must preach instantly to whomever they meet. Perhaps if we had the required force of purity, we could effect changes in people’s hearts on first contact. The reality is however, that not everyone has the required sukrti to appreciate our words; we have to create it for them.
By Kesava Krsna Dasa
Being in the workplace alongside the same faces, day in, and day out, can present challenges for a devotee keen on preaching. Simply letting eve
March 21st, 2019 – On the auspicious birthday of Lord Caitanya, Gaura Purnima, in the ISKCON Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir in Sridhama Mayapur, four qualified candidates accepted sannyasa from His Holiness Jayapataka Swami in order to further spread the mission of Mahaprabhu.
Sannyasa is the renounced order of life accepted by many followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself accepted sannyasa in order to further the spread of the sankirtana movement. Srila Pra
By Mauricio Garrido, Ph.D.
In 2012, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, called for a debate between scientists, philosophers and theologians to find common ground between science and religion over how the universe began. Even though the explanations found in the texts of the world’s spiritual traditions are admittedly not exhaustive in the details referring to the origin of the universe, they do outline key concepts thereof which are important to the development of the philoso
