YOGA-PITHA, THE BIRTHPLACE OF LORD CAITANYA MAHAPRABHU;
Deities of Sri Jagannath Misra, the father, and mother Sachi holding baby Nimai in the house they lived
By Chandan Bhatia
Antardwipa: “Antar” means ‘secret’ and ‘dwipa’ means ‘island’, and this island is where Lord Krishna revealed His internal secret feelings about His future appearance as Lord Caitanya.
Yoga-Pitha: Yoga-Pitha is the actual site of Lord Caitanya’s appearance. In 1893, Bhaktivinoda Thakura established this site. He persona
Gaura Purnima is the auspicious appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (who is also known as Gauranga due to His golden complexion), and this year we are celebrating the 533rd anniversary of His appearance on March 21, 2019. This festival also marks the beginning of the New Year for Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to establish Sankirtana (chanting of the Holy Names) – the Yuga Dharma for this age of Kali. He appeared on Phalguni Purnima,
By Gandhari Devi Dasi
We are seeing that now more Iskcon centers are celebrating Holi with burning of Holika and throwing the colored dye festival. So there are some points to be mentioned about these celebrations. I was requested by a senior mataji to share this information.
So if there is anything incorrect please excuse me and add your comments. I will share something about Holi from Vedic point as much as I have learnt.
The coloured dyes are supposed to be thrown with love signifying blessi
By Nitya Kishore dasi
The last two days of Parikrama are just wonderful.. it seems when the kirtan gets really fired up! As I told yesterday we were going to the King’s land situated in Simantadvipa where the process is Sravanam, what is really exciting. ISKCON Rajapur is so beautiful with our Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra deities plus Sri Gauranga and Simantini, the lake and Shiva’s banyam tree. Chand kazi’s samadhi is just about 2 km from the temple, a very sacred place where Lord’s pastim
By Madhava Smullen
“We want every leader in ISKCON to take this course,” says Bala Govinda Das, teacher of the Devotee Care Course “Embedding Care in Krishna Conscious Communities.”
Twenty-six such leaders attended the most recent presentation of the GBC-recommended course, offered from March 5thto 8thin the Chaitanya Bhavan building in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.
They included zonal supervisors, temple presidents, yatra leaders, namahatta group leaders, counselors, and mentors from Panam
Mayapur, India, 10:00 AM– During the morning session of the 2019 GBC Annual General Meeting on March 11th, much of the time was spent reviewing and voting upon various proposals.
Throughout the year, ISKCON members are able to submit proposals to the GBC. These proposals go through a review process and are vetted and voted on by GBC Deputies and committees. The final proposals are then submitted to the GBC body for majority voting.
Over the course of the morning, members of the GBC reviewed a
In 1944, on the auspicious appearance day of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada started the English magazine, Back to Godhead.
75 years later, and during the 50th Golden Anniversary year of the incorporation of ISKCON UK, it is a great honour that the unique story of ISKCON-London - the first ISKCON centre in the UK (opened in 1969) - is shared with the world in this international publication - a publication that Srila Prabhupada later referred to
By Ambarisa Das
Dear ISKCON Leaders,
Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Greetings from Sridhama Mayapur and blessings from Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva, Sri Nrsimha, and our Guru Parampara. Gaur Purnima 2019 Mahottsava ki jaya!
We are very pleased to announce on the most auspicious day of Gaur Purnima 2019 the launch of the promotion campaign for our historic 10 day fundraising event from May 7th (Akshaya Trittiya) until May 17th (Nrsimha Caturdasi). Th
By Jayabhadra devi dasi
On March 10, International Women’s Day, the Amravati, Maharashtra, ISKCON Girls’ Forum successfully completed the movement’s inaugural vaisnavi one-day padayatra.
Padayatra’s objectives
1. Dedicating the walk to the martyred soldiers on the Indian border.
2. To bring world peace through harinama.
3. To unite all vaisnavis for the common cause of spreading the holy names.
4. To create awareness of spiritual literatures like Bhagavad-gita.
INSPIRATION:
Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s Boat Festival takes place over the course of one week during the summer, but devotees from around the world get to participate in the festival for one day during the annual Gaura-purnima festival.
This year, the festival took place on the 16th of March. Sri Sri Radha Madhava are taken from the temple on procession, riding atop a carved wooden palanquin. They are brought to the pukur, or ornamental pond, that sits beside Srila Prabhupada’s Puspa-samadhi Mandir. The pond i
Today is the famous Santipur festival, Govinda Dwadasi. Devotees from Mayapur visit Santipur in large numbers in many buses, eagerly engage themselves in cooking and serving hot Kichuri to around 50,000 dhamvasis along with Harinam Sankirtan.
The Shantipur festival has been a key part of ISKCON Mayapur’s Gaura Purnima festival for many years.Historically, it was put on by fifteenth century saint Advaita Acharya in honor of the Disappearance Day of his guru, Madhavendra Puri. Since then, it’s be
By Louise Guthrie
“How long does it take to get to the Beatles Ashram?”
The prompt and almost blasé way that locals here in Rishikesh, self-styled yoga capital of the world, respond to this query suggests it’s one they have become very used to over the last 51 years. Lou and I have, by necessity, established this fact as we pick our way along a slender thoroughfare running parallel with the broad silvery-green slate of the slow-moving and holy river Ganges. But shop-keepers’ and traders’ respon
On the occasion of Sri Madhavendra Puri’s disappearance day, we share two verses and purports from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta which, by Sri Madhavendra Puri and Srila Prabhupada’s causeless mercy, may help us progress in Krishna consciousness.
jaya sri madhavapuri krsna-prema-pura
bhakti-kalpatarura tenho prathama ankura
“All glories to Sri Madhavendra Puri, the storehouse of all devotional service unto Krsna! He is a desire tree of devotional service, and it is in him that the seed of devotional
By Bhakta dasa
The horrific massacre that unfolded in Christchurch New Zealand on Friday 15th March, in which to date 50 human beings have lost their lives, is truly a very dark moment in history, not only for Muslims but for all who treasure the gift of life.
On behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Hare Krishna Movement, I wish to convey that ISKCON members all over the world offer their sincere prayers to all who are suffering due to this insane act of evil madness.
Our deepest sympathy g
By HH Satsvarupa Das Goswami
Amith, an Indian devotee who lives in Albany, recently came back from a pilgrimage to Kumbha-mela in India. In the ISKCON tent he saw a murti of Laddu-Gopal, and he was very attracted to it. He thought of buying it and giving it to me as a gift. When the devotee-sellers heard that it was coming to me as a gift, they donated two sets of clothes. Laddu-Gopal is very beautiful. He is crawling, and in His right hand He is holding forth a laddu. I think I like him better
Parabhakti Das, President of ISKCON’s Villa Vrindavana community near Florence, Italy, presented at a panel discussion on preserving authenticity in yoga during the European Academy of Religion’s annual conference this spring.
The conference was a four-day event running from March 5th to 8thin Bologna, Italy. Thirty to forty different panels a day covered diverse topics from religious freedom, to interfaith dialogue, to religion and social change.
These were led by acade
March 10, Mayapur, India, 5:30 PM – The 2019 GBC Annual General Meetings continued with a report from the Deity Worship Ministry. The Deity Worship Ministry provides education, resources, and guidance to facilitate and encourage the maintenance and development of Deity worship in ISKCON, in accordance with the standards and mood established by Srila Prabhupada.
Nrisimha Kavacha Dasa, ISKCON’s Deity Worship Minister, presented the report, which focused on the worship of Radha Krishna Deities i
While chanting japa this morning, I thought of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s verse about the holy name:
tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye
karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham
cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim
no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi
“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krs-na’ have produced. When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When
