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In Auckland, in the months of November and December, many of the surrounding suburbs arrange to have parades go through the streets. Generally, local businesses put their floats in to advertise the products they sell.

Fortunately, we are able to participate with our Jagannatha Rathayatra “float” and go in the parade as well. On the same day as the Orewa parade, we went to one in the suburb of Manurewa and everyone appreciated the devotees dancing and chanting in front of Lord Jagannatha.

Source

In May 2025, the Supreme Court of India issued a long-awaited judgment in the decades-long dispute between ISKCON Mumbai—the society legally founded and registered by Srila Prabhupada in 1971—and the breakaway Bengaluru group led by Madhu Pandit Dasa. The case, which originated in 2001, concerned who legally controls the Bangalore temple, a property originally established as a branch of ISKCON India. While the Supreme Court’s ruling sided with the Bangalore breakaway group, it dealt only with c

By Atma Tattva Das, 

The ISKCON Justice Ministry will host its first Annual Global Conference online this Sunday, December 7, 2025. The event marks an important milestone in the ministry’s effort to strengthen justice services across the movement and deepen devotees’ understanding of how accountability supports spiritual growth.

Background and Motivation

For Justice Minister Champakalata Dasi, the conference emerges from years of observing how ISKCON’s expanding global community navigates harmon

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,

Nitay Mangala Das and his dedicated team are embarking on an extraordinary cinematic offering titled Chaitanya—a feature film centered on the life and mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This project seeks to move beyond a simple biographical narrative to instead directly connect the audience to the Lord: “This is not just a movie about Him — this movie is Him,” emphasized Nitay Mangala.

The Inspirations

At the heart of this endeavor is a powerful inspiration

The devotees took Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi on Their Ratha Chariot in a parade at Orewa, which is a suburb to the north of Auckland.

There were thousands of people lining the street clapping and waving as the devotees had ecstatic kirtan. The route was on the road adjacent to the beach so it was a beautiful setting. A sumptuous picnic prasadam dinner was served in the park afterward.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/orewa-auckland-rathayatra/

From Back to Godhead

A devotee-bookseller explains.

Have you ever met a Hare Krsna devotee in an airport, a parking lot, or on the street distributing books and collecting donations? Many people wonder why we do this. I’ve been distributing books for over six years, and I’d like to tell you something about the origin of book distribution.

Devotees are not ordinary booksellers; their bookselling is transcendental. It is sankirtana, the glorification of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

We’re thrilled to share some amazing…

We’re thrilled to share some amazing news! Thanks to HH Sivarama Swami’s summer Swimathlon Challenge and your generous donations, the Bhagavad-gita is now available in Turkish language!
A huge thank you to everyone who supported this project!

Video: Click here

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=116743

Gita Jayanti is the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna.The Gita is also known as the Gitopanisad and is considered one of the Upanishads. The title Bhagavad-gita is sometimes translated as “The Song of God.” Gita means “song.” God, Krishna, is so sublime that whatever He speaks is music and poetry. The word bhagavan has been analyzed by Vedic authorities. Bhaga means “opulence” and is related to the word bhagya: “good fortune.” And van means “one who possesses.” So bhaga

The Advent of Srila Prabhupada's
Bhagavad-gita As It Is 

— Presented by Srimati Dasi and team
     ISKCON, Sri Vrndavana Dhama

Read more: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=92124

For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)

The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in any

You are distributing this knowledge, so you become immediately recognized, very dear servant, very confidential servant of Krsna. He says personally. [Bg. 18.69]. “Amongst the human beings those who are doing this preaching, nobody is dearer than these persons to Me”. – Srila Prabhupada

Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gita. In the present age, peopl

HH Radhanath Swami relays the essential message of Bhagavad Gita on Mokshada Ekadasi and the visionary Book Marathon, at ISKCON Chowpatty.



Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=53738

This is the anniversary commemorating the day that Srimad Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Lord Sri Krishna to His dear-most devotee Arjuna.

It was spoken at the place now known as Jyotisar Tirtha amid the waring families of the Kurus and the Pandavas at Kurukshetra. If one wishes one can still go and visit that place and see the monument erected there with Krishna as Parthasarati (the chariot driver) and Arjuna the warrior on their chariot.

It is claimed by the ashram, which maintains the shrine, th

By Sunanda Das,

On February 11, 2026 the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium will reach another milestone: The Grand Opening of the amazing TOVP Yajna Shala in the TOVP Gardens. This huge Yajna Shala will replace the current location at the Gurukula and become the main focal point of all yajnas performed for the Supreme Personality of Godhead on a daily basis, in perpetuity, since they started in 1986 in the Lotus Park.

At 60ft/18mL x 60ft/18mW x 30ft/8mH, the marble and granite structure will be s

By Atma Tattva Das,

One of the two original tape recorders used by Srila Prabhupada, on loan from the Bhaktivedanta Archives for the museum display.

On February 18, 2025, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) in Mayapur opened the A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Legacy Museum, a project years in the making and grounded in devotion. Hundreds of visitors flowed through its doors that morning. Soft light fell across the first wall of photographs tracing Srila Prabhupada’s life from Calcutta to New Yo

Every year the New Varshana devotees organize a Rathayatra parade that goes down Queen Street in Auckland. This has been going on for decades and a beautiful big Jagannatha chariot is pulled through the city.

In the last year, a smaller chariot has been built that allows us to go in parades in the suburbs and smaller regional towns. I was fortunate to attend the first one in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga.

The event was joyful and the crowd waved to the devotees performing kirtan and pulling Lo

February 1971: BENARES, INDIA Festival glorifying Lord Chaitanya

Radha Govinda Swami: I was in Benares at that time when Srila Prabhupada was touring, traveling India with his 40 disciples. I read in a newspaper in America Krishna-bhakti is preached. Naturally, I was a devotee of Krishna so I liked this topic. So I went there. Then there was a procession from Dashashvamedha Ghat to Tapan Misra’s house that is now in Benares.

When the procession finished, I approached Srila Prabhupada and I spok