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Kirtana (pronounced keer-ton-uh) is a Sanskrit word that means “praise” or “glory.” The more common Hindi pronunciation is “keer-ton,” dropping the final “a.” Simply understood, it is a form of song that centers on glorifying God, commonly performed in a “call and response” style of singing.

There is Nam-kirtan, which are songs composed of God’s sacred names, and Lila-kirtan, or songs that celebrate the esoteric activities of the Divine. There is Sankirtan, when the songs of praise are performed

By Anuttama Dasa

It has been almost thirty years since I first attended a conference of the American Family Foundation, now the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). I was recently in Barcelona, Spain, for their latest international gathering. 

What I’ve learned, both in those meetings and through my leadership role in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), is that we in the Hare Krishna movement need to be concerned about “cultic behaviors.” 

When I first atten

By Jagannatha Damodar Das

On July 7th, Surat hosted a Rathayatra that will be remembered for its grandeur and spiritual significance. The day dawned with mild clouds and gentle sunshine, providing a perfect setting for Lord Jagannatha’s divine journey through the city streets.

The atmosphere was charged with spiritual fervor as devotees, and curious onlookers alike thronged the path of the magnificent chariot. Despite the textile markets and shops along the route being closed, devotees tireles

On July 8th, 2024, a missile attack in Kyiv heavily damaged the main children’s hospital in the city, leaving over forty dead in the strike. Food-for-Life Ukraine was on the scene quickly, providing fresh water and nourishing prasadam to rescue workers and victims.

“As soon as we saw the news about the terrible attack on the children’s hospital, we contacted our team and came to the temple’s kitchen,” said Dayananda Ram Das, FFL-Ukraine coordinator. “While the prasadam was being prepared in the

Hare Krishna dear dandavats readers, please accept my humble obeissances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I beg for your patience while reading my personal tribute to Viśvambhara, a very dear Godbrother, whom I can say was instrumental in the Lord’s overall plan for making me a devotee. I will get into details. That the way liffe is. It is only through details of a person’s life that we can try to grasp the essence of that person.
Viśvambhara has always been at the root of my Kṛṣṇa consciousne

Dear devotees, friends and well-wishers,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

On Guru-Purnima day at 12:10 am (UTC -5) in Montreal Canada, our dear friend His Grace Visvambhara Prabhu a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupda, departed from this world. He was accompanied with Srila Prabhupada’s continuous chanting of the maha-mantra in his ears. and in the association of his godbrother and godsister. He had been fighting with cancer for many months.

Visvambhara Prabh

Surat embraced the grandest Rath Yatra in decades on 7th July, 2024. The day dawned with mild clouds and gentle sunshine, a perfect backdrop for Lord Jagannatha’s divine journey through the city streets.

The atmosphere was charged with spiritual fervor as devotees and curious onlookers alike thronged the path of the magnificent chariot. Despite the textile markets and shops along the route being closed, devotees tirelessly distributed books to every soul eager for darshan.

In the Rath Yatra par

It was Govardhan Eco Village's great honor to welcome the Honorable Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Ramesh Bais, for awarding the tribal change makers of Govardhan Eco Village's Atmanirbhar Palghar Project.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/wp-content/nectar/2024-07-24-09-54-55.html

By Atma Tattva Das

The first edition of Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto One in Turkish has recently been published after years of dedicated effort. This project was led by Nrsimha Krishna Das and his wife, Krsnamala Devi of ISKCON Turkiye. The new volume was recently presented to their spiritual master, Sivarama Swami, at New Vraja-dhama in Hungary.

Nrsimha Krishna Das, who serves as the Zonal Supervisor for ISKCON Turkiye, has been instrumental in steering this ambitious project. Based in Istanbul, he

By Chandni RAJ

On June 23, 2024, ISKCON New Mayapur, situated in the serene countryside of Centre-Val de Loire, France, organized a Holi Festival mainly attended by locals from nearby towns and villages. For those who are accustomed to croissants, baguettes, and the Fete de la Musique, a completely different kind of Indian festival with traditional Indian music, dance, and throwing colors on one another provided a huge surprise and fun for all. Food stalls, clothes and jewelry kiosks, face-pain

This weekend four Chariot Fests are being held within the Quebec/ Ontario area. Burlington, Oakville, Kingsville and Montreal. It is Burlington's 2nd, Oakville's 1st, Kingsville's (I'm not sure), but Montreal's running for decades is the largest. After beautiful overnight showers and a persistent overcast sky, the procession began at Sherbrooke and Ste. Laurent.

A large number of police escorted. They were great and most co-operative. By the end of the day, at festival site, Joanna Mance Park,

Please join us in prayers for Vishvambhara Das, who left his body on Guru-Purnima in Montreal, Canada.  According to his godbrother Deena Bandhu Das, “He went to France and expanded the preaching there very widely for Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure. He was a wonderful Vaishnava who was like a big brother to the devotees who knew him. He will be greatly missed! Hare Krishna!”  Other godbrothers like Giriraja Swami noted, “I have fond memories of serving with him in New Mayapur. He was a great soul

First Meaning: –

Srila Jiva Gosvami reveals the meaning of each of the sixteen Names in the Hare Krishna Mahaamantra in his Mahaa-mantrartha Dipika as follows: –

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

(1-Hare)
Krishna steals the minds of everyone, yet Radha steals even His mind by Her divine expertise. Thus She is known as Haraa.

(2-Krishna)
He forcibly attracts Sri Radha with the sweet sound of His flute, therefore that Lord of all enchantin

From Back to Godhead

Academic knowledge provides information of the world, but spiritual knowledge awards us eternal liberation

One of my friends in college was known for his immense general knowledge. He knew the names of all recent Hollywood and Bollywood movies, the actors, directors, and producers of each movie, and the winners of Oscar and Filmfare awards from every year. In sports, he knew the winners of each Grand Slam tennis tournament from every year as well as similar information abou

By Giriraj Swami  

“Srila Prabhupada has explained that the system of honoring the spiritual master is current in all sections of Vedic followers. In the Mayavadi (impersonalist) sects, the disciples offer respect to the spiritual master once a year, on Guru-purnima. And in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, the disciples offer homage annually on the appearance day of the spiritual master, called Vyasa-puja because the spiritual master represents Vedavyasa, the empowered incarnation of Krishna w

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi

Mayapur Clean & Green, led by Murari Mohini Devi Dasi, along with ISKCON Mayapur Land Office Central and the Mayapur Environmental Protection Team, came together on July 7, 2024, to clean Sri Mayapur Dham and welcome Lord Jagannath on the first day of the Rathayatra. The cleaning was sponsored by the Land Office and some volunteers lead by Anadi Krishna Das.

The cleaning started in the morning of the Rathayatra day, from the precinct at the beginning of the IS