Author Archives: Madhava Smullen

What has kept the International Society for Krishna consciousness going for 54 years now? Much has been down to the steady efforts of quietly dedicated devotees, doing their services day in and day out for decades.

In a sad and shocking turn of events, a Mayapur community devotee, Rashik Shekhar Das, was shot dead in his office in Gournagar, just adjacent to the ISKCON property in Mayapur, West Bengal.

The Mantra Lounge in Philadelphia, known for its book distribution, has been reaching out to people during the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding the homeless and others in need.

Krishna Chandra Das of the ISKCON Daiva Varnashrama Ministry (IDVM) has been included in the World Book of Records for reciting all 700 verses of the sacred text Bhagavad-gita from memory in the minimum time of 73 minutes.

Their Lordships arrived weeks after the inception of New Vrindaban in 1968 and were being worshipped in the original New Vrindaban farmhouse during Srila Prabhupada’s first visit in 1969.

ISKCON devotees have distributed prasadam – sanctified vegetarian food offered to God – with a view to shifting consciousness for the past 46 years in Brazil. Today, there are a number of successful restaurants run by Hare …

Krishna CARES delivered sixty meals to the Ronald McDonald House charity in Gainesville, Florida this past Christmas Day. The special Christmas meals consisted of creamy Gauranga potatoes, quinoa, butternut squash soup, and salad with dress…

While its doors remain closed to the public due to COVID-19, the brand new Portland Bhakti Center has launched and is serving COVID-safe Krishna Friday Feasts to-go for all.

A Hare Krishna Community Radio station based in Alachua, Florida had a soft launch on Christmas Day, broadcasting a series of devotional programs on the holiday as well as over four days at New Year’s.

Although 2020 has been a tough year for us all, some have discovered silver linings amidst the challenges. When ISKCON New Vrindaban, West Virginia went into a two-week lockdown on Thanksgiving Day to keep the community safe, two women from…

Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entirety of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.

During an especially challenging holiday season, the Food For Life Foundation in Hungary is bringing some care and support with its Christmas Love Feast prasadam distribution effort, from December 8th to 27th.

Volunteers have established several Vaishnavas CARE teams each in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and El Salvador, as well as Spain, after attending the “Art of Caring for Vaishnavas” Zoom webinar by Vaishnavas CARE co-founder Sangita…

Gita Nagari is a 350-acre farm, established in 1974 to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that city temples should be affiliated with farm projects.

About two weeks ago, Brahmananda Puri, one of the seniormost Russian-speaking Vaishnavas, was hospitalized with pneumonia as a result of COVID-19.

Tungavidya Devi Dasi passed away at the Rama Krishna Mission Hospital in Vrindavan amidst all auspiciousness.

Devotees around the world are aiming to distribute at least two million Bhagavad-gitas during the last quarter of 2020, as part of the Prabhupada marathon and the Live to Give campaign.

About 600 square feet in size, the Tulasi Devi Greenhouse features double-paned insulated glass, and a bronze-finished aluminum frame with an ornamental crest along the roof ending in a motif based on ISKCON’s lotus logo.

An increase in the culture of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books is in the air. 

The Bhagavad-gita As It Is exhibition will consist of twenty contemporary, expressionistic paintings, which will be a large 2 x 1.5 meters each and will give an overview of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is chapter by chapter.

In these tough times, devotee-run charity Food For All is distributing 5,000 packaged prasadam meals a day in London, and about 200 daily each from fourteen other small centers around the country.

The book, Drutakarma says, “Is composed of new cases of archeological evidence that are consistent with Vedic and Puranic accounts of very ancient human presence on this planet.”

During COVID-19, we are missing out on devotee association. Lives of Service is an ISKCON News interview series that we hope feels like sitting down for a chat at the Sunday Feast with an old friend or a devotee you’d like to get to k…

In this gloomy time, there can never be too many sources of light. So it’s apt that on Diwali day (November 14th) this year, there are at least two new devotional songs set to be released.

“At the moment everything is so dull and difficult, and everyone is really struggling,” Govinda Priya says. “So we wanted to offer something uplifting.”

Krsnanandini Devi Dasi was a Srila Prabhupada disciple, Certified Family Life Educator, a member of the ISKCON Grihastha Vision Team, and the co-director of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute with her husband Tariq.

In their new book, Kalakantha Das and Jitamitra Dasi posit that ashrams are still an important part of today’s ISKCON. They explain how to create an ashram program that attracts devotees from all backgrounds in the West, especially in…

Around forty-five women from Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile, and across the U.S. and Canada attended the fourth annual Urban Devi Retreat on October 17th, entitled “Welcoming Transformation” and held virtually on Zoom.

The retreat will take a look at challenges and opportunities through different stages of life from a Krishna conscious perspective, covering topics like fatherhood, marriage, brahmachari life, examples of healthy masculinity, and many other…

“The doctors had warned us that there was a high probability of Maharaja being paralyzed in the event of a surgery, even if successful,” says Rishi Kumara Das on behalf of Bhakti Madhurya Govinda Goswami’s Health Care Team…

For congregation members and families in ISKCON, deity worship at home has long been a major part of their spiritual practice, as well as a way to bond in service to the Lord.

The cabin where Shyamasundar Das, one of ISKCON’s earliest pioneers, worked on his ‘Chasing Rhinos With the Swami’ trilogy burned down last month in the Lionshead wildfire in Oregon, USA.

Sometimes when we see a need, the solution is to step forward and fulfill it ourselves.

The third annual Govindadvipa Mellows – a kirtan festival usually held on the island also known as Inis Rath in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland – will be held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The convenient service will save patients a journey to a hospital in Kolkata and will provide them with high quality treatment in a more personalized way and at a much more affordable cost.

Senior Russian ISKCON sannyasi Nitai Chaitanya Goswami Maharaja was hospitalized on September 25th with COVID-19, and passed away around noon on October 14th in the city of Kursk, Russia. He was 70 years old. 

With a second wave expected in the fall and winter, Nila Madhava Das (Dr. Neeraj Verma), a practicing anesthesiologist who was part of the COVID-19 team at Sinai Hospital and Northwest Hospital in Maryland, USA, has also weighed in on how t…

A beloved long-time resident of New Vrindaban and dedicated disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Varsana Swami has been battling Chronic Lyme Syndrome for several years.

Temple President Yadunandana Swami writes, “Considering that several devotees have tested positive for COVID-19, the Board of Directors and the Council of Department Leaders have decided to close Nueva Vrajamandala to the public most …

The installation was created by Madhava and Margherita at their Grotta Sonora, or “The Sounding Cave.” Consisting of unique handmade gongs and other instruments, called “sound sculptures,” the sound path makes t…