Author Archives: Madhava Smullen

“When the lockdown started, nobody thought we could distribute books, and everybody was worried about what would happen,” says Shyama Mohini Dasi, co-sankirtan leader at ISKCON Toronto, Canada. “But Vaisesika Prabhu encourag…

Evoking a deeply affecting mixture of regret and hope, Gopagana Dasa’s new album “A Surge of Bhakti to the Heart” might be the perfect soundtrack to these difficult times for humanity. 

After months under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some ISKCON temples around the world are gradually starting to reopen in phases, with safety restrictions in place according to their local government recommendations. 

What leads one to become a Hare Krishna youth leader, initiated brahmana, real estate and food company manager, GBC trainee, and yes, a magician, all before the age of thirty-five? 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, ISKCON temples worldwide have been in lockdown, unable to connect with their communities or give spiritual knowledge to newcomers in person, and instead shifting these activities online.

From June 1st, however, the UK government has begun to ease restrictions slightly. On Monday June 1st and Tuesday June 2nd, a maximum of six devotees on each day rode the boat down the Paddington Basin through Wembley.

The Vice Principal of TKG Academy is offering online bhakti courses for teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching them The Nectar of Instruction using Srila Prabhupada’s purports and Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effect…

While devotees in India and around the world cannot visit Mayapur, the TOVP has launched its own talk show, “TOVP Talks” to keep everyone inspired and connected to the project.

The program has delivered talks by some of the most illustrious speakers in the Hare Krishna Movement eight times a week online, providing the kind of experience that would have been hard to find even before the pandemic began.

Since it was established, the ISKCON Ministry of Education’s aim has been to provide Krishna conscious education of high quality to everyone through temples, educational institutions and various global initiatives. 

Temple President Mukhya Dasi cautions that the gradual reopening at ISKCON Alachua is a trial run, and that the temple will continue to monitor Coronavirus cases in the Alachua area, where the rate of positive results from testing is currentl…

Amphan, which was the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal before it weakened, destroyed homes, trees and bridges, and left rural areas without power or communications. 

In New Vrindaban, West Virginia, ISKCON’s first rural community which Srila Prabhupada earmarked as an example of sustainability to the world, resident devotees are using the pandemic to push themselves closer to their goal of self-suff…

When Ghanashyam Das first began his chaplaincy service in New York City, little did he know that he would end up on the frontlines of a global pandemic, risking his own health every day to provide spiritual and emotional support for patients …

After suffering from increasing dizziness, weakness of memory, and loss of cognitive abilities, guru and GBC Bhakti Bhusana Swami was hospitalized on Sunday May 3rd in Germany. On Tuesday May 5th, doctors diagnosed him with a type of enc…

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a financial challenge for all ISKCON temples. With their main sources of income such as book distribution, Harinama Sankirtan, in person hundi box donations, preaching programs and more either decreased or halted, man…

Devotees in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada are doing their part to help their local community during the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding prasadam to essential personnel like hospital staff and sanitation workers.

ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) has released the minutes from its February 11th to 22nd Annual General Meeting in Mayapur, West Bengal (which took place before the  Coronavirus pandemic).

Kirtan Space, an online educational effort that started in 2016, has been revamped and will offer a free ten-week foundational kirtan course on Youtube starting May 25th. “During this time, when you may be not working and may be stuck a…

Devotees from the Five Truths Pancha Tattva Center in Omsk, Siberia organized a Srimad-Bhagavatam online marathon, in which the translations of all 18,000 verses were recited over ten days, from April 10th to 19th. The marathon, whi…

With everyone in self-isolation and practicing social distancing due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, devotees are coming up with more and more creative ways to associate with each other and hold events virtually that would previously have taken …

With ISKCON book distributors off the streets and staying at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic, you might think their service has completely ground to a halt. Instead, however, they’ve put all their energy into innovations such as ma…

A devotee men’s group started in Alachua, Florida in 1992 has offered both spiritual and practical support, as well as close friendships, for members over the past 28 years. 

While the nation has been affected by the Coronavirus crisis and is observing a lockdown, millions have been stranded with no food and shelter

With the streets outside so quiet, devotees have started to hear birds singing sweetly again, parrots landing on the lower branches of the trees, and peacocks calling.

With the UK now about to go into its fourth week of lockdown, people who would be struggling from one week to the next during normal times are now running out of money. Many are also sick or completely isolated in their homes without any fami…

“We see that because of the Coronavirus, more and more people are losing their jobs, and running out of money,” says ISKCON Hungary spokesperson Gandharvika Prema Dasi. “And they have no support. So the number of people in n…

New Vrindaban has 2,200 acres, has been established as a foremost place of pilgrimage in North America, and welcomes 35,000 visitors per year. With a stay-at-home order issued in West Virginia, ISKCON New Vrindaban has closed down Prabhu…

“I don’t think that as a whole, from what I’ve heard, we ISKCON leaders are taking this seriously enough,” Vaisesika says. “I think we should set a good example by simply following what the scientists are telling…

ISKCON UK has been amongst the worst affected communities by COVID-19, with twenty-one confirmed cases at Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho St in London, and five devotees passing away.

The government began with a quarantine in 79 districts across India recognized as COVID-19 hotspots, before officially locking down the entire nation – 1.3 billion people – on March 23rd in a bid to stop the spread of the vir…

Hare Krishna charity Food for All has been given government approval to serve free vegetarian meals to London’s homeless people during the UK’s Coronavirus lockdown.

This unprecedented environment has also created an unprecedented state of affairs for ISKCON, with all events cancelled, and temples across North America closed to the public, as well as to devotees except temple residents.

The first annual UP Devotional Arts & Film Festival, which took place on March 8th at Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi Auditorium in Mayapur, focused on screening music videos by devotee artists from around the world. 

With different countries around the world at different stages of COVID-19 precautions, ISKCON Mayapur has introduced its own safety measures for visitors, community devotees, and stranded foreign devotees.

A newly-published booklet, entitled “ISKCON and Hinduism: Exploring the Hare Krishna Movement and its Broader Traditions,” will be used to help students and teachers in schools, as well as visitors to ISKCON temples, better unders…

“Many people today are confused about what constitutes real spiritually, about the qualities of a real leader, and as to how we can attain real peace and prosperity in these troubled times,” says award-winning storyteller Sankirta…

In Italy, the worst hit country in Europe, neither the general public nor devotees can visit the temple because all places of worship – churches, mosques, temples – have been closed down, and everyone has been quarantined in their…

Over 500 people, including congregation members and the local community at large, are expected to attend the April 4th Foundation Stone Ceremony for ISKCON of New Jersey’s grand new temple in Parsippanny. The ceremony is set to launch c…

Although he took on the post of temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2009, Srutidharma Prabhu served at the Manor for over forty years, starting back in 1978. In his final hours he was serene and without discomfort. His passing was…