Author Archives: Madhava Smullen

Twenty-five devotees from all over the US and Canada began a Zonal Supervisor Training program, run by the GBC College for Leadership Development, to learn how to become top leaders in ISKCON recently.

The Governor personally helped carry the 50lb box of Srimad-Bhagavatams to be placed in his Mansion. His wife, First Lady of Florida Casey DeSantis, appreciated the gift of a garland offered to Srila Prabhupada on his Vyasa Puja Ceremony at t…

Fifty years ago, in 1969, three couples – Mukunda and Janaki, Gurudas and Yamuna, and Shyamasundara and Malati – were inspired by Srila Prabhupada to start the first ISKCON center in London.At the time, London was the music capita…

The landmark effort is the first time a Bhakti Sastri degree has been offered in French on such a worldwide scale. With twenty-nine countries where French is the official language, it’s an important step.

Visitors can book a full experience, walking through the elaborate recreation of Vrindavan, as devotee guides take them back 5,000 years ago to the pastimes of Lord Krishna described in the Vedic scriptures.

Around forty youth, aged 12 to 17, are expected from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and USA. The event will be held at Govardhana Eco Village, forty-five minutes from Sao Paulo International Airport. With lush greenery and a beautiful temple and…

For the past twenty-five years, ISKCON Youth Ministry’s Manorama Das and his wife Jaya Sri Radhe Dasi have taken youth on tours across the US, Canada and Mexico, where they spread Krishna consciousness and get inspired themselves in the…

The event took place at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, a Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Held on October 4th– the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi – it honored the saint with the theme “Instruments of Pe…

A new devotee-run company, Mantra4U, has cornered the market on a unique offering – wearable protective mantras, encased in pendants and viewable through a tiny-self contained microscope. But it’s not just any business. Behin…

The conference ran from October 4th to 6th in New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where ISKCON’s first cow protection program started in Spring 1969 with a black Jersey, “Kaliya,” named by Srila Prabhupada himself.

At 100,000 square feet, fundraising director Braja Vilas Das claims the pujari floor will be “the largest pujari space in the world.”The opening ceremony for the new floor on February 13th next year is expected to be a major …

About ninety people took a barge across the lake for the Govindadvipa Mellows event, held on Sunday October 13th. They included devotees from counties all over Ireland; as well as some from India, Mauritius, England and Eastern Europe. Some d…

Jagai Nitai Das, an active member of the Laguna Beach temple, organized the Jagannath Temple Tent this year at Bhakti Fest, which ran from September 25th to 30th at Twenty-Nine Palms near Joshua Tree in California.

Run for twenty years by the late Syamapriya Dasi, then relaunched in 2009 by current director Bhakti-lata Dasi, the U.S. branch of ISKCON Prison Ministry has been working hard to give hope to the most desperate.

The first Australian Kulimela, held from late December 2010 to early January 2011, was a major success, drawing around 300 kulis for seminars, devotional entertainment, kirtan, water sports and nature exploration. The same team has now schedu…

Starting in 2018 with a Montessori-style multi-age classroom for three to six year olds, it opened a first through fourth grade class this year, with plans to expand to a larger building in the next school year.

Gopal Lila Das (Gopal Patel) is Director of the Bhumi Project, an environmental effort of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He also co-leads The Sacred Ecology Forum at the Bhakti Center in New York City, and is an advisor to the Climate A…

“For the past number of years, we’ve been trying to get the Palace a status as a historic building in West Virginia,” said Palace Reunion Festival organizer Sukhavaha Dasi, to cheers from the crowd. “It’s a feder…

Srila Prabhupada’s Palace is one of ISKCON’s most impressive achievements. Built by young, inexperienced devotees who trained themselves in construction and artisanal skills, it began in 1973 as a simple residence for Prabhupada.
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Over four million people around the globe walked out of their schools and workplaces on Friday September 20th to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The protests were organized by young people led by 16-year-old climate activi…

Every year, some 800 projects from all over the world that conserve and protect our resources, or employ renewable energy, participate. One award winner is chosen from each country.

“After we celebrated ISKCON’s global 50th anniversary in 2016, I was keen to capture the mood of something quintessentially British for our own UK Golden Anniversary in 2019,” says UK communications director Mina Sharma. &ld…

“Around two to three hundred kilograms of flowers were used, including 10,000 roses,” says Vraja Hari. “First, the Deities were showered with flower petals on the altar. Then, the flowers were brought into the temple room, w…

During a visit to Los Angeles for a political function, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Congresswoman from Hawaii, addressed a crowd of about four thousand devotees and members of the public at the L.A. Rathayatra festival on August 4th. 

The third album proper from Srikala – once known as Srikalogy – is a major evolution musically, lyrically and personally for the artist. Released on July 16th, “Beautiful Dark Moon” is an entrancing blend of R&B, h…

Incessant rains pelted the South Indian state of Karnataka from late July until August 13th, causing widespread flooding, a death toll of 76, and damage to over 75,000 homes.

This year, they and other chaperones took thirty-eight boys aged 10 to 17 from Italy, Colombia, Canada and around the U.S. on the Summer Trip from June 22nd to July 23rd.

Over 135 men from the UK, Canada and the United States are expected to to attend this second annual retreat, which will continue to explore the theme of “being a K.C. guy in the 21stcentury.” Ages will range from 18 up and include…

“Wise-Love,” by Srila Prabhupada disciple Pranada Dasi, is described as “a handbook of the essence of bhakti written for a modern, Western audience.” “Wise-Love” is the book’s term for bhakti, meaning…

It’s an ambitious effort. In the 1980s, Srila Prabhupada’s tape ministry had just 700 hours of audio. In the 1990s, the Bhaktivedanta Archives expanded it with another 300 hours. 

Because it’s so easily accessible online, the project could be the beginning of a soul-searching journey for busy professionals who wouldn’t otherwise have time.

The Vedic Federation of France, a coalition of Indian-origin religious denominations and spiritual movements including ISKCON, is presenting one united voice to the French government and thus strengthening ISKCON’s position in France, w…

“Krishna Valley is not just for us to realize Srila Prabhupada’s vision of simple living, high thinking, but to show others that it’s accessible, and teach them how they can also live naturally while keeping God in the cente…

Vraja Kishor Schomaker has been awarded a Comet transfer scholarship, and is entering his third year of college with over seventy-five credits. All this despite a terrifying battle with a brain tumor in 2017 that left him temporarily unable t…

Dubbed “Mantra Fest,” the outreach portion of Laguna Beach Rathayatra will be held on Sunday July 28th in downtown Laguna Beach, and will be a uniquely interactive experience for the public.

Devotees began building the Palace themselves back in 1973 as a residence for Srila Prabhupada, when he expressed a desire to retire to New Vrindaban and translate his books. Young and inexperienced, they trained themselves in construction an…

The property comes with ten acres of land, a two-storey, four-bedroom/three bathroom house, a pond, a cow barn, a shaded cow pasture and three cows.

Yoga Magazine says it is “the number one yoga, health and fitness brand in the UK and USA.” The publication is aimed at upscale cosmopolitan women aged between 25 and 45, who desire to improve their health and wellbeing.

Beginning as simple home sessions, a program designed to teach young children the Srimad-Bhagavatam will soon be offered internationally via Zoom video conference. The resources are already being shared with parents everywhere on the lightofg…

Hidden away in the verdant Sahyadri mountain range in Maharashtra, some ninety kilometers from Mumbai, is Govardhan Ayurveda, a healing center that could change your life.