Author Archives: Mayapur Communications

Starting on 12th March, ISKCON Mayapur will bring to the community a condensed version of the key events of the festival every day.

When Lord Brahma began to meditate on the supreme personality of Godhead, a little tiny bore the size of the tip of a thumb came out from His nose and it went into the sky.

5244 years ago, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna delivered the most confidential and topmost knowledge to Arjuna, a warrior prince, and to humanity at large, in order to help all devotees understand the purpose o…

Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama organized by the Mayapur Chandras is a small and intimate gathering of devotees travelling to various holy places hearing and chanting about the glories of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Their associates.

“If on the full moon day of the month of Bhadra one places Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.” 

The Lord appeared as Sri Vamanadeva in order to honor His devotees – both the demigods, who required His help to gain back their kingdom from the demons, and Bali Maharaja, whose exemplary qualities and characteristics were revealed in …

Visakha, being born on the same day, she is exactly the same age as Srimati Radharani, being eternally 14 years, 2 months and 15 days old.

Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī is known to be one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana. But where did he come from? Why did he reside in Vṛndāvana? To know that we have to go to a holy place called Śrī Raṅgam.

“The real purpose behind the vow taken during these four months is to minimize the quantity of sense gratification. This is not very difficult.”-  Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya Lila 4.169, Purport 

Once upon a time, this place was the centre of worship of the Buddhist Tantrics and the Kapalikas. But later, in the sixteenth century, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to propagate the Sankirtana Movement, Panihati becam…

Approximately 160 visitors from China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan recently went to Mayapur with  Giridhari Swami on pilgrimage.

The Shantipur festival was first celebrated in the 15thcentury by the great saint Sri Advaita Acharya. The festival took place at his home in Shantipur on the occasion of the disappearance day of his spiritual master, Madhavendra Puri.

Queen Kunti and Prince Karna are the central characters of the drama, which portrays how Queen Kunti gave birth to Karna in her youth and then was forced to send him away and hide his existence. Their paths reunited many years later in the mi…

Sannyasa is the renounced order of life accepted by many followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself accepted sannyasa in order to further the spread of the sankirtana movement.

Throughout the year, ISKCON members are able to submit proposals to the GBC. These proposals go through a review process and are vetted and voted on by GBC Deputies and committees. The final proposals are then submitted to the GBC body for ma…

Kirtan is now available for all. But it wasn’t always like this. Before the 15thcentury, the chanting of God’s own holy names was a sacred activity reserved for the highest of ecclesiastic society in the inner sanctums of temples….

People who appreciate proper standards of Deity worship tend to look to ISKCON as an example. Over the years, ISKCON has established a reputation of having high standards of Deity worship. However, the Deity Worship Ministry warned the GBC th…

The first topic up for discussion in the afternoon March 7th, was ISKCON’s Radha-Govinda Temple in Brooklyn, NY. The last few years have seen conflict over the managerial authority of the temple, prompted by an earlier proposed sale of …

Vaisesika Dasa made the presentation on behalf of the BBT’s new Marketing Communications Innovation department. This relatively new area of the BBT focuses on ascertaining how to assist and inspire ISKCON members around the world to dis…

Ambarish Dasa, the ToVP Chairman, and other members of the ToVP team presented an hour-and-a-half report on the progress made in the past year and described the plans and projections that will see the ToVP to its grand opening in 2022.

In the year 1992, the last of the four Asta-sakhis, or principle associates of Srimati Radharani, appeared in Mayapur and took their places on the altar of ISKCON Mayapur.

Visakha Devi is very learned in many branches of knowledge, just like her scholarly father. She is a wise counselor and a diplomat in loving affairs, and is very expert at joking.

Lalita devi is the leader of the asta-sakhis, radhe tava priya-sakhim ca gurum sakhinam, “Oh Radhe! Your dear companion Lalita is the guru of all the gopis”. Rupa-manjari is her maidservant and chief assistant.

In the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, Sri Sri Radha Madhava are offered a new dress designed by the community devotees and decorated with many flowers. Everything, from the cloth to the jewellery to the decorations and even the complexion of…

Prasadam – sanctified vegetarian food – plays a vital role in everything Krishna devotees do. From doing outreach activities on the streets, to a huge festival in the temple, to a personal function, prasadam has to be there, otherwise the act…

Since its inception by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada in 1918, the Gaudiya Vaisnavas have been performing parikrama around Sri Navadvipa Mandala. 2018 will mark the one hundred year anniversary of performing Sri Navad…

 The Mayapur Goshala is a very peaceful and serene place, allowing anyone who comes to have a wonderful experience of offering service and worship.

India’s tribal people are currently undergoing a crucial phase of identity crisis. ISKCON Mayapur’s Tribal Care Initiative reaches out to the tribal communities of India, which comprise around 9% of India’s population –…

The Sri Mayapur International School, one of the educational institutes of ISKCON Mayapur, has been educating the children of Mayapur since it was founded in 1988.  Students of many different countries study together here and receive a q…

Once, Srila Pundarika Vidyanidhi and Srila Svarupa Damodara came to Jagannatha Puri and saw the festival of odana-sasthi. On this day, the Lord is offered new cloth, and from that day forth, the Lord should be offered winter clothing.

On the full moon night in the autumn season, during Krishna’s eighth year, He enacted His Rasa-lila pastimes with the beautiful young gopis of Vraja. This sweet pastime is celebrated every year by the devotees of Lord Krishna on the Ras…

Govardhana Puja is the auspicious festival that was originally performed by Sri Krishna Himself about five-thousand years ago. This festival took place the year following Damodara’s chastisement by His mother, Yasoda Devi, and has been …

Sri Radha Kunda manifested on the eighth day of the waning phase of the moon in the month of Kartik. This day is observed by bathing in the holy waters at midnight, which is said to be the time Radha Kunda manifested. At this time, thousands …

Mother Yashoda’s love is unmatched in purity and is unlike any other that even the infinite Lord who pervades the entire creation is bound by her love.

Kartik Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama offers devotees the opportunity to visit the nine islands of Navadvipa (West Bengal, India) in the association of sincere devotees and to hear the glories of the Lord in His pastime places from many senior V…

World Holy Name Day was established by the GBC in honor of Srila Prabhupada’s Centennial celebrations in 1996, to honor the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the West.  World Holy Name Day has since expanded into W…

Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura is especially recognised for re-discovering the birth place of Lord Caitanya, he in fact re-discovered and re-established Lord Caitanya’s movement. 

The Bhaktivedanta Gita Academy started in 1994 under the direction and guidance of Bhakti Purusottama Swami, and is located north of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. It provides various courses on our Vedic literature, such as the Bhagava…

The devotees from the TOVP team are developing a project called FullDome. This project will be located on a small piece of land near Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi. Operation FullDome is a way to give any visiting guest to Sri Dham Mayapur …