Websites from the ISKCON Universe
These are the words of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who also said, “Vrindaban is my home and Bombay is my office”. The TOVP Team has published a book by the above name with selected excerpts about the spiritual power of this holiest of sacred places and the manifestation of the Temple
The post “Mayapur is My Place of Worship” appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Sandstone is a material that will meet the required standards of strength and aesthetics for some of the TOVP construction. Decorative sandstone units will enclose the two base floors of the Temple. Each unit in pink sandstone will be comprised of a framework, a jali, and an arch at the top flanked by two columns
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Flood has been on everyone’s mind for awhile now, as we experienced record amount of rain throughout July. But most of us thought it’s too early, previous times it was at the end of September back in 2007 and 2000. It is a grand Mayapur ‘tradition’ that every 7-8 years Ganga Devi is coming to
The post Divine Darshan for Ganga Devi (Flood in Mayapur 2015) appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
This past week Vilasini, Head Architect for ToVP, and Parvata Muni visited the fabrication plant of McCoy Industries. A mock-up of a section of the Kalash, constructed full size, was to be shown. This mock-up is made from polished stainless steel, coated with titanium nitride and would give an idea of which fabrication methods would
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Teak wood is a naturally grown wood from Myanmar (previously Burma). This wood is known for its superb stability, good strength, easy workability, bug proof- and most of all, its outstanding resistance to decay. It basically last for ever. Burmese teak wood is exported all over the world for its quality. Sadbhuja Prabhu personally travelled
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By definition, a “coffer” is a sunken panel in a ceiling. The inside of the inner domes, main dome and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s, will have a coffered ceiling. Below we can see a full size prototype of the ceiling segment. The segments will be made of ALLOY, which is a very light mixture of metals. This
The post Coffered Ceiling Mock Up appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
A new phase in the temple construction has began and some very important events have taken place. Production of GRC (glass-fiber reinforced concrete) After a lot of work and research, the production of the GRC has finally started in our temporary workshop. As the new workshop is almost ready, we will be able to make
The post The Beginning of a New Era appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Sunday, July 5th, at the last TOVP presentation of the North American Tour, the CHAD (Chapter a Day) kids group of the Seattle, Washington temple dove into ecstasy of the fundraising frenzy and pledged $11,000 (Silver Gratitude Coin) for the TOVP. This is a wonderful example of young Vaishnavas learning how to sacrifice and
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The TOVP will undoubtedly become one of the wonders of the world in beauty, architecture, design, and sheer size. This beautiful animated view of the TOVP provides a window into that reality.
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The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is named as such because within its main dome it will house a 3-dimensional, moving model of the universe according to the Vedic scriptures. This explanation describes the planetary systems and all the universal cont…
On Wednesday, July 8th, in Alachua, Florida, New Raman Reti Dhama, the same temple from where the North American TOVP Tour started, a celebration was held to welcome back the Padukas and Sitari, as well as Jananivas prabhu and the TOVP Team, and to also bid them a farewell back to Sri Mayapur Dhama. Amidst
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After four months of fund raising for TOVP in America, HG Jananivasa prabhu returned home to Mayapur with the padukas of Lord Nityananda on 12th July. Hundreds of jubilant devotees flocked at Temple’s main gate for receiving them. It was truly a grand reception with multifarious items like garlands, rangolis, flowers and many ghee lamp
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Saturday and Sunday, July 4th and 5th, were the last two days of the North American TOVP Tour, 2015. They were, in fact, record days for our fundraising and visits to devotees homes. During these two days Jananivas prabhu alone visited over 25 devotees’ homes, going from one to the other with the Padukas and
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 107-108: The Grand Finale – Seattle, Washington appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The next four days, from June 29th – July 2nd were spent in Houston catching up on office related work and visiting local devotees. Below is a list of devotees we visited during that time. We also paid a visit to the NASA Space Center to get an idea of what the Vedic planetarium in
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 103-106: Four Days in Houston, Texas appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Sunday, June 28th, we arrived at ISKCON Houston at the home of Advaitachandra and Kalasuddha prabhus. They are leaders in the U.S. of the Bhakti Vrksha programs, helping devotees all across the country to organize their efforts in this regard. Their home was like Vaikuntha; every inch of wall-space was covered by either a
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 102: Houston, Texas TOVP Presentation appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The history of the Detroit Temple, Devasadan, is known to many, and within that history lies the seed of the fruition of Srila Prabhupada’s vision of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. As the story goes, as told by Ambarisa prabhu at all of his TOVP presentations, he joined ISKCON in Detroit which is a
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 101: Devasadan Temple (Detroit) TOVP Program appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Friday, June 26th, we arrived in Detroit, Michigan at the home of Temple President Jagad Guru das and his wife Radha devi dasi, and were served the most wonderful varieties of International cuisine at lunch. A TOVP presentation had been arranged for that evening in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit, at a large
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 100: Arrival in Detroit, Michigan/Farmington Hills TOVP Presentation appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We arrived in Columbus, Ohio on the evening of Wednesday, June 24th, and stayed at the home of Prema Sindhu and Lila Valisini prabhus. The next day, Tuesday, June 25th, we moved to the home of temple president, Naveen Krishna and his wife Vraja Bhakti (named Radha Madhava House). We visited the small Columbus temple
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 99: Columbus, Ohio TOVP Program appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The small devotee community in Richmond, Virginia is run by temple president Divyanam das, and he and his wife Premalatika devi dasi, along with their two children Kulashekhar and Mahatma, hosted us in their home. The TOVP presentation on Tuesday, June 23rd was in the home of Subala Sakha das and Krishna Pramodni devi dasi
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 98: Visit to Richmond, Virginia appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Sunday, June 21st, we were scheduled for two TOVP presentations. The first was at New Hastinapura Dhama in the U.S.A.’s capital, Washington, D.C.. This is also one of the original temples established by Srila Prabhupada and, in fact, the main Deities of Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan were the first Radha Krishna Deities in
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 97: New Hastinapura (ISKCON Washington, D.C.) and ISKCON Baltimore TOVP Presentations appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Saturday, June 20th, we left Delaware after breakfast at the home of Krishna Mohan and Amala Sundari prabhus for the nearby Philadelphia Temple (where we had previously visited in March) for the Bhumi puja yajna of the new temple on the property. By the grace of Lord Nityananda, only three weeks after we had
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 96: Philadelphia Temple Bhumi Puja appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Friday, June 19th, after arriving at the home of Temple President Krishna Kirtan and his wife Shyamala and their children Gauranga and Vasudeva, we made our way over to the temple of this small but dedicated and growing community of devotees for the TOVP presentation. During arati the Padukas and Sitari received Their abhisheka
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 95: ISKCON Delaware TOVP Presentation appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
New York Rathayatra New York is considered the most important city in the world. Therefore, it’s not surprising that it was the first city where Srila Prabhupada preached and established his first center. It was also in New York that he incorporated ISKCON, that the first Harinama samkirtana went out, that Back to Godhead magazine
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 93-94: New York Rathayatra and TOVP Presentation appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We departed from Toronto, Canada and arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, June 5th for the weekend of the Rathayatra and Panihati Festival. The Atlanta Yatra is also one of the original temples opened during Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence, and he visited a number of times, exhibiting various pastimes, including going into a deep trance
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 86 – 92: Visit to New Panihati Dhama: Atlanta, Georgia appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We spent the following four days in Toronto visiting different devotees’ homes and other nearby temples and devotee communities: Monday, June 1 Brunch at the home of Shasank and Satyabhama prabhus in Toronto Travel to Muskoka for a TOVP presentation to 50 devotees and Indian congregation members organized by Jaya Gopal and Vyasacarya prabhus: $34,000
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 82-85 – Four Days in the Toronto Area appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
ISKCON Brampton is a suburb in the Toronto area that has a small temple and congregation of devotees. On Sunday, May 31st we made our way there for a special mid-day Sunday Feast TOVP program which was also attended by His Holiness Bhaktimarg Swami who had come especially for the TOVP presentations in Brampton and
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 81 – TOVP Presentations at ISKCON Brampton and ISKCON Toronto appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We had to take an extremely early flight on Saturday morning, May 30th, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to get to Toronto, Canada. We were picked up by Subha Vilas prabhu (his wife’s name is Ashalata), a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and father of one of the TOVP Canada Team, Indresh prabhu, in whose home we were
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Gita Nagari, another one of Srila Prabhupada’s original farm communities/temples located in Port Royal, Pennsylvania, is home to the beloved Deities of Visnujana Swami, Sri Sri Radha Damodar. These Deities traveled throughout North America many times in a Greyhound bus converted into a traveling temple, enjoying devotional festivals and the sweet kirtans of Visnujana Swami
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Day 79 – Gita Nagari Retreat Stop appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The month of Purushottama is a highly sacred month and beneficial to making a donation to the TOVP. Lord Krishna in Goloka speaking to Lord Vishnu Who has brought the personified extra month (Adhik Maas) to His realm for shelter: “An unfortunate ignorant man, who does not perform any japa, does not giveany charity,
The post The Glories of Purushottama Month (Maas) appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
New Vrindaban is famous throughout ISKCON as being Srila Prabhupada’s first farm project, named after the holy dhama. Like other farm projects and temples, it was given the nomenclature “New” to link it to its origin. Srila Prabhupada even said there was no difference between the two, Vrindaban and New Vrindaban. The presiding Deities of
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 77-78 – Our Visit to New Vrindaban appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We have a new beautiful photo of the TOVP which were taken from Ganges right across Prabhupada Ghat.
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With the announcement by the GBC Chairman, Praghosa das, of 2015 as the Year of the TOVP, and the coming of ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary in 2016, along with the overwhelming success of the current North American TOVP Tour, a new and effective fundraising plan has been devised to collect the required funds for its completion.
The post 9 WAYS OF DEVOTION, 9 LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION – Pledge Your Support for the TOVP Today! appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
In Vrindavan in 2014 we inaugurated the Gratitude Coin program to help fund the TOVP project. Our first presentation was at Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day festival during Kartik. At that time Jayasri mataji and Pratapana prabhu from Sydney, Australia pledged two Platinum coins, a total of $500,000, in the service of the TOVP construction. With
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Guy rope has been positioned, pulled and secured. Now the new segments are being installed to increase the height of the crane; the 2 segments – 19.5 feet (6 meters) each are to be placed by the end of this week!
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Muted tones of sandstone will be used at the foot of the temple as a symbol of strength, shouldering the weight of the temple. The subtle beauty of the Sandstone will wrap the base of the temple all around, inspiring a contemplative mood in the pilgrims as they view the beautiful carvings along the parikrama.
The post Inspection of Sandstone Work in Jaipur appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
We are now at the final stage of the main dome construction. Preparation works has began for the Kalash and the Chakra! Looking at this image, you can really see how big is the Kalash by comparing the proportions of the people and the Kalash. Standing at 277 feet (84.4 meters) from the ground, it
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The main dome is almost completed and we are now getting ready to start the Kalash! To carry out the Kalash work, the height of the tower crane must be increased; from the now existing level of 278 feet (85 meters) to 380 feet ( 116 meters). In order to secure the stability of the
The post Anchoring the Tower Crane appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
On Tuesday, May 19th we departed from New Orleans for Charlotte, North Carolina by airplane. We arrived and spent the rest of the day and evening quietly in the home of our host, Pavitra Gaura prabhu and his family. The next day, Wednesday, May 29th we paid a short visit to the home of Sathish
The post TOVP Daily Tour Diary Days 69 and 70: Arrival in Charlotte, North Carolina appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The amazing murtis pictured here are mockups of the 8 demigods that will overlook Lord Nrsimhadeva altar, offering prayers as described in Srimad Bhagavatam. The mockups are 2 ft. tall, but the size of the actual murtis when finished will be an astounding 9.8 feet! On the second level of the altar, the railings between
The post Art Department in Action! appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
GRC is an abbreviation for glass fiber-reinforced concrete, the strongest and most environmentally retardant concrete in the world. The TOVP is being constructed of this material, as well as all the architectural elements and decorative items being used on the temple. Now underway on the ISKCON property is the construction of a dedicated GRC workshop
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