Author Archives: Temple of the Vedic Planetarium

This video of HH Jayapataka Swami was made in 2020 in preparation for the planned installation of the new Prabhupada murti in the TOVP in February of this year. Due the pandemic, the installation was rescheduled for October this year, but again has been postponed to 2022. Instead, we are observing a Grand Welcome Ceremony

On October 14 and 15 ISKCON will combinedly celebrate the Grand Welcome Ceremony of Srila Prabhupada’s new murti to the TOVP – Prabhupada Vaibhava Darshan Utsava. Prabhupada will now be personally present in the TOVP to inspire and direct us for its completion. This is Gaudiya Vaishnava history manifesting right before all our eyes, as

On September 1st, 2021 a specially designed and minted coin commemorating the 125th Appearance Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada this year was released by Indian Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi. This historic honoring of Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of ISKCON is most important for the future of ISKCON and humanity. The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium has

On the eve of a momentous event – the auspicious day of the official Welcome Ceremony of Srila Prabhupada’s new murti to the TOVP on October 14 and 15 – an important event happened: the transfer of the murtis of Jaya and Vijaya, the two divine gatekeepers of the TOVP, to their permanent place at

Despite eight months of total lockdown in 2020 and limited construction in 2021, the TOVP is now back on track with our normal construction work force. Below is a list of current work and goals to achieve for 2022. Nrsimha Wing Completion We plan to have the Nrsimha Wing completed and ready for unveiling in

Ekadasi is the 11th day of the lunar phase of the Moon. Indira Ekadasi is celebrated in the Krishna Paksha (waning Moon phase) in the month of Ashwin (September–October). Since this Ekadasi falls on the Pitru Paksha (15 days in the month of Ashwin dedicated to ancestors), it is also known as ‘Ekadasi Shraddh.’ This

Life Comes from Life: Morning Walks with A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Morning Walks with A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada In these morning walk conversations along Venice Beach, Los Angeles in the mid-1970’s, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada reveals the Vedic understanding of life, consciousness and evolution. In fact, both matter and spirit

In almost every ISKCON temple and center worldwide, a large or small murti of ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada can be found. The murti is worshiped daily no different from any deity of the Lord, and Srila Prabhupada is thus considered to be personally present to accept our service and

On October 14 and 15 ISKCON will combinedly celebrate the Grand Welcome Ceremony of Srila Prabhupada’s new murti to the TOVP – Prabhupada Vaibhava Darshan Utsava. Prabhupada will now be personally present in the TOVP to inspire and direct us for its completion. Five abhisheka options are available to sponsor, of which the most popular

It is with great pleasure that we announce the Samstapak Acharya Seva opportunity as one of our service options for Srila Prabhupada’s new murti Welcome Ceremony on October 14 and 15. It is titled as such because it recognizes ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya as the prominent acharya of Caitanya Gaudiya Vaishnavism for the next 10,000 (samstapak) years.

This article is being presented in honor of the divine appearance day of the original pioneer of the Krishna consciousness movement, His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhaktivinoda Thakur, September 18, 2021. namo bhaktivinodaya sac-cid-ananda-namine gaura-shakti-svarupaya rupanuga-varaya te I offer my respectful obeisances unto Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda, who is transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is a

The Ekadasi Tithi in the month of Bhadrapada, Shukla Paksha (bright phase of the Lunar cycle) is known as Parivartini Ekadashi or Parsva or Vamana Ekadasi. On this day, Lord Vishnu, who is in a state of yogic sleep (Yoga Nidra), changes his posture. Hence, it is referred to as Parivartini Ekadasi (which literally means

On October 14 and 15 the landmark historic occasion of the Welcome Ceremony of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in the form of his divine murti will take place: Prabhupada Vaibhava Darshan Utsav. Commemorating Srila Prabhupada’s 125th Appearance

Conceiving the Inconceivable: A Scientific Commentary on the Vedanta Sutra By Ashish Dalela (Rishiraja Dasa) Are life and the universe a mindless accident—the blind outworking of laws governing cosmic, chemical, and biological evolution? That’s the official story many of us were taught somewhere along the way. But what does the science actually say? Drawing on

The following is an excerpt from the book, The Glories and Pastimes of Srimate Radharani by His Holiness Bhakti Purushottama Swami. It is amazing recounting of the origin and creation of Sri Mayapur-dhama by Radharani Herself, for the pleasure of Lord Krishna. This gives us an inkling into the inconceivable purity of Sridham Mayapur where

This book from our TOVP online TOVP online Flipbook Collection on the website is available for reading by one and all. It is downloadable, can be bookmarked on your computer, and shared with others. From the Introductory Note: Through the ages pious people, especially holy men, sages and yogis have sought to take shelter of

A lot of progress has been made in the Staircase Towers – exterior and interior – design and execution. In-depth items have been captured in relation to the varied disciplines such as lighting, cladding, ornamentation, jalis, etc associated with the Staircase Towers. As the construction shapes up, the drawings tune in to achieve just the

On September 1, 2021 spiritual history was made. To honor the 125th Birth Anniversary of ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi, officially released a commemorative Prabhupada coin. In a 38-minute online event, Prime Minister Modi, Union Minister Sri Kishan Reddy and His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami made presentations

Announcement from Yudhistir Govinda das, Director of ISKCON Communications for India: ISKCON Communications and the Srila Prabhupada 125 Committee are happy to announce that the Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji has kindly consented to officially inaugurate Srila Prabhupada’s 125th Appearance Anniversary celebrations, and also release the commemorative Prabhupada coin on September

Did We Land on the Moon? By Ashish Dalela (Rsiraja Das) According to a Gallup poll, about 6% of Americans believe that man never went to the moon; they endorse conspiracy theories in which these landings were supposedly staged in a studio. This post is not about such conspiracy theories. I will discuss why we

We are pleased to announce the completion of the painting of the Vijaya murti. This 17′ murti, along with the now completed Jaya murti, will stand at the main entrance of the TOVP. We hope this video inspires you, and we are grateful to the dedicated team of artists who have performed this wonderful service.

Evolution and Intelligent Design in a Nutshell By Thomas Y. Lo, Paul K. Chien, Eric H. Anderson, Robert A. Alston, Robert P. Waltzer Are life and the universe a mindless accident—the blind outworking of laws governing cosmic, chemical, and biological evolution? That’s the official story many of us were taught somewhere along the way. But

We are pleased to announce the TOVP Artwork Collection on the TOVP website. Currently, the collection consists of amazing digital imagery reproduced from actual photos by Sriman Kaliya Krishna das. These images can be viewed as is on the website or ‘saved as’ to your computer to view at your convenience and pleasure. View the

The TOVP Fundraising Department is rolling out yet another incredible Seva Opportunity during Srila Prabhupada’s 125th Appearance Anniversary Year, alongside the Grand Welcome Ceremony of the new Prabhupada murti in the TOVP on October 14 and 15. Now you can receive a rare 125th Anniversary silver coin minted by the Indian government in honor of

Pavitra Ekadashi, also known as Pavitropana Ekadashi, occurs during the waxing phase of the moon (Shukla Paksha) in the month of Shravan or Sawan in the traditional Hindu calendar. Pavitra Ekadashi is considered to be of extreme auspiciousness, the reason being a childless couple would be blessed with children on observing this vrat. Apart from

In 1973, while delivering a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, he gave this instruction to all his disciples living in Mayapur, and beyond. “I have given you the Kingdom of God. Now take it, develop it and enjoy it” In these few words lay Srila Prabhupada’s Mayapur mission in a nutshell. He has literally given us the

This book from our TOVP online Flipbook Collection on the website is available for reading by one and all. It is downloadable, can be bookmarked on your computer, and shared with others. From the Introductory Note: This publication, written by Jahnudvipa das and Braja Sevaki devi dasi, was written in 2006 prior to any construction

We would like to remind all our current and potential donors about the rare charity opportunity that donating to the TOVP represents. In reality, we cannot really fathom this once-in-many-lifetimes chance to serve Lord Caitanya’s mission as maha vadanyaya, the most munificent incarnation of Godhead. We are all in a most unique time in history

The Universe of the Vedas By Dr. Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa) The Srimad-Bhagavatam presents an earth-centered conception of the cosmos. At first glance the cosmology seems foreign, but a closer look reveals that not only does the cosmology of the Bhagavatam describe the world of our experience, but it also presents a much larger

Commentaries on 5th Canto Bhagavatam Cosmology By Dr. Dane Holtzman (Danavir Goswami) This Sanskrit classic was extensively referenced by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in writing his purports for the Fifth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Now the entire compendium of commentaries [which includes those of Srila Sridhara Svami, Sri Viraraghavacarya, Srimad Vijayadhvaja Tirtha,

August 31, 2021 marks the auspicious 125th Appearance Anniversary of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. By his mercy and compassion he is delivering all the conditioned souls from the mire of material existence and repeated birth and death to the eternal world of the

As Gaudiya Vaishnavas, our main aim during ekadasi is to decrease bodily demands so we can spend more time in seva, especially hearing and chanting about the Lord. It’s recommended to chant extra rounds and stay up all night chanting and hearing the Lord’s glories. It is also auspicious to donate to Vaishnavas and Lord

Taking advantage of the newest technology in book reading, the TOVP website has launched the beginnings of our digital Flipbook Collection. A digital flipbook is an online book, magazine or other multi-paged publication that turns pages manually and, depending on the service used, offers a variety of related services to the reader. The TOVP Flipbook

God, Intelligent Design and Fine-Tuning By T.D. Singh (Bhaktiswarupa Damodar Swami) Is God no longer necessary in a world that is increasingly influenced by a scientific temper? Or, on the contrary, have the findings of modern sciences forced us to approach the question of the existence of God in new ways? The scientific enterprise has

This is a slightly revised version of an article ‘A Trip To Bali’ that appeared in 2004 in Atlantis Rising magazine, as part of my regular column The Forbidden Archeologist. A Trip to Bali Your forbidden archeologist sometimes has to endure being invited to out of the way places such as Bali, the original tropical

Sayana Ekadasi (Shayani Ekadasi) (lit. “sleeping eleventh”) or Maha-ekadasi (lit. “The great eleventh”) or Prathama-ekadasi (lit. “The first eleventh”) or Padma Ekadasi, Devshayani Ekadasi or Devpodhi Ekadasi is the eleventh lunar day (Ekadasi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of the Vedic month of Ashadha (June – July). Thus, it is also known as Ashadhi

Mystic Universe: An Introduction to Vedic Cosmology By Ashish Dalela (Rishiraja Dasa) Unlike previous works on Vedic cosmology, which discuss the model of the universe without describing its connection to a theory of nature, this book discusses the theory before it describes the model. The book discusses the reasons in science for adopting a different

SRILA PRABHUPADA VAIBHAVA DARSHAN UTSAVA (Prabhupada Welcome Ceremony) – The time is soon approaching to welcome Srila Prabhupada’s new ‘worship-pose’ murti to the TOVP. October 14 & 15 (the auspicious days of Rama Vijayotsava and the appearance of Sri Madhvacharya) are now the scheduled dates for this historic, landmark occasion. Crafted by ISKCON’s most well-known

God and Science – Divine Causation and the Laws of Nature By Sadaputa Dasa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson) In the world of modern science, traditional religion is often seen as a force of ignorance which attempts to impose outdated ideas on scientific truth. At the same time, many scientists see science giving rise to a

We would like to show you a short video clip illustrating how the fourth five-meter wall relief panel was created. This panel will be placed on the wall of the ventilation shaft of the TOVP Temple room. Four large panels will be placed in all the four corners of the main Temple room. Two panels