Author Archives: Temple of the Vedic Planetarium

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

Here we are showing you the final stage of completing the Vijaya murti: painting. You can see how the colors blend in very well with each other. Ambhoda mataji has refined the blending of colors and already displayed her talents in the painting of the Jaya murti. Our next update report will be the completion

A Mousetrap for Darwin: Michael J. Behe Answers His Critics By Michael J Behe In 1996 Darwin’s Black Box thrust Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe into the national spotlight. The book, and his subsequent two, sparked a firestorm of criticism, and his responses appeared in everything from the New York Times to science blogs and

Visit the TOVP Vedic Science Essays section on our website to read short and interesting essays by prominent ISKCON authors and scholars on several topics relating to relevant current topics. On the Main Menu of the TOVP website hover above the Vedic Science tab, and when the scroll down menu appears click on Vedic Science

The 11th day of Krishna Paksha (Moon’s waning Phase) in the month Ashada (June – July) is observed as Yogini Ekadasi. It is considered a very auspicious and rewarding day to fulfill one’s wishes and destroy all the sins of a lifetime. This day is also known as Ashadi Ekadasi, and observing vrata (vow) on

The TOVP Book of Devotion is now officially going into production in preparation for offering to Srila Prabhupada. With over 9,000 names of TOVP donors, this will be the most magnificent, one-of-a-kind book presented to His Divine Grace in the history of ISKCON. Since the deadline of Gaura Purnima, March 28, the TOVP Book Team

This article was originally published in Atlantis Rising magazine in 2003 in my column, Notes from the Forbidden Archeologist. In February of 2002, I was on a lecture tour of South India. At universities and other educational and cultural institutions in several cities, I was giving talks about the archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity

The appropriate time to glorify a special soul is ‘always’. It has been more than a month that our beloved Pankajanghri prabhu has left this planet. His memories and contributions towards the TOVP are eternally etched in our hearts and in the walls of this iconic building. The TOVP Team members in the Design and

Mysteries of the Ancient Vedic Empire: Recognizing Vedic Contributions to Other Cultures Around the World By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana) The Vedic culture is accepted by numerous scholars as one of the most sophisticated civilizations to appear after the last glacial period of 12,000 years ago. It developed in ancient India, and as the people

See how wonderful the Domes and Chatris look! Bathed in monsoon rains, the dome tiles sparkle brightly in the sun. The dome ribs, covered with Germanic mineral paint, are still fresh and shiny with gold. The signs of the Vaishnava Tilaka, located along the perimeter of the main domes, look very majestic. Chatris, clad in

Beginning with my first book, “Six Causes”, I have been describing a paradigm of creation that stems from conscious creativity. In this paradigm, the self goes missing in the self, and when this “absence” is created, then creativity occurs to overcome this absence by expanding the self into works of creativity. E.g. in human creativity,

Human Devolution: A Vedic Alternative to Darwin’s Theory By Michael A. Cremo (Drutakarma das) In their controversial bestseller Forbidden Archeology, Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson documented evidence showing that humans have existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years and catalyzed a global inquiry. Such anomalous evidence, contradicting Darwinian evolution, catalyzed a

In this short video Sadbhuja Das, TOVP Managing Director shows the current progress of the Chatri floors with their beautiful and ornate marble inlays.   TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH Visit: www.tovp.org Support: https://tovp.org/donate/ Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube View at 360°: www.tovp360.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022 Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM WhatsApp: https://m.tovp.org/whatsapp Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram

Ambarisa and Braja Vilasa prabhus and the entire TOVP Team wish to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to the hundreds of devotees who participated in the recent #GivingToPrabhupada 11 Day Matching Fundraiser from May 14 – 25. Despite the horrific external world circumstances and challenges, we met with great success and a highly enthusiastic response

Puranic Cosmology, Volume 1 By H.H. Danavir Goswami (Dr. Dane Holtzman) Includes the cosmological sections from Visnu Purana, Vayu Purana, Makandeya Purana and Linga Purana. Compiled by Srila Krsna-Dvaipayana Vyasa. A virtual storehouse of scientific wisdom waiting to be discovered by modern thinkers. Questions which have baffled the world s best brains for centuries are

As you may remember, a few months ago we gave progress reports on the deity of Jaya (the gatekeeper of the main entrance of the TOVP) being FINISHED and ready for installation. Now we are working on the deity of Vijaya. The work is going on full speed. It’s coming out very nice and we

The most auspicious and powerful Pandava Nirjala ekadasi is approaching on June 20 (US)/June 21 (India and parts of US). Observing a full fast, including water, on this one ekadasi is equal to observing all others. And additionally, giving charity on this ekadasi leads to “imperishable” results. Srila Vyasadeva said to Bhima, “Oh Bhima, Lord

Unknown to many devotees, the TOVP Care Nrsimha Yajna for the protection of devotees worldwide has been continuing daily for one year as initiated by Ambarisa prabhu. Each day our pujari, Krishna Caitanya das, a graduate of the Mayapur gurukula, begins at 10am and for 45 minutes worships Lord Nrsimha as a service to humanity