Planet ISKCON

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) will host an online gathering focused on the distribution of Sri Caitanya-caritāmṛta, bringing together experienced practitioners from ISV, London, Pune, and other regions. The session will highlight practical strategies, effective presentation techniques, and the deeper spiritual inspiration behind participating in Lord Caitanya’s mission through book distribution. The gathering will take […]

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The Bhakti Vriksha Leadership Training Course, along with the Counseling, Care, and Nurturing Course, was held from January 24–26, 2026, at ISKCON Ranchi, Jharkhand. The three-day program brought together more than 150 devotees from the local community and was guided by Madhusudan Mukund Das, Centre Manager of ISKCON Ranchi. ISKCON Ranchi has emerged as a […]

The post ISKCON Ranchi Offers Multiple Courses, Emerging as a Dynamic Preaching Center appeared first on ISKCON News.

Public voting is now open for the Bhakti Song Contest, a grassroots initiative aimed at exploring the use of music and emerging technologies in Krishna-conscious outreach. Three devotional songs have been submitted and are available for listening and voting on the Bhakti Song site. ISKCON News first reported on the Bhakti Song Contest in September […]

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On February 14, 2026, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will convene in Mayapur. One of the topics of discussion will be the recent end of the three-year moratorium period on Vaishnavis offering diksha initiation. This moratorium, first instituted by the GBC at its November 2, 2022, meeting, […]

The post As the GBC Prepares to Meet in Mayapur, a Look Back at the Vaishnavi Diksha Guru Debate appeared first on ISKCON News.

Two nights ago, I was fortunate to witness something extraordinary during the Be A Gardener campaign. In the company of a small group of devotees, we went out with the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (CC), trusting Lord Caitanya’s guidance at every step. What unfolded felt worth sharing in the hope that others might feel encouraged to try as […]

The post “Be a Gardener” Campaign in Action: 25 Caitanya-caritāmṛta Sets in One Evening appeared first on ISKCON News.

Seva Care has released the latest episode of its ongoing podcast series, Care During Tough Times, titled Marriages and Vaishnava Community Support, featuring Dhanya Rico, M.Ed., Ed.S., NCC, a National Certified Counselor specializing in personal and relationship wellness. The episode offers a thoughtful exploration of how individuals and communities can respond to marriage difficulties, separations, […]

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The Bhakti Vriksha Leadership Training Level-1 program will be held in Mayapur, India, from February 14 to 16, 2026, offering participants a systematic foundation for becoming effective leaders in preaching Krishna-conscious philosophy. Conducted in English and available both offline in Mayapur and online via Zoom, the training will be led by Nityanand Ashraya Das, Temple […]

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On New Year’s Day 2026, approximately 400 devotees gathered at ISKCON Plainfield, NJ, to honor a traditional Sri Jagannath Puri–style Maha Prasad buffet featuring 15 courses. Organized by ISKCON of Central New Jersey (ICNJ), the annual New Year Sri Jagannath Puri–style buffet has been held for nearly a decade. Even during the COVID year, ICNJ […]

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As the sun transitioned into Capricorn for Makar Sankranti on January 14, 2026, Ayodhya Dham was transformed into a sea of devotion. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, fresh from their holy bath at the Magh Mela in Prayagraj, arrived at the feet of Lord Ram. To honor this sacred arrival, ISKCON Ayodhya scaled its Food […]

The post ISKCON Ayodhya Serves 100,000 Meals During Magh Mela 2026 appeared first on ISKCON News.

ISKCON’s Ministry for Book Distribution is inviting devotees and communities worldwide to submit nominations for the 2025 Book Distribution Awards, recognizing outstanding leadership, innovation, creativity, and resilience in the global sankirtan movement. Now is your chance to highlight the successes in Sankirtan you see in your communities every day. The 2025 Book Distribution Awards Ceremony […]

The post Global Call for Nominations to Honor Sankirtan Excellence and Innovation appeared first on ISKCON News.

ISKCON Visakhapatnam was honoured to host the Pan-India ISKCON Leaders’ Summit from January 5th to 11th. Set against the serene backdrop of the beautiful seafront, overlooking the Bay of Bengal, where the gentle waves kiss the shore and the morning sun bathes the horizon in golden light, the summit created a spiritually uplifting atmosphere for […]

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Devotees interacting with children at Our Little Vaishnavas school campus. Students from Our Little Vaishnavas school in Mayapur recently hosted their annual children’s market day, turning classroom lessons into real-world business experience. Through small booths and creative projects, the children practiced entrepreneurship while embracing Srila Prabhupada’s vision of self sustenance, learning teamwork, responsibility, and practical […]

The post Young Entrepreneurs Bring Prabhupada’s Vision to Life at Mayapur School Market Day appeared first on ISKCON News.

In the last thirty or forty years, the rapid pace of technological progress has been dazzling. I still remember my first desk-sized computer, with its massive 20 megabytes of storage, its MS-DOS operating system with the old C: prompt, and the modems that emitted a kind of high-pitched banshee wailing. Ah, those were the days. […]

The post A Vulture-like Civilization appeared first on ISKCON News.

The new project in progress. On November 30th, 2025, the ISKCON New Goloka community in Hillsborough, North Carolina, joyfully gathered at the site of our new temple foundation to mark a significant milestone in the ongoing expansion of our sacred space. The moment reflected our commitment to better serve our loving congregation, to welcome all […]

The post New Goloka Dham Rises to Embrace a Growing Spiritual Community appeared first on ISKCON News.

The Secretariat to the Co-Directors of ISKCON Mayapur has issued an urgent advisory warning devotees and well-wishers about an ongoing room-booking scam targeting pilgrims planning to visit Mayapur during the upcoming festival season. According to the notice, fraudsters are falsely offering accommodations in Prabhupad Village, Isodyan, Gada Bhavan, Conch Bhavan, and Gita Bhavan through a […]

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On February 11, 2026, the TOVP will reach its next milestone: the Grand Opening of the Lord’s Yajna Shala in the TOVP gardens. Only yajnas for the Lord’s pleasure will be executed in this facility on a daily basis, continuing this long-standing seva since 1986. Constructed of granite, marble, and brick, this ornate and beautifully […]

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The Krishna Center for Empathic Communication, an online platform under the guidance of Bir Krishna Das Goswami, is conducting a ten-week online course series beginning on January 18 that examines communication and relationships through the framework of Empathic Nonviolent Communication (ENVC). The first course in the three-part series, titled “Seeking Harmony Within & Without: Become […]

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No matter where we are on our journey, we can find solace in the fact that the effects of time, as we know it, exist only in the material world and are ultimately not linear. The big picture is that all souls (excluding descending nitya siddha masters) come to the material world, eventually attain a […]

The post COMING OF AGE #33 – Perception for a Perfectionist? appeared first on ISKCON News.

As part of a sacred yearly tradition, the ISKCON Bhakti Center for Education and Culture (BCEC) in Vishal Nagar organized its annual Shrimad Bhagwat Saptah from January 1st to 7th, 2025. The week-long spiritual festival brought together thousands of residents from across the Pune metropolitan area for a deep immersion into the teachings of the […]

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Sridama Dasa. Chairman of the ISKCON Philippines National Council with the attendees at the close of the retreat. ISKCON Philippines has marked a significant milestone with the successful hosting of its first national Vaishnavi Retreat, held from December 6-8th, 2025, culminating in the formal establishment of the Vaishnavi Ministry Philippines. The three-day retreat brought together […]

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In a historic development at the intersection of spirituality and public infrastructure, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has selected ISKCON Dwarka as an official partner to enhance the quality, purity, and consistency of food served on Indian Railways. As part of a new “Proof of Concept” (PoC) pilot project launched last month, […]

The post ISKCON Dwarka Partners with IRCTC’s Vision for “Branded Meals” appeared first on ISKCON News.

After the successful Sankirtan Marathon in December 2024, Michigan devotees once again undertook a month-long book distribution marathon in December 2025 at Great Lakes Crossing Mall, one of the state’s largest outlet malls. With Michigan’s harsh winter of snow and freezing temperatures, an indoor shopping mall became a strategic space that allowed Sankirtan to continue […]

The post 10,000-Book Sankirtan Challenge Surpassed at Michigan Mall appeared first on ISKCON News.

In December, the Second Annual Śaraṇāgati Youth Retreat was successfully held at Govardhan EcoVillage, bringing together 40 young devotees from six countries for a seven-day immersive global bhakti experience. Organized by Arjuna Sakhā Das and Sudevī Sakhī Devi Dasi, this year’s retreat centered on the lives and teachings of the Ṣaḍ Gosvāmīs, offering participants a […]

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On September 19th, 2025, a milestone in academic collaboration was achieved with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM/UEM University), ISKCON Mayapur, and the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC). As outlined in this MoU, UEM, BRC, and ISKCON Mayapur intend to establish collaborative academic degree programs (Doctoral, Master’s, […]

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Riddha Das at his writing desk, holding copies of his published works documenting the early years of ISKCON in South Africa. In 1975, a small band of determined devotees in apartheid South Africa faced a task that seemed almost impossible: bringing His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to their country. Fifty years later, as […]

The post The Dream That Came True: Reflecting on Srila Prabhupada’s Historic Visit to South Africa appeared first on ISKCON News.

GOKRSNA was honored with the Hindu Business Award at Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh. When life slowed in 2020, and routines stumbled, Dr Nivedita and her husband Prathap found themselves in a rare stillness. Dr Nivedita, with a PhD from Oxford and a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and Prathap, working across IT and fashion supply […]

The post From Stillness to Service: The GOKRSNA Journey appeared first on ISKCON News.

Matchless Gifts has announced a design competition inviting artists and devotees to create the official artwork for the historic storefront’s merchandise during ISKCON’s 60th anniversary year. The sacred pilgrimage site at 26 2nd Avenue in the Bowery is where Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first gathered followers to chant the Hare Krishna mantra and founded […]

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Karuna Care Association invites you into a six-week transformational journey in a course entitled Karmic Pattern Rewiring: Six Weeks to Better Relationships with Sri Radha Govinda Dasi. Many people try to improve their relationships by changing partners, circumstances, or surface behaviors. This course begins somewhere deeper—within the nervous system, karmic memory, and the inner relational […]

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ISKCON’s newly completed Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra Devi Mandir at Myitkyina. On November 24–26, 2025, more than 2,000 devotees from across Myanmar gathered in Myitkyina to witness the historic inauguration, marking a momentous chapter in the nation’s Krishna consciousness movement. This first ISKCON temple in Kachin State marks a spiritually historic moment, as it […]

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On December 1, 2025, ISKCON Kurukshetra observed Gita Jayanti with a large gathering of 2,000 devotees and visitors, commemorating fifty years since His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s historic visit to Kurukshetra on December 1, 1975. The annual celebration became an occasion to reflect on Srila Prabhupada’s enduring desire to see Kurukshetra emerge as […]

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A recently released report from the AI & Religion Multi-Faith Forum, held in Washington, DC, has raised important ethical, spiritual, and cultural questions that should be explored by many ISKCON leaders and communities worldwide. The forum brought together more than 80 faith leaders, educators, technologists, and ethicists from diverse religious traditions to reflect on how […]

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From November 25 to December 10, 2025, the ISKCON Vaishnavi Ministry held its annual “Safe Families, Strong Communities” campaign. We now reflect on the activities undertaken, the support received, and the spirit of compassion and unity that emerged throughout this period.  During these campaigns, we regularly hear from individuals, particularly Vaishnavis, who find comfort, encouragement, […]

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