ISKCON Temple Bangalore


Sri Radha Krishna Temple is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world. It is located at Rajajinagar, in North Bangalore in the Indian State of Karnataka.

Hare Krishna Hill

Hare Krishna Hill is the hillock on which this temple is situated. ISKCON Bangalore is a charitable society with the objective of propagating Krishna Consciousness all over the world, as explained by Srila Prabhupada, whose teachings are based on Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
In 1987, the society was operating from a rented house in Bangalore. In the year 1987, the leaders of the society applied to Bangalore Development Authority for allotment of land to construct a grand temple and cultural complex. The land was allotted on 3 August 1988 – a seven-acre hillock, which was nothing but a huge piece of monolithic rock that could not be converted into sites. The BDA described it as "karaab land". A temporary shed was constructed to set up a makeshift temple and the Deities of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama moved to this shed on the appearance day of Lord Balarama.

History

The ISKCON society was registered in the year 1978 under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960. The objects of the society are derived from the Seven Purposes of ISKCON as stated by Srila Prabhupada.
In May 1997, Bangalore ISKCON Temple was inaugurated by the ninth president of India - Shankar Dayal Sharma.

About Temple

Features of the temple

There is a gold-plated dhwaja-stambha 17 m high and a gold plated kalash shikara 8.5 m high. There is free distribution of Sri Krishna prasadam to all visitors during the darshana hours.

Shrines (altars)

ISKCON Bangalore has six shrines:
  1. Main shrine is of Radha-Krishna.
  2. Krishna Balrama.
  3. Nitai Gauranga.
  4. Srinivasa Govinda.
  5. Prahlada Narasimha.
  6. Srila Prabhupada.

    Darshan Timings

The temple is open from 4:30 a.m. to 5:00 am. The day begins with a ceremony called mangala-arati followed by worship of Tulasi Devi, Sri Narasimha Arati and Suprabhata Seva for Sri Srinivasa Govinda. The temple again opens at 7:15 a.m. for Shringara Darshana Arati. 5:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m.: Japa Meditation session. The temple remains open until 1:00 p.m. In the evening the temple is open from 4:15 to 8:15. During weekends and public holidays Temple timings are 4:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. without any break in the afternoon. The evening arati starts at 7:00 where devotees sing kirtan. In the main temple the arati is performed by three priests. This arati is followed again by kirtan where devotees can be seen dancing to the rhythm of "Hare Krishna Hare Rama".

Festivals

ISKCON Bangalore celebrates festivals that are either related to avatars of Lord Vishnu or with Vedic culture. Main festivals that are celebrated within the temple are:
ISKCON Bangalore provides free food to those in need. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one initiative started by members of the temple, which has received praise from United States President Barack Obama for feeding and educating children across India.A TV documentary has also been made on Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is principally involved in implementing the Mid-Day Meal programme to the children in Government and Government-aided schools across India. It follows a Public-Private Partnership model of operation, and hence has been working in partnership with the Central and State Governments. It was set up in the year 2000 and runs the world's largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal Programme. Akshaya Patra is currently operating in 27 locations across 11 states of India. It is reaching out to over 13,500 Government and Government-aided schools feeding 1.6 million children every day.

Gallery

See Also