Sri Radha Krishna-Chandra Mandir (Hindi: श्री राधा कृष्ण-चन्द्र मन्दिर ) or ISKCON Bangalore temple is a Gaudiya Vaishnava (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) temple of Krishna and Radha located at Rajajinagar, in the North Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world. The temple is a huge cultural complex that was inaugurated in 1997 to
carry out the vision of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON to promote Vedic culture and
spiritual learning.
History of ISKCON in Bangalore
Around 1976, the devotees from different parts of India and the world
had initiated activities of ISKCON in different parts of South India
like Bangalore, Hubli, Madras, etc. Sankirtans in the streets, enrolling
Life Members, arranging programs in the houses, and arranging large
public programs in pandals were being conducted.In May 1997, Bangalore
Iskcon Temple was inaugurated by former president of India - Shankar Dayal Sharma.
Darshana Timings
ISKCON does not discriminate its visitors on the basis of religion,
color or socio-economic status. The temple is open for darshana from
4.15 am to 5 am, 7.15 am to 12.50 pm and 4 pm to 8.20 pm everyday.
Features of the temple
The gold-plated dwajastambha (flag post) at 17m (56 ft) high and the
gold plated kalash shikara at 8.5m (28 ft) high, shimmer in the night
sky, leaves the onlooker speechless. Yet another salient feature of the
temple is the free distribution of delicious Sri Krishna prasadam to all
the visitors during the darshana hours.
Amenities
Meticulously clean surroundings, drinking water, hygienic washrooms,
elevators for senior citizens and the specially-abled, adequate car
parking, visible signboards, a variety of eatables, etc. are some of the
well thought of amenities for visitors
Shrines (Altars)
ISKCON Bangalore has six shrines:-- Main shrine is of Radha-Krishna.
- Krishna Balrama.
- Nitai Gauranga (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda).
- Srinivasa Govinda ( also known as Venkateswara ).
- Prahlada Narasimha.
- Srila Prabhupada.
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:
- Rama Navami
- Brahmotsava
- Narasimha Jayanti
- Panihati Chida-dahi
- Ratha Yatra
- Balaram Jayanti
- Jhulan Utsav
- Sri Krishna Janmashtami
- Vyasa Puja
- Sri Radhashtami
- Deepotsava
- Govardhan Puja
- Vaikuntha Ekadashi
- Nityananda Trayodashi
- Gaura Poornima
- Krishna Shringar
- Kumbhabhisheka
Social Services
The Akshaya Patra Foundation,
an initiative of ISKCON Bangalore 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. Since 2003, the
Foundation has been implementing the mid-day meal programme under the
guidelines of Government of India.
Akshaya Patra is currently operating in 19 locations across 9 states
of India. It is reaching out to over 9000 Government schools feeding 1.3
million children round the year on all school working days. It is
steadily moving towards achieving its goal of feeding 5 million children
by 2020.
ISKCON Bangalore has been praised many times for its services towards
poor and helpless people. It 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.
Photo Gallery:
Courtesy: Wikipedia