The
new temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON) opened its doors to devotees and the public in Noida, Sector
33, on February 13, 2014. The International Society for Krishna
Consciousness organized a week-long festive extravaganza. Over ten
thousand people attended the Grand Opening on February 13th.
During
the festival, ISKCON dignitaries like HH Gopal Krishna Goswami
(Initiating Guru), HH Loknath Swami (Initiating Guru), Mr. Surinder
Singh Nagar, MP-Gautam Budh Nagar, Mr. Hira Lal Gupta, DM-Noida, along
with many devotees from USA, Canada, Russia, Botswana, and Mauritius
attended the festival and shared their insights and values of Krishna
consciousness with the attendees.
A Shobha
Yatra was also organized on February 8th from the Atta market. On
February 11th, there was Netromilan Utsav followed by Pran Pratishtha
Utsav on February 12th and on February 13th, devotees had the first
Mangla Arti of Radha-Krishna. Noida’s celebrating crowd was seen
enjoying the cultural and entertainment extravaganza at the opening
ceremony.
International Society for
Krishna Consciousness, also popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement
is a spiritual society founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada in July 1966 in New York. ISKCON belongs to the
Gaudiya-Vaishnava Sampradaya, a monotheistic tradition within the Vedic
culture.
The aim of ISKCON is to acquaint
the world with the universal principles of self-realization and God
consciousness so that they may derive the highest benefits of spiritual
understanding, unity, progress and peace. Vedic literature recommends
that in the present age of Kali-yuga the most effective means of
achieving self-realization is to chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna and
understanding Him by hearing and reading about Him. According to Shri
Yudhistir Govinda Das, Deputy Director – Communications, ISKCON India
stated “This beautifully designed project has been constructed with the
love and devotion of devotees and well-wishers and would serve as a
temple, meditation point and also a place of education to learn the
culture of India and its Vedic tradition for the people of NCR.”
ISKCON
comprises of over 500 temples, 40 rural communities and over 100
vegetarian restaurants (Govinda) worldwide. It also conducts special
projects throughout the world, such as “Food for Life”, the only free
vegetarian relief program in the world. ISKCON also regularly conducts
seminars on stress management for the corporate sector and college
students.
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