ISKCON TEMPLE - BANGALORE

The famous International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple has deities of Krishna and Radha located at Rajajinagar, in the North Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

The temple is a huge cultural complex that was inaugurated in 1997 by Jayapataka Swami and Shankar Dayal sharma.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupade is the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON to promote Vedic culture and spiritual learning. ISKCON Sri Radha Krishna-chandra Mandir, in Bangalore which attracts visitors from different parts of the world and it offers a truly commendable experience to visitors and devotees from a spiritual, architectural and general perspective.

HISTORY OF ISCKON BANGALORE :

Around 1976, 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.In May 1997, Bangalore Iskcon Temple was inaugurated by the then president of India Shankar Dayal Sharma.

TEMPLE :

Sri Sri Radha Krishna Chandra Temple is accredited for having been the ISKCON's largest temple complex in the world. This outstanding temple is one amongst the best shrines constructed by the ISKCON.There is a gold-plated dwajastambha (flag post) 17m (56 ft) high and a gold plated kalash shikara 8.5m (28 ft) high. There is free distribution of Sri Krishna prasadam to all visitors during the darshana hours.

The main shrine of the temple complex comprises of the stunningly beautiful idols of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. Apart from the main shrine, the temple also comprises four additional shrines dedicated to Sri Sri Krishna Balrama, Sri Nitai Gauranga, Sri Prahlada Narasimha and Sri Srinivasa Govinda respectively. The main hall that embraces the three shrines, including the main one, is a huge hall of 10,000 sq feet.

The arches of the famous ISKCON Temple in Bangalore are very well decorated and the illuminated water falls lead you to the heavily designed Rajagopuram. Within this Rajagopuram lies an open air theater for organizing concerts and festivals. The four temple gopurams combine through glazed glass canopy to form the 10000 square feet hall named 'Hari Naam Kirtan'.

SHRINES

1. Main shrine is of Radha-Krishna.

2. Krishna Balrama.

3. Nitai Gauranga (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda).

4. Srinivasa Govinda ( also known as Venkateswara ).

5. Prahlada Narasimha.

6. Srila Prabhupada.

FESTIVALS :

The festival of 'Janmashtami' here is the major festival that is celebrated with loads of enthusiasm and devotion.

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.

OTHER SERVICES

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.

Timings

The temple is open for darshan from 4.15 am to 5 am, 7.15 am to 12.50 pm and 4 pm to 8.20 pm everyday.

Best time to visit the temple is during the celebration of 'Janmastami'(birthday of Lord Krishna). Devotees from India and abroad flock to the temple during the festival. The festival is marked by several cultural and spiritual activities. The temple keeps launching programmes and one of the interesting programme was named as “Friends of Lord Krishna”. Its aim was to educate the youngsters about the Vedic culture(Vedic philosophy and lifestyle).

Accommodation Facilities at the Temple

The famous International Centre for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON Temple in Bangalore is a marvelous house edifice which has blended the Dravidian and fresh architecture in its construction. The house has some of the main facilities like the multi-vision cinema theatre, mainframe aided presentation theatres along using Vedic shop and a preaching shop inside the premises of the Temple complex. The temple also has good accommodation for its members and non-members.

How to reach :

- This auspicious shrine of ISKCON, Shri Radha Krishna Chandra Temple is located in North Bangalore.
- It is well connected to the rest of the city through various modes of transports.
- Visitors may access the details on how to reach the sanctum sanctorum from major bus stands, railway stations and the Bengaluru International Airport.