Hill Temples Of Bangalore -3 : Hare Krishna Hill - ISKCON Temple

Previous Posts :

1. Shrungagiri Hill - Shanmukha Temple

2. Omkar Hills - Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Temple and Matsya Narayana Temple

Hare Krishna!!!

Spread over 8 acres of land atop a hill, in the heart of Bangalore is ISKCON’s largest temple complex in the world. Also known as the Hare Krishna Hill, this is home to 5 temples of various forms of Lord Krishna: Sri Sri Radha Krishna-Chandra, Sri Krishna Balarama, Sri Nitai Gauranga, Sri Prahlada Narasimha and Sri Srinivasa Govinda.

The temple complex is equipped with various facilities for the purpose of promoting the spiritual and cultural message of Lord Krishna and His pure devotee His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya and spiritual master of the entire ISKCON movement.

All activities on Hare Krishna Hill are centered around the principal Deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishna-Chandra. Beginning with the mangala-arati at 4:15 am, a typical day is filled with spiritually inspiring programs of aratis and kirtanas. The morning’s program includes a procession where devotees performing sankirtana, accompany the Deity of Srila Prabhupada on a palanquin to the various temples. The day ends with the festive shayana utsava, when the Lord tours His temple room on an ornamental palanquin before entering His sleeping quarters for rest. This daily utsava offered to the Lord is a unique feature of ISKCON Bangalore.

Radha-Krishna Idols in ISKCON Temple

 Free Prasadam for all and The Higher Taste Outlets : -

Every visitor to the temple receives a cup of free kichiri prasadam, made of rice and dahl. In addition to the free prasadam, this kitchen is also used to prepare varieties of sweet and salty items, which are offered to the Lord and made available as prasadam to the visiting pilgrims for a nominal price. ISKCON’s Bakery is well-known in Bangalore for its eggless cakes and biscuits. ISKCON Prasadam is also availaible in "The Higher Taste" outlets in other places of Bangalore.

Organic Farming :

ISKCON encourages organic farming, in which grains, vegetables and fruits are grown naturally without the use of chemicals and fertilizers. ISKCON Bangalore’s 100-acre farm near Mysore, on the bank of the River Kaveri provides an active model of such farming. The farm’s products are made available in the temple’s natural foods shop on Hare Krishna Hill known as “Dharani”.

Dakshinakriti :

ISKCON Bangalore has a scheme to promote and protect the traditional art and craft of South India. This project encourages and supports talented craftsmen by providing them an outlet for their work. It gives them an opportunity to sustain themselves through the creations of their artistic expression. Through this service, ISKCON Bangalore is bringing into focus the richness of Indian tradition and the need to recognize its importance in preserving our culture and heritage. The products made under this scheme are available at “Dakshinakriti”, the temple’s sculpture showroom. This is my favorite section in ISKCON. If you enter you will be attracted those sculptures and you wont feel like coming out of Dakshinakriti.

ISKCON Temple Interior

Multivision Cinema :

The Multivision Cinema at ISKCON Bangalore was conceived by devotees and produced in the United States. This is India’s first show combining visual projection and animatronics. The 14 projectors, Laser Disc players, the surround sound processors and the animatronics mechanisms are controlled by a special purpose computer which operates through electronic control units and software developed in Sweden. The 40-minute Cinema conveys a simple yet significant spiritual message and is priced nominally. Nearly 50% of the visitors to the temple choose to watch the cinema, which operates at specific times in the morning and evening.

Dwarakapuri :

The temple complex also houses “Dwarakapuri”, a marriage hall with ultra-modern finishing and “Mathura”, a hall for seminars and conferences. These halls help generate revenue for the temple’s maintenance and preaching activities.

Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust :

The Bangalore branch of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is housed on Hare Krishna Hill and is involved in translating and publishing Srila Prabhupada’s voluminous works in the Kannada language.

Goloka Trust :

The Goloka Seva Trust promotes and maintains the valuable art of incense (agarbatti) making, using purely natural ingredients. At present the Goloka Seva Trust produces 73 varieties of incense that is meant for worship. The trust also conducts in-house research to develop varieties of non-toxic user-friendly incense and related products. These products are also made available at the temple’s counters for the visitors.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation :

ISKCON's The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a NGO in India providing food for 1.3 million school children across 9 States and 19 locations. The standards of hygiene at Iskcon's Akshaya Patra kitchens are as high as a hospital's operation theater.

If I keep writing about ISKCON then pages fall short. It is a must visit temple in Bangalore. Please visit ISKCON temple once and be blessed by Lord Krishna. Hare Krishna!!

(Few Information are taken from various websites belonging to ISKCON)