Krishna Balarama Mandir (ISKCON)
Vrndavan, Braj Mandal, Uttar Pradesh (UP) India

This Site to Close on January 1, 2006 Appeal for Help
Regrettably if I do not receive any financial support to help maintain this site in the coming year from sincere souls such as you, I will have to cancel this site on January 1, 2006 or at least stop updating it. READ MORE

Natural Nirvana Company Policies and Reason for Being.

His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established this temple in 1976. This beautiful temple has Deities of Gaura Nitai (left altar), Krishna Balarama (middle altar), and Radha Syamasundara (Radha Krishna on the right altar). On the left altar, below Gaura Nitai, there are murtis of Sri Prabhupada on the left and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvami on the right. There is also a murti (deity) of Srila Prabhupada in the temple room. On the altar with Radha Syamasundara there are Lalita and Vishakha, the sakhis or girlfriends of Radharani. This temple was built with money donated from devotees from all over the world.

The guesthouse and restaurant are some of the better facilities in Vrindavana. Regrettably the guesthouse is usually full, so it is usually a good idea to book it in advance, especially during the festival seasons.

There is also a traditional gurukula, or school of the guru, which can sometimes be visited with prior permission. Students here are trained in an ashram situation. They get both a spiritual and material education.

About a kilometre from the temple is the ISKCON goshala, where over a hundred cows are protected. It is located in a peaceful place and has a nice garden. This can be visited.

The phone number for the guesthouse is (0565) 442-478. If you call from outside of India you call 91-565-442-478. The temple address is Krishna Balarama Mandir, Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg, Raman Reti, Vrindavana, District Mathura, UP.

Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi
In front of the temple is the beautiful white marble Samadhi Mandir of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). This is where his body was laid to rest after he left this world and returned to the spiritual world. His body was placed directly under where the large murti of Srila Prabhupada is located. Normally the bodies of dead people are burned and the ashes are put in a holy river. But in the case of a paramahamsa, a highly elevated devotee of Lord Krishna, the body is not burned, but buried in samadhi. This is because the body of a pure devotee is spiritual.

Every year in the month of Kartika (Oct-Nov) there is a festival here to celebrate the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada. On the upper floor of the museum side of the samadhi there is a video machine, where videos of Srila Prabhupada are shown. There is also a picture exhibit on the upper floor. On the upper floor of the main samadhi building people are shown how to chant japa. They then chant one round of 108 Hare Krishna mantras.

When entering the temple devotees chant the prayers in honor of Srila Prabhupada.

namah om vishnupadaya krishnapresthaya bhutale
shrimate bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine

“I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna on this earth having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

namaste saraswate deve gaura-vani pracharine
nirvisesa shunyavadi paschatya-desha-tarine

“Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O Spiritual master and servant of Saraswati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanya and delivering the western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.”

Srila Prabhupada’s Museum
By the ISKCON guesthouse entrance, there are the actual rooms that AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acarya of ISKCON, lived in while in Vrindavana. The bed that you see here is where Srila Prabhupada left his body on 14 November 1977. Where the garland is placed on his bed, on his disappearance day, is the exact spot where he was lying when he left his body. In these rooms there are many of his personal items that he used while in Vrindavana and traveling around the world, such as: his personal japa beads, sacred thread, eating plates, sitting mat, slippers, socks, dhoti, hat, chadar and a signed BTG.

Each year on the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada, there is a special arati at the time that he left his body at 7.25 pm. To actually get in the room where he left his body, you should come at least an hour early.

ISKCON Temple Schedule
The Deities’ doors are open from 7.15 am to 12.30 pm. They close for a half hour to offer bhoga (food) to the Deities, a half-hour before each arati. The temple is closed between 12.30 and 4.30 pm (4 pm in the winter). The temple reopens at 4.30 pm (4 pm in the winter) and stays open until 8.45 pm (8.15 pm in the winter). Sandhya arati is at 6.30 pm in the winter.

Samadhi Mangala Arati 4.10 am
Temple Mangala Arati 4.30 am
Altar Closed 5.00 am
Greeting the Deities 7.15 am
Guru-puja 7.25 am
Srimad Bhagavatam Class 7.50 am
Puspa Arati 8.30 am
Noon Arati 12.00 pm
Temple Closes 12.30 pm
Temple Reopens (Arati) 4.30 pm
Sandhya Arati (6.30 winter) 7.00 pm
Shayan Arati (8 pm winter) 8.30 pm
Temple Closes for Night8.45 pm

Food for Life (Feeding Program)
Every day about 500 plates of kicheri are served in front of the ISKCON temple. Serving times are 10 am and 4.30 pm. Each day prasada is served at one of nine Government primary schools in Vrindavana. The students that go to these schools are very poor. They are served a nutritious meal of puris, subji and a sweet (halava or gulabjamun). A total of about 1,200 children are served each week. Three hundred school children are served a feast each month at Nandagram. Near the ISKCON temple in Raman Reti, 40 elderly sadhus are served a full meal of prasada during the day and hot milk each evening. In Nandagram 25 elderly sadhus are served chapatis and subji daily.
The Food for Life office is located to the right of the main gate of the ISKCON property, next to the State Bank of India. If you want to give a donation to Food for Life, please give it here. This program can be greatly expanded if they can receive more donations.

24-Hour Kirtana
In the temple there is constant kirtana, 24 hours a day. They have kirtana though the night. As this program is basically a self-sufficient program, donations are greatly needed to maintain the program. Also chanters are always greatly needed.

Library
There is a library on the ground floor of the Gurukula building, (Room 22). It is on the left, at the far end of the Gurukula, as you enter from the temple side. It is open 10 to 11.30 am and 3 to 6 pm, except Sunday. They have all of Srila Prabhupada’s books published by the BBT, plus the books that Bhaktivedanta Achives sells. They also have some books by other authors. They have books in many different languages including German, French, Spanish, Hindi.

Copyright ©2001 John Howley and Spiritual Guides