Tell Us the Story of Your Home's Deities!

For many members of our vibrant Hare Krishna community, worship of the Deity form of Radha and Krishna is not only something that happens at the temple, but also at home.

It is said that by serving the Deity of Krishna we understand ourselves to be His servant, with practical service to offer. Krishna is a person and when we care for Him, He reciprocates with us by purifying our heart and bringing us closer in our relationship with Him. Thus, many devotees choose to worship the lord in his Deity form in their homes (transforming their homes into temples)!

For quite some time. the ISKCON Toronto blog has featured a popular online gallery, on the right hand side of our blog, showcasing our community's "Home Deities"! This is an excellent opportunity to have virtual darshan of the various beautiful Deities being worshiped throughout our community.

As a new feature to our blog, we are asking members of our community to share the "story of their Deities"! Once in a while, we will feature a story on the blog of a community member's Deities.

It's as easy as sending us a picture of your Deities by email (if you haven't already done so) and filling out this form, with a brief description (150 words or less) about your Deities, including:
1) How long you've served your Deities?
2) How did They come into your care (what is Their story)?
3) Any special information about Them or your favourite aspect about Them.

Of course, if you would like us to simply include your deity pictures in the gallery please email a picture to us!

ISKCON in Canada Featured on ISKCON News

An article written by Bhaktimarga Swami about the growth of ISKCON in Canada in the last few years has been featured on ISKCON News. The article profiles the amazing feat of opening seven new centres across Canada in the last seven years.

* * *

Putting Krishna on the Map In Brrrrr-land - As a leader of a spiritual organization, I felt the guilty weight of not fulfilling my obligations. I looked at a map of Canada, my area of responsibility to the ISKCON society, and imagined yellow pinheads pushed into it in the locations where ISKCON has established itself.

(read more)

HG Sankarshan Das Adhikari Coming to Toronto!

Sankarshan Das Adhikari, a world-renowned traveling spiritualist will be visiting Toronto from October 30th to November 2nd! He is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and is the inspiration behind the "Ultimate Self Realization" e-course, a daily and weekly email lesson plan covering all aspects of bhakti-yoga, especially it's practical application in challenging circumstances. The e-course has over 10,000 subscribers from over 100 countries. Please click here to read some of his realizations!

He is an initiating spiritual master and regularly travels and shares Krsna consciousness throughout the world accompanied by his wife, while maintaining the ISKCON Austin preaching centre as his home base.

During this visit to Toronto he will be accompanied by his wife, Visnu Priya devi dasi and his disciples Abhay Charan das, Guruvani devi dasi and Kirtan. Sankarshan das will be conducting various seminars and programs and we invite you to take this opportunity to come and hear from this renowned speaker. The tentative schedule for the programs can be found as follows (subject to change):

Friday, October 30, 2009:

- Program at ISKCON Scarborough - 6:30pm

Saturday, October 31, 2009:

- Srimad Bhagavatam Class at ISKCON Toronto at 8:00am

- Monthly Sankirtan Festival Send-off lecture at 11:00am

- Monthly Sankirtan Festival Welcome lecture at 3:00pm

Sunday, November 1, 2009:
- Sunday Feast at ISKCON Brampton - 11am to 2pm

- Sunday Feast at ISKCON Toronto - 6pm to 9pm

Please try to come out for these programs to enjoy spiritual nectar from Sankarshan das! For further questions about his visit, please send us an email! We look forward to seeing you at these programs!

Home Program Live Broadcast - This Saturday!

The ISKCON Toronto Blog is excited to announce that we will be broadcasting our first home program, complete with kirtan and philosophy, this Saturday, October 31st, 2009. Members of our Hare Krishna community regularly open their homes and invite friends and family to come over for kirtan, class and a feast! These events are commonly known as "home programs".

HH Bhaktimarga Swami and HG Sankarshan das Adhikari, who is visiting Toronto, will be in attendance at a home program being hosted by a local congregation member this Saturday evening!

The broadcast will go live at 7:15pm (subject to change). If you like this idea of virtually attending home programs, please let us know by commenting on this post and we will try to broadcast more home programs in the future!

If you and your family are planning on hosting a home program and are interested in having it broadcast on the blog, let us know by emailing us and we can try to set it up for you and run the broadcast for you as well!

"Halloween Sankirtan" this Saturday!

It's the end of another month and the fifth Monthly Sankirtan Festival (MSF) is around the corner! "Sankirtan" involves sharing our beautiful spiritual tradition of bhakti-yoga with the public through outdoor book distribution and chanting.

The GTA Sankirtan Team is very happy to invite everyone to the "Halloween Special MSF" this coming Saturday, October 31st (a.k.a Sankirtan Saturday). One of the highlights of this MSF will be a special training session faciliated by HG Sankarshan das Adhikari, starting 9:00am at the Hare Krishna temple.

The atmosphere will be surcharged with Halloween spirits and, keeping with the theme, MSF volunteers will hit the streets sharing "transcendental treats" of prasadam (sweets offered to Krishna) and spiritual books. In addition, teams of devotees will also visit select residential areas to share these treats reversing the age-old tradition of "trick or treating"!

There are many ways in which you can be a part of the MSF, and it's certainly not restricted to just distributing books. You can hand out flyers and sweets, or just sing your way to ecstasy as the chanting party rocks the streets of Toronto! You could also help prepare or pack the sweets or assist with other logistics. This is indeed a golden chance to participate in a type of spiritual service that is so dear to Srila Prabhupada!

Please click here to sign up for the MSF and don't hesitate to contact us with any comments or questions at toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com.

Our Sunday "Love" Feast... In Pictures & Video

Here's a look at last night's Sunday Feast through the eyes of a camera lens, which sometimes can capture moments that we often miss in person. (photos and video courtesy of Rishi Kumar and Mirabelle Dalmacio).

Here also is the Damodarastakam prayers being sung by Toronto's Gaura-Shakti kirtan yoga band during yesterday's Sunday program!

Part One:

Part Two:

Sunday Feast Recording - October 25, 2009

The Sunday Feast recording can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, October 25, 2009

Beautiful Damodarastakam!

As many of our regular temple-goers know, during this month of Kartik, we have been singing the Damodarastakam prayers during every Sunday "Love" Feast and festival at the temple. During the Damodarastakam, we have projected the words on a screen, accompanied by some very simple and smooth animations of classic ISKCON (BBT) artwork.

We thought blog-visitors (and YouTubers) would appreciate having this video available for purposes of simply enjoying the beautiful prayers, or even playing it once a day at home during this month of Kartik!

Devotees Gather to Honour Srila Prabhupada

On the evening of Wednesday, October 21st, devotees gathered at Toronto's Hare Krishna temple to honour Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, on the anniversary of his passing from this world (disappearance day).

Led by Bhaktimarga Swami, the evening had a deeply reflective tone that had those who gathered taking stalk of their deep appreciation for all that Srila Prabhupada gave the world. The program began with an arati at 6pm and then led to some personal words spoken by some members of the Toronto community who are direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

This was followed by a puspanjali ceremony (offering of flowers) done by all who had gathered. Devotees were then treated to a DVD presentation of "Following Srila Prabhupada", containing archived footage of Srila Prabhupada from the early days of the Hare Krishna movement, with narrated memories by disciples of Prabhupada.

It was an evening meant for honouring Srila Prabhupada and, while it was a small turnout, the intimate environment proved to be quite conducive for appreciating the spiritual gifts that Srila Prabhupada gave us. Gifts that continue to give to this day.

Honouring Prabhupada - Wed, Oct 21, 2009

On Wednesday, October 21st, the Hare Krishna temple will be holding both an afternoon and evening program to honour Srila Prabhupada on the anniversary of his disappearance (the day he passed from this world). It was November 14, 1977 that Srila Prabhupada left this world and, as per lunar calendar calculations, the anniversary day falls this year on October 21st.

There will be a small program at 12:00pm at the temple and another intimate program in the evening, starting at 6:00pm. We are pleased to announce that Bhaktimarga Swami will be present for both programs.

Due to the last minute nature of announcing the evening program, we will try to ensure that the program is broadcast online.

Please enjoy the following video presentation which was shown during last year's program on the day of Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Anniversary:

Govardhana Puja Celebrations take ISKCON Toronto by "Storm"!

Toronto's Hare Krishna temple simply loves festivals! That's it. There's no need to elaborate with long descriptions (aside, of course, from this blog post). All one would need to do is stand outside our grand limestone building at 243 Avenue Road at the right time every few weeks and the thundering sound of kirtan, drums, and utter jubilation that would be spilling out of every window, door and crevice of the temple would be proof enough that we do indeed love our festivals.

Our weekly Sunday "Love" Feasts are already celebrations that leave everyone spiritually energized for the beginning of their weeks, but when festivals come, they are like spiritual juggernauts that blow open the doors of Krsna-prema (love of Krishna) as even more spiritual-seekers cram into our temple to bathe themselves in the sound, sights and experiences of focusing our consciousness on Lord Krishna.

On Sunday, October 18, 2009, celebrations for Govardhana Puja literally took the temple by "storm". Also known as Annakuta, Govardhana Puja, was the day the inhabitants of Vrindavan (Lord Krishna’s home on Earth) would hold a harvest festival in honour of King Indra, the demigod who provided the rains essential for the harvest.

One day, however, Lord Krishna wanted to teach Indra a lesson. He convinced the inhabitants of Vrindavan to honour Govardhana Hill instead, whose fertile soil provided the grass upon which the cows and bulls grazed, and to honour the cows and bulls who provided milk and ploughed the lands. Outraged, Indra retaliated with terrifying thunderstorms. In response, Krishna calmly lifted Govardhana Hill with the little finger of his left hand. For seven days and seven nights the Lord held up Govardhana Hill, providing a giant umbrella to shelter the inhabitants of Vrindavan from the torrential rain.

Festivities on Sunday evening were centred around a giant "Govardhana Hill" made entirely of sweets in the middle of the temple room. The mountain was then surrounded by all sorts of offerings from the community. After the 6pm arati, the weekly chanting of the Damodarastakam prayers took place and set the perfect mood for what was going to be an incredible evening.

As many regular visitors of our temple know, there have been new paintings commissioned for the temple room and they have been going up throughout the last few months. The next part of the program involved the final set of paintings being officially unveiled to the thunderous applause of all who were present! This was followed by a mantra meditation session and class by Bhaktimarga Swami that had everyone swimming in the enamouring story of Krishna lifting Govardhana Hill.

The climax of the evening was an audience interactive "Govardhana Lila (Story)" experience. With the lights lowered and soft music playing, everyone closed their eyes and were taken back 5,000 years. The whole audience became the villagers of Vrndavana! The time had come for the traditional puja (offering) to Lord Indra, who dramatically appeared at the top of the altar, regally waving to the audience! However, just at the offering to Indra was to begin, Krishna's little voice suddenly instructed everyone to worship Govardhana Hill! Along came the "village priest" (a transformed Brahma das) who then conducted an arati to Govardhana Hill.

Enraged, Indra interrupted the kirtan and celebrations and suddenly called upon his clouds to send their rain on the villagers. Magically, bluish thunderclouds suddenly floated in from the balcony (lanterns with blue and silver ribbons), sending their torrents of rain. Seeking the only refuge they know, the audience broke into an upbeat kirtan and, at the stroke of 8:00pm, the

temple room altar doors swung open! Krishna had arrived and the clouds, defeated by Krishna's presence, sulked away! After a wild 8:00pm arati kirtan, a massive vegetarian feast was served to everyone, and little pieces of the hill were packaged in bags and given to all those who attended!

Govardhana Puja brought a magical night to Toronto's Hare Krishna temple as an evening full of sweets, stories and symbolic-storms captured the imaginations of all who attended. It provided a chance for the throngs who attended to spiritually meditate on the story of Lord Krishna lifting Govardhana Hill to protect the villagers of Vrndavana.

We said it before, but it's worth mentioning again: Toronto's Hare Krishna temple simply loves festivals. Earlier, we said that there was no need to elaborate on this point because the sheer spiritual energy that pours from the temple during these times is proof enough. On Sunday evening, there was enough of this kind of energy to move mountains... well... to at least build hills!

Please enjoy the festival slideshow below or click here for the picture gallery (photos courtesy of Rishi Kumar):

Deity Darshan: Sunday, October 18, 2009

Govardhana Puja Recording - Oct 18, 2009

The Sunday Feast and Govardhana Puja celebrations recording can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Diwali Celebrations Light Up the Night!

It was a festive evening on Saturday, October 17, 2009 as enlivening celebrations for Diwali took place at Toronto's Hare Krishna temple. While many people traditionally spend Diwali at home with family and friends, a packed temple was proof that spending time with spiritual family was equally important for many, during this special time of year.

The story of Diwali stems back to ancient times when inhabitants of Ayodhya celebrated the return of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama was in exile, away from His kingdom, for many years. The joyful day on which He finally returned is observed as Diwali.

The evening celebrations began with the traditional 6pm arati and led into the singing of the Damodarastakam prayers, which have been sung during every program at the temple during this auspicious time of the year, Kartik. As a special treat, in "light" of the evening celebrating Diwali, everyone in attendance had the opportunity to approach the altars in the temple room and offer small lamps (candles) to the Deities.

With the mood set just right, it was then time to dive deeper into the spiritual meaning of Diwali. This is a special time of year for spiritualists and, in particular, devotees of Krishna and Rama. Much like Christmas, Diwali has seen a tremendous increase in it’s commercialist elements and so the class, given by Dvija Gauranga das, helped those in attendance appreciate the spiritual basis of this wonderful festival.

As the class winded down, there was a collective mantra meditation session, followed by a very special treat! Entitled, "Welcoming Lord Rama Back to Ayodhya", the next part of the program began with a small shadow-skit of the story of Lord Rama. As the skit winded down and the story concluded, narrating how Lord Rama and Sita returned to Ayodhya, a flower chariot appeared over the balcony and began to float across the temple room, accompanied by enrapturing kirtan!

After the small flower chariot made it's way across, it was then lowered onto a small altar (Lord Rama, thus arriving in Ayodhya) and small children from the community greeted Rama and Sita with sparklers!

The evening concluded with what the Hare Krishnas are best known for: kirtan! The 8pm arati had everyone dancing and the packed crowd certainly felt the spiritual mood of Diwali resonating within their hearts. As usual, a wonderful vegetarian feast was served at the end of the program and so, with full stomachs, hearts and souls, Diwali celebrations "lit up" the night!

View the festival slideshow below or click here for picture gallery (photos courtesy of Rishi Kumar):

No Broadcast This Evening!

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we will not be broadcasting the Diwali celebrations. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Diwali and Govardhana Puja This Weekend!

The weekend is almost here and it will certainly be a special one at Toronto's Hare Krishna temple! On Saturday, October 17th, we will be celebrating Diwali and on the following day, October 18th, we will celebrate Govardhana Puja!

The story of Diwali stems back to ancient times when inhabitants of Ayodhya celebrated the return of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama was in exile, away from His kingdom, for many years. The joyful day on which He finally returned is observed as Diwali, or Dipavali (“dipa” means candles, and “vali” means numerous.)

The day after Diwali is referred to as Annakuta, or Govardhana Puja. On this day the inhabitants of Vrindavan (Lord Krishna’s abode on Earth) would hold a harvest festival in honour of King Indra, the demigod who provided the rains essential for the harvest. One day, however, Lord Krishna wanted to teach Indra a lesson. He convinced the inhabitants of Vrindavan to honor Govardhana Hill instead, whose fertile soil provided the grass upon which the cows and bulls grazed, and to honour the cows and bulls who provided milk and ploughed the lands.

Outraged, Indra retaliated with terrifying thunderstorms. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, calmly lifted Govardhana Hill with the little finger of his left hand. For seven days and seven nights the Lord held up Govardhana Hill, providing a giant umbrella to shelter the inhabitants of Vrindavan from the torrential rain.

The weekend will be busy with wonderful celebrations on both days! Saturday evening will feature some special festivities in honour of Diwali and Sunday's festival will feature a grand "Govardhana Hill" made entirely of sweets in the middle of the temple room!

Diwali Celebrations will be as follows (subject to change):

6:00pm to 6:30pm - Arati

6:30pm to 6:50pm - Damodarastakam Prayers - everyone will be given a chance to offer lamp during this time.

6:50pm to 7:00pm - Welcome and Announcements

7:00pm to 7:30pm - Class on Diwali

7:30pm to 8:00pm - Welcoming Lord Rama Back to Ayodhya!!!

8:00pm to 8:30pm - Arati

8:30pm - Prasadam

Govardhana Puja Celebrations will be as follows (subject to change):

6:00pm to 6:30pm - Arati

6:30pm to 6:50pm - Damodarastakam Prayers

6:50pm to 7:00pm - Welcome and Announcements

7:00pm to 7:10 - Unveiling of Final set of New Temple Room Paintings

7:10pm to 7:40 - Class on Govardhana Puja

7:40pm to 8:00pm - Special Interactive Presentation!

8:00pm to 8:30pm - Arati

8:30pm - Prasadam

To learn more about the story of Diwali, please enjoy this small video which is a shortened version of the presentation that took place during last year's Diwali celebrations.

Use Google to Virtually Drive by Our Temple!

With the recent announcement that Google Street View had been launched in Canada, it wasn't long before we were looking up "243 Avenue Road" to see how our temple looks in Google's virtual world.

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps that provides 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic views from a row of positions along the street for many streets in the world. Last week, they announced Street View had been launched across various cities in Canada.

Check out the Street View feature below. You can use your mouse to drag the camera around and can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to "drive" around. Zoom in on our temple and comment if you see anything neat and interesting (we noticed a Festival of India poster on the temple door)!

Click here to launch in a new window.

View Larger Map

Kirtan Punctuates Radha Kunda Celebrations!

On Sunday, October 11th, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple celebrated the appearance of Radha Kunda, a special festival which annually takes place during the month of Kartik.

There are many places of pilgrimage for Krishna devotees, especially in India. Devotees visit them to become inspired in their spiritual lives. Devotees of Krishna observe the appearance of Radha Kunda, also known as Bahulashtami.

Radha Kunda is a reservoir of water located in Vrindavan, India, where Krishna and Srimati Radharani had Their pastimes. It is mentioned in Sri Isopanishad and other Vedic texts as one of the most sacred places in the universe.

Festivities on Sunday evening began with the 6pm arati which seemed to prime the atmosphere for what was destined to be a kirtan-compressed evening. After the arati, the house lights were lowered and Gaura-Shakti once again led the weekly chanting of the Damodarastakam prayers, amidst candlelight and soft lighting.

Subha Vilasa das then gave a wonderful class about the significance of Radha Kunda as a place of pilgrimage for Krishna devotees. As the class finished, the focus shifted to the altar for Radha Kunda which was setup in the middle of the temple room.

Dhira Grahi das then led the singing of a beautiful bhajan, followed by the maha-mantra. Devotees then circumambulated the altar in the middle of the temple room as they were sprinkled with actual water from Radha Kunda!

The atmosphere suddenly became surcharged with kirtan and, like a spiritual powder keg, things suddenly got crazy! With mrdanga-drums thundering, voices soaring and walls shaking, the kirtan officially punctuated the evening's festivities! A splendid feast awaited all at the end of the program and smiles were abound!

At Radha Kunda, in India, spiritualists bathe in the holy waters to seek blessings and help strengthen their spirituality. On Sunday evening, at the Hare Krishna temple, those who gathered not only got water from Radha Kunda sprinkled on their heads, but also bathed themselves in the transcendent waters of kirtan!

Please view the festival picture gallery below (photos courtesy of Rishi Kumar):

Sunday Feast Recordings - October 11, 2009

This Sunday's celebrations of the Appearance of Radha Kunda can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, October 11, 2009

Appearance of Radha Kunda Celebrations this Sunday!

This Sunday' festivities will be extra special as Toronto's Hare Krsna temple will celebrate the Appearance of Radha Kunda (Bahulastami). Festivities will begin at 6:00pm, continue through to 9:00pm and will feature kirtan, class and wonderful prasadam!

Radha Kunda is a sacred pond situated at the foot of the Govardhana Hill in Vrindavan, India. Radha Kunda is considered to be the most holy place because it is where some of the most intimate exchange of transcendental love between Radha and Krishna took place, and for this reason Radha Kunda is very dear to Srimati Radharani.

You can read more about the Appearance of Radha Kunda by clicking here.

What Are Your Kartik Vows?

As many of our regular readers know, we are now officially in the auspicious month of Kartik: the lunar month that falls across October and November. This month is described as especially dear to Krishna, and spiritualists keep it sacred by undertaking acts of devotion and vows of austerity aimed at increasing their spiritual strength, drawing them closer to Krishna.

At the ISKCON Toronto Blog, we would like to know what you have vowed to do during this month of Kartik! Please add a comment to this post with your personal vows for Kartik.

You can feel free to post anonymously (if you feel your vows are more personal in nature), but we would love to see what spiritual-seekers in our community are doing this month. In fact, reading your vow(s) might inspire someone else to undertake the same endeavour! How inspirational!

Whether it be as simple as chanting a certain number of rounds (mantra meditation) per day, or vowing to read a chapter of the Bhagavad-gita each morning, we would love to hear what our community is doing to go deeper in their spirituality during this very auspicious month!

To submit a comment, please click the link at the bottom of this post.

Sunday Feast Recordings - October 4, 2009

The Sunday Feast recording can be viewed by clicking the image below. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, there is only audio and no video for the first 24 minutes of the video. We hope to fix this for the future broadcasts.

As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, October 4, 2009

Youth Morning Program this Saturday!‏

This Saturday, October 3rd, 2009, a warm invitation goes out to one and all to join the Pandava Sena youth group and the rest of the youth in coming out for a very sweet and intimate experience at the temple. We are asking the youth to come and join the temple devotees for the regular morning service, consisting of arati, japa time, Bhagvatam class, kirtan, and of course breakfast. This Saturday also marks the beginning of the auspicious month of Kartik, making this a special morning program!The morning program begins early in the morning, at 4:30am!

Feel free to contact psenatoronto@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns, and we will respond to you as soon as possible.