Deity Darshan: Sunday, January 30, 2011

Toronto Hare Krishna Radio to be Officially Launched on February 16, 2011!

Breaking new ground, Toronto's Hare Krishna Radio will officially launch on February 16, 2011 on the occasion of Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day, one of the sweetest festivals of the year! We have done a fair amount of research for the online radio and also had an online poll for our blog readers (see the results to the right) and are now preparing for the big launch!

Stay tuned for more details as we get ready to launch Toronto's first Hare Krishna online radio station! Hare Krishna!

Our Sad Little Twitter Account Has Only Eight Followers! :-(

So, we officially launched our Toronto Hare Krishna Twitter account a month and a half ago and have happily sent out 54 tweets so far (keen observers will note the fact that our Twitter account is linked to our blog).

However, we only have eight followers on our Twitter account! We know many of our readers might not necessarily be avid Twitter users but, for those who are, we hope you can start following us @TorontoKrishna.

Of note, you can also follow our tweets and blog posts via your cell phone! Just send a text message saying "follow TorontoKrishna" to 21212 and you will get updates right to your phone!

Happy tweeting and Hare Krishna!

Class from HH Bhakti Brhat Bhagavat Swami in Mayapur - Dec 28, 2010

Deity Darshan: Sunday, January 23, 2011

Bhaktimarga Swami Doing Great and on the Road to Recovery!

We're happy to share that Bhaktimarga Swami is recovering very well from his minor surgery that he had to undergo due to a hernia. At the first opportunity, devotees swarmed to visit Maharaj at the hospital and we even heard that, at one point in time, 25 devotees had crammed into Maharaj's room! To the right is a picture from one of the "devotee swarm" visits!

We wish Bhaktimarga Swami a speedy and healthy recovery and we're sure he'll be back to his normal, amazing self very soon!

Recording of Kirtan with BB Govinda Swami and Madhava das from Russia!

We can't seem to embed the video, but click here to view a recorded broadcast of a kirtan and initiation program with HH B.B. Govinda Swami and Madhava das! We had a chance to send a message through their chat window and Maharaj even typed something back (you can see him reading our message and typing back at the three hour and seventeen minute (3:17:00) mark! Here's what he typed:

Jan 23 2011, 11:56 AM

Toronto (guest): If possible, please let Maharaj know that devotees from Toronto were watching and that we miss him very much! We hope he can come visit Toronto very soon!

Jan 23 2011, 12:04 PM

Vedamedia: Maharaj typed: [20:04:33] Ильяс (Казань): hari bol torontaites ... I will come if you pass my love and obeisances to Subuddhi Mataji

Jan 23 2011, 12:05 PM

Toronto (guest): JAYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 23 2011, 12:05 PM

Toronto (guest): WILL DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 23 2011, 12:05 PM

Toronto (guest): HARI BOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woah! Hare Krishna Maha Mantra as a Jeopardy Question!

For those who may not already know, "Jeopardy" is a famous game show known for it's puzzling questions and high level of difficulty! Well, as proof that the Hare Krishna mantra has gone mainstream, check out the video below. Unfortunately, none of the contestants got the right answer, but it's certainly neat to Alex Trebek say parts of the maha mantra! Check it out! For the producers of the show: we'd be happy to offer maha mantra classes to all your contestants that come on the show! ;-)

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who voted! You can check out the results on the right-hand side. We hope to have the Toronto Hare Krishna Radio launched in the next couple of weeks so please stay tuned!

Wishing Bhaktimarga Swami the Best as He Undergoes Minor Surgery

On Friday, January 21st, Bhaktimarga Swami will be undergoing minor surgery due to a hernia. The surgery has been scheduled for some time now and we certainly hope all devotees will wish Maharaj the best as he undergoes this procedure. The thoughts and prayers of devotees are always welcome! So please chant a few extra rounds for Maharaj's speedy recovery, post-surgery.

Maharaj will be staying at the hospital from the 21st to the 23rd. If anyone would like to follow-up on Maharaj's condition or would like to visit him at the hospital (Maharaj would love to have devotees visit him) during his recovery period, please feel free to email Madhavendra Puri das.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, January 17, 2011

Look Out World, Here Comes a Three-Year-Old Kirtan Phenom!

How's this for kirtan! Check out this little devotee from ISKCON Coventry (United Kingdom) as he brings the house down with a roaring kirtan. If you don't watch the whole thing, at least watch his service attitude during kirtan at the 2:42 mark of the second video! Enjoy!

Part One:

Part Two:

A Year of Monthly Clean-Ups at the Temple!

This past Saturday, devotees celebrated the one year anniversary of the Ceto Darpana Marjanam (CDM) Project. The project involves devotees from the community regularly getting together and cleaning the temple. The following a short video summarizing the fun (and clean) year that has passed!

Flashback Photo: Harinama Party at Yonge and Dundas in 1995!

So, we were recently on BlogTO, a blog which covers local news in Toronto and came upon a blog post of theirs which profiled what Toronto looked like in the 1990s. Of the many pictures posted, one of them shows a shot of Yonge and Dundas (this is before the days of Yonge-Dundas Square). Check out the group of devotees out on harinama!

Click Here to see the original picture on Flickr.

Our New Toronto Hare Krishna Radio!

As many have noticed, we have a new addition to our blog - the Toronto Hare Krishna Radio! We have been quite excited about this new initiative as we have batted plenty of ideas around but we aren't sure what you, the listeners, want to hear. So, here's your chance to be part of the action and help out!

Fill out our simple poll on the side and let us know what YOU are most excited about hearing on our radio. Do you have an idea that is not on the list like hearing our Temple President tell spiritual jokes for an hour? Leave it in the comment section below!

We cannot promise that last idea will happen ;).

HH Gunagrahi Swami visits Toronto this weekend!

We are very fortunate to have HH Gunagrahi das Goswami visit us in Toronto this weekend!

Gunagrahi das Goswami joined the Hare Krishna Movement in Buffalo, NY in 1969 and was initiated by His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement in 1971 and later accepted Sannyas (renounced order of life) in 1983. He is currently based out of the ISKCON Centre in Buenos Aires and travels widely in North and South America to present the teachings of Bhakti yoga.

He is very well known for his lively kirtans and enlightening classes! We invite every one to please come and get a chance to hear from him!

On Sunday, January 16, he will be speaking at ISKCON Scarborough in the morning and will be at ISKCON Toronto for our Sunday Feast from 6pm - 9pm.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Temple of the Vedic Planetarium

As many ISKCON devotees may know, the biggest construction project in the history of our movement is underway in Mayapura, India where ISKCON's international headquarters can be found.

Srila Prabhupada was a true visionary. He always had very big ideas for the spreading of Krishna consciousness and the ideal spiritual culture. One of Srila Prabhupada's many gifts to his followers, and the entire world, was his detailed vision for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Srila Prabhupada had a clear vision for the temple, and he expressed it on many occasions. He wanted a unique Vedic Planetarium to present the Vedic perspective of life, including a gigantic display of the material and spiritual worlds, which could be viewed by pilgrims on different levels as they traveled through the Planetarium.

Well, after decades of planning, it's actually happening. Check out the latest construction update by visiting the Official Temple of the Vedic Planetarium website!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, January 9, 2011

Toronto's Srila Prabhupada Marathon 2010

December, 2010 saw Toronto's vibrant Hare Krishna community join hundreds of Hare Krishna centres around the world in the annual "Srila Prabhupada Marathon". During the last month of the year, temples around the world make a focused effort to share (distribute) as many books of ancient, spiritual wisdom with the public!

With continued inspiration from HG Vaisesika das, the goal this year was to distribute 5,000 books (that's twice the amount of last year's marathon goal). Were the devotees successful in their efforts? Watch this video to find out!

Come Out to Celebrate the One-Year Anniversary of CDM (Temple Clean-Up)!!!

Are you ready for it?

Next Saturday, January 15th, we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Cheto Darpana Marjanam (CDM) program in our temple, also known as the monthly temple clean-up. This project entails organized cleaning of one part of our beautiful temple as a group. This time, CDM will feature the presence of some special devotees from the Krsna Kathamrtam organizing and coaching teams.

To recognize our hard work throughout the year, we are going to have pizza (of course) and some dessert with a bunch of surprises waiting for you! We will have a short presentation and bhajans after clean-up!

Let's take full advantage of this opportunity to cleanse our hearts and have lots of fun together! What can be better than doing service together in a fun way, associating with devotees, having an incredible prasadam, inspiring each other for the year ahead of us and chanting together for our beloved Deities?

Here is a quote by Srila Prabhupada to inspire us even more:
"Everything within the temple should be kept very, very neat and clean. And the more you keep the temple neat and clean, you will be neat and clean within your heart. And then your understanding will be very easy. We cannot understand Krsna because our heart is piled up with many garbages. That we have to cleanse."

-- Srila Prabhupada Melbourne, May 22, 1975

We need your help and support! Everyone counts!

A Drama Presented by the Halifax Brahmacaris!

During our Prabhupada Festival on January 1st, the brahmacaris (student-monks) visiting from the east coast treated the crowd to a wonderful little comedic drama. It was centred on fun (and maybe slightly-exaggerated) stories of adventures while distributing books. The brahmacaris performed the same drama the next day at ISKCON Scarborough and we found the video online. Enjoy!

Part One:

Part Two:

Some Amazing Stats About Your Toronto Krishna Blog!

One of the responsibilities of lovingly caring for our Toronto Hare Krishna Blog is to monitor the traffic that is coming to this site. We have always been thrilled with the continued growth of traffic to our site. We've been tracking traffic on the site since July 2008 (about two and a half years) and thought it might be nice to share some of the incredible numbers!

As of yesterday (Jan 3rd), since July 2008, we have had:

• 69.881 visitors
• 28,151 unique visitors
• Visitors to the blog have come from 120 countries including: Netherlands, Oman, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Kuwait and Jamaica! Of course, the bulk of our visitors (77%) are from Canada.
• 18,082 have come to our blog through search engines (93% from Google).
• There have been 125,813 page views on the blog!
• The blog post that generated the most comments (21 comments, to be exact) from our readers was our April's Fools Joke on April 1, 2009, where we convinced our readers that the temple had adopted a new pet monkey!

Thank you to all of our loyal readers for continuing to visit our wonderful Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!

Prabhupada Festival a Smashing Success!

The annual Prabhupada festival took place during the evening of January 1st and it brought dance, drama and devotees to the temple as hundreds gathered to start the year off on the right foot. With wonderful kirtan, a special arati (offering) to Srila Prabhupada, and a comedic drama, it was a packed evening of festivities. The highlight of the evening was an initiation ceremony which everyone in attendance got a chance to be a part of!

Spiritualists of the Hare Krishna tradition can take spiritual vows by fire and formally take guidance from a spiritual master. It is customary to also receive a spiritual name at this time as well. A warm congratulations goes to Hari Lila devi dasi (Becky) on her initiation! All in all, it was an amazing evening that got 2011 started on the right note! Click the collage below to expand the pictures!

Oh, What a Way to Usher in 2011!!!

Imagine gathering a bunch of your friends together, assembling giant drums and other instruments and attending a party with 35,000 people! That's exactly what took place as a huge mob of devotees gathered at the Hare Krishna temple on New Year's Eve and then headed to City Hall to join the tens of thousands of revelers, celebrating the new year. It was a raucous atmosphere as the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra filled the air! As expected, the crowd loved it and the kirtan went well into the night and we eventually "kirtan-ed" our way back to the temple by 2:30am where hot tea and french fries awaited us! Check out the pics below!

Click this collage to expand!

We also stumbled upon a video uploaded by a passerby:

Deity Darshan: January 1st & 2nd, 2011

January 1st, 2011: Srila Prabhupada Festival

Mangal Arati, Jan 1st: First Darshan of 2011

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

Prabhupada Festival Tonight - Start 2011 on the Right Note!

After ringing in the new year at City Hall with incredible drumming, dancing and singing, the festivities are still underway as the Toronto Hare Krishna temple will be hosting our annual Prabhupada Festival, traditionally celebrated on January 1st.

Usually one of the biggest festivals of the year, the program will kick off at 6pm with kirtan (chanting) and will feature a jam-packed evening that will promise to get your 2011 started on the right note!

The program will be as follows (subject to change):

6:00pm to 6:25pm - Kirtan (Arati)

6:25pm to 6:45pm - Guru Puja

6:45pm to 7:00pm - Welcome & Announcements

7:00pm to 7:40pm - Initiation Ceremony

7:40pm to 8:00pm - Comedic Drama

8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)

8:30pm to 9:30pm - Prasadam

We hope you and your family can join us for this special program this evening. It is a festival that is not to be missed!