A Sneak-Peak at Tomorrow's Enchanting Evening with the Chhandam Dance Company & Toronto Tabla Ensemble!

Tickets have practically sold out for tomorrow's special fundraising presentation, "An Enchanting Evening with the Chhandam Dance Company and the Toronto Tabla Ensemble". The evening will feature traditional Kathak dance performances by Joanna das along with the stunning sounds by the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and is being billed as a kick-off of the countdown to the annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) in July.

Tonight was dedicated to setting up and doing a run-through of the technical aspects of the evening and we thought it would be nice to give a sneak-preview into the what the event will look like. Check out the picture below!

Tickets might still be available, so please contact Rishi at (416) 597-9075. Entrance is $25 and the evening will begin at 6pm.

Deity Darshan: Sunday April 24, 2011

Slides from Yesterday's Sunday Feast Class - "Sunday Program at the Temple - Part One"

Deity Darshan: Sunday April 17, 2011

A Wonderfully Positive Review of Our Temple from the Blog World!

Our community is more than accustomed to our larger-than-life festivals that bring so much colour and excitement. Whether a dramatic Gaura Purnima festival or celebrating New Year's in style - you can always expect an enlivening experience.

However, we rarely get a chance to hear from those who arrive at one of our grand festivals for the FIRST time. Below is an excerpt of a blog post written by someone who came for our Holi/Gaura Purnima festivities for the first time:

Unlike other Hindu festivals we’ve been to recently in Toronto, the Hare Krishna’s festival was more a group affair than a place for individual acts of worship. The congregation of at least two hundred sang, clapped and danced together. They were livelier and noisier.

To read the rest of this blog post by Ruth Lor Malloy, please click here.

Image©Ruth Lor Malloy 2011

Small Rama Navami Celebrations on Tuesday!

While the appearance of Lord Ramachandra was celebrated in grand style yesterday during our weekly Sunday program, smaller celebrations will be held tomorrow (Tuesday, April 11, 2011). The program will be as follows:

6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)

6:30pm to 7:30pm - Reading from English Ramayana (novel by Krsna Dharma das)

7:30pm to 8:00pm - Light Vegetarian Dinner (Prasadam)

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

Devotees are welcome to come out for this nice, intimate evening to celebrate the appearance of Lord Ramachandra, the incarnation of Lord Krishna who was the perfect monarch.

Deity Darshan: Sunday April 9, 2011

Rama Navami Celebrations this Sunday!

*** UPDATE - The temple will be hosting a 24-hour reading of the Ramayana, starting at 1:30pm on Saturday. Please come and join us for this wonderful reading! ***

Next Tuesday marks the appearance day of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Ramachandra, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, embodies the perfect example of how to perform our duties as the greatest king. In the famous Ramayana, it is described how He defeated the evil king of Lanka, Ravana, to save His pious wife, Sita.

Festivities will take place this Sunday, April 10, 2011, starting at 6:00PM. The schedule is as follows:

6:00pm to 6:30pm - Arati

6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome and Announcements

6:40pm to 7:25pm - Class

7:25pm to 7:45pm - Special Interactive Children's Activity!

7:45pm to 8:00pm - Arati for Lord Rama

8:00pm to 8:30pm - Arati

8:30pm - Free Vegetarian Feast

We extend a warm invitation to all the children of our community to join us for the celebrations as they will be participating in a surprise activity! Hare Krishna!

Andha Yuga - The 18th Day of the Mahabharata (Hindi Drama)

Toronto's Hare Krishna temple, in association with the Hindi Writer's Guild presents "Andha Yuga - The 18th Day of the Mahabharata". This Hindi drama will be presented on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 6-9pm in Mississauga.

A warm invitation goes out to one and all to join us for this fundraising event for the temple and seize the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dramatic depiction of the Mahabharata. Click here to reserve tickets for this incredible event:

Andha Yuga - The 18th Day of the Mahabharata

Saturday, April 16, 2011

6:00pm to 9:00pm

Port Credit Secondary School

70 Mineola Street East

Mississauga, ON

L5G 2E5

Tickets - $20

For more information, please contact Atal Pandey (905) 452-0197, Tusti Mohan das (905) 824-9886, or Bhadra Krsna das (416) 836-5299. Click here to reserve tickets.

An Incredibly Inspirational Video About the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium Project in Mayapura, India!

The following video can be found on the website of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. It is the video presentation that was shown during the annual international meetings in Mayapura, India and it really captures the amazing progress on ISKCON's biggest project! Be sure to check out the inspirational part of the video where devotees from around the whole world speak about the project!

Offenses to Avoid at the Temple - Slides from Today's Sunday Feast Class by Rupanuga das

As promised during this evening's Sunday program, below are the slides from the class given by HG Rupanuga das about "Offences to Avoid at the Temple". Enjoy!

Deity Darshan: Sunday April 4, 2011

Bhaktimarga Swami Leading Kirtan on a Boat in Mayapura, India!

Continuing with our recent tendency to post YouTube videos, here is a video of our very own Bhaktimarga Swami leading kirtan on a boat last month in Mayapura, India!

Re-Living Gaura Purnima Celebrations!

We invite you to re-live our recent Gaura Purnima celebrations through these wonderful videos which captured some highlights from the festival! Thanks goes out to Raga Manjari devi dasi for both taking and posting the videos below!

Opening dramatic vignette telling the story of how Adaita Acharya prayed for the appearance of Lord Caitanya:

A monologue by Praharna devi dasi, taking us back to 1975 and giving a glimpse into the personal, emotional adversity of hitting the streets to share our spirituality through book distribution:

Two more dramatic vignettes, depicting (1) the famous story of the Chand Kazi and (2) Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam prayers:

Highlights from kirtan and the abhisheka (bathing of the Deities):