Gifts for Shrimati Radharani!

The Hare Krishna Temple warmly invites you and your family to join us on Sunday, September 4th for Radhastami celebrations - celebrating the appearance of Srimati Radharani! Festivities will commence at 6:00pm and will include wonderful kirtan, bhajans, a discourse about Srimati Radharani and delicious prasadam. As an annual tradition, the highlight of the evening will be when we open gifts for Srimati Radharani that have been brought by the assembled devotees.

If you and your family feel inclined, you are welcome to bring a gift for Their Lordships. Some humble suggestions from our beloved pujari department for gifts for the Deities include jewelry (necklaces, earrings, hair ornaments, tiaras, rings, and bracelets), bindi sets, pure sandalwood oil, cleaning supplies for the altar (marble cleaner, wood polish, brass and silver polish, laundry soap), as well as utensels for Radharani's Kitchen. A humble request is that all gift items be new as gifts will be placed on the altar and will be unwrapped and shown to the Deities during the program. Of course donations of any kind are always warmly accepted!

Kirtan Mela 2011 LIVE from Germany!

A while back, we had posted about Kirtan Mela 2011 in Germany, the first and biggest international kirtan event ever! Inspired by HH Sacinandana Swami, Kirtan Mela 2011 will feature six days of unforgettable kirtan with 12 hours of kirtan every single day featuring spiritual leaders, kirtaniyas and thousands of devotees from all over the world!

You can watch the live broadcast of this incredible event on http://mayapur.tv/, go to the "KirtanaMela" channel.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hare Krishna with MC Yogi!

Popular in the "kirtan yoga" scene, MC Yogi is a devotional rapper who has been making waves with his style of "bhakti-rap". Although he's not a devotee from our Hare Krishna family, we can stil appreciate some of his awesome and fun-filled efforts, including this little video below! (Check out the super-cute Jagannatha) Hare Krsna!

Deity Darshan: Sri Krishna Janmastami 2011

Click HERE for more pictures!

Krishna Janmastami - August 22, 2011!

On Monday, August 22, 2011; the Hare Krishna Temple (243 Avenue Road - click here for a map) will be celebrating the biggest birthday party of the year, Lord Krishna's appearance day - Sri Krishna Janmastami!!!!

The evening program will be full of kirtan, bhajans, discourses and more! The highlight of the evening is the countdown to midnight! The momentum builds as the abhisheka (bathing ceremony) is performed and the Temple is filled with wonderful rocking kirtan, at the stroke of midnight, the Deity doors will open and their Lordships Sr Sri Radha Ksira-Chora Gopinatha will be revealed in a stunning flower outfit! It is truly a festival NOT to be missed!

Please note, prasadam (vegetarian feast) will be served in the dining hall from 7:00 pm onwards. The full feast will be served after midnight.

Free street parking is availabe on Roxborough and Macpherson streets between 6pm and 12am. Extra paid parking is available for festival attendees. The parking lot is located on Pears Avenue, a 2-3 minute walk from the temple. Click here for a detailed view.

A schedule for the eventful day will be up shortly. Please stay tuned!

A Blogger's First Time at Our Temple!

Our Sunday Feast regularly hosts a wide variety of people, from seasoned spiritualists to the slightly curious. Recently, a young lady who is a regular blogger, came out of curiosity and ended up blogging about her experience and her hospitable experience! We thought it would be worth sharing:

"Early evening sunlight pours in through windows overhead, illuminating the main floor of the temple and the tops of devotees’ heads. Devotees engaged in Aarti, an offering of thanks to Lord Krishna, whom is enshrined in an altar at the front, in male and female forms. A number have their hands raised above their heads as they chant. And with every word, they step back and forth in dance or sway side-to-side. A little girl approaches me with a violet coloured flower, patiently waiting for me. Not knowing what to do, I pass my hands over the flower and then my face. The look on her face is of wonder and innocence." (Continue Reading)

Gopinath's Kids' Camp - August 20, 2011!

Imagine a day full of games, laughter, delicious prasadam, chance to make new friends and especially, NO PARENTS! ISKCON Toronto is providing just that and more for the younger members of our community with the 5th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp!

This year, the 5th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp will be held on Saturday, August 20thfrom 8:30am-6:00pm, strictly for kids aged 5-12 years. The purpose of this one-day camp is to provide an opportunity to ignite the spiritual spark in our children while doing fun and interactive activities that they enjoy.

In addition to outdoor games, some of the primary activities being planned for the day are a Mega Scavenger Hunt, fun cooking classes, learning how to play different musical instruments, sumptuous prasadam and many fond memories.

All this and much more for registration fees of only $25!

You can register at the temple or use our online form by clicking here.

For further information, please don't hesitate to email us at info@torontokrishna.com or psenatoronto@gmail.com.

Deity Darshan: Lord Balarama's Appearance Day

Click HERE for more pictures!

Join Us for a Full Day of Celebrations for Lord Balarama's Appearance Day with HH Gopal Krsna Goswami!

We are gearing up for what will be a full day of festivities at Toronto's Hare Krishna temple as we celebrate Lord Balarama's Appearance Day! Lord Balarama is worshiped as the older brother and best servant of Lord Krishna.

Festivities will begin early in the morning as our special guest for the weekend, HH Gopal Krsna Goswami, will be giving a morning class and then conducting an initiation ceremony. Spiritualists who take to the Hare Krishna tradition can formally take vows from a spiritual master (guru) and this ceremony is known as "initiation". It's a wonderful ceremony, accompanied by a fire sacrifice, discourse and then the initiates are given spiritual names!

Following the initiation, there will be a special abhiseka ceremony of Gopal Krsna Goswami's Krsna-Balarama silas. An abhiseka is a bathing ceremony wherein deities are elaborately bathed with various items like water, milk, honey, etc. This is accompanied by resounding kirtan! The kirtan will lead into a delightful vegetarian feast (prasadam).

The festival doesn't end there, though!

The evening festival will kick off at 6pm with kirtan and will feature a special, extended class by Gopal Krsna Goswami. After the class, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will present the Second Annual Balarama's Bake-Off! Five members of our community have been selected and have been assigned secret ingredients and have been challenged to come up creative sweet items related to Lord Balarama. After the class, the contestants will present their offerings in a fun and creative way. You won't want to miss it! Festitivies will conclude with more kirtan and a huge vegetarian feast!

The schedule for the day will be as follows (subject to change):

• 7:45am to 9:00am - Morning Class with Gopal Krsna Goswami
• 9:00am to 11:00am - Initiation Ceremony
• 11:00am to 12:00pm - Abhiseka (Bathing) Ceremony
• 12:00pm to 12:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
• 12:30pm to 1:30pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
• 6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
• 6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome & Announcements
• 6:40pm to 7:40pm - Special Extended Class by Gopal Krsna Goswami
• 7:40pm to 8:00pm - Second Annual Balarama's Bake-Off!
• 8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
• 8:30pm to 9:30pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Special Bhagavatam Classes with HH Gopal Krsna Goswami!

Toronto's Hare Krishna temple is very excited to announce that HH Gopal Krsna Goswami is in town and he will be conducting a series of special classes each morning at 7:30am from August 12th - 15th at ISKCON Toronto.

Gopal Krsna Goswami has been practicising and sharing bhakti-yoga for over 40 years and travels extensively around the world especially in Russia, Africa and India sharing the teachings of Srila Prabhupada!

He will also be giving a special class on Lord Balarama's appearance day.

A special invitation goes to you and your family to join us for these special morning classes!

Monthly Clean-Up this Friday Evening!

CDM (Ceto Darpana Marjanam) is a project which entails the organized cleaning of the temple as a group that will start at 6:30pm this Friday!!! :)

It is Lord Balarama's birthday on Saturday, August 13, 2011! Lord Balarama is the older brother of Krishna. Everything in the temple that serves Krishna is revered as Lord Balarama! Let's make Lord Balaram happy by cleaning our temple!

The schedule will be as follows:
6:30pm to 8.30pm - Maha clean-up
8:30pm to 9:00pm - Special pizza party and nectar-filled conversations.

An inspirational quote by Srila Prabhupada:
"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

Please come out and bring your family and friends for this unforgettable experience!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, August 7, 2011

Photos taken by Thageesan Thanabalasingam

Gopinath's Kids' Camp - August 20, 2011!

Imagine a day full of games, laughter, delicious prasadam, chance to make new friends and especially, NO PARENTS! ISKCON Toronto is providing just that and more for the younger members of our community with the 5th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp!

This year, the 5th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp will be held on Saturday, August 20th from 8:30am-6:00pm, strictly for kids aged 5-12 years. The purpose of this one-day camp is to provide an opportunity to ignite the spiritual spark in our children while doing fun and interactive activities that they enjoy.

In addition to outdoor games, some of the primary activities being planned for the day are a Mega Scavenger Hunt, fun cooking classes, learning how to play different musical instruments, sumptuous prasadam and many fond memories.

All this and much more for registration fees of only $25!

You can register at the temple or use our online form by clicking here.

For further information, please don't hesitate to email us at info@torontokrishna.com or psenatoronto@gmail.com.

Two Minutes of Wisdom with Radhanath Swami

Original Link - Huffington Post

Lord Balarama's Appearance Day Coming Up!

On Saturday, August 13, 2011, Toronto's Hare Krishna community will celebrate the advent (birthday) of Lord Balarama and festivities will take place in grand fashion! Lord Balarama, worshiped as Lord Krishna's older brother, symbolizes strength and compassion and we invite you to take part in the celebrations at the Hare Krishna Temple.

We're very excited to announce that HH Gopal Krsna Swami will be joining us for the celebrations and will deliver what we promise will be a riveting discourse! Stay tuned for more details. We will be posting a schedule for the evening's festivities in the coming days.

A warm invitation goes out to you and your family to join us for this special festival!