Background
ISKON stands for International Society of Krishna Conciousness founded by Shri Baktivedanta Swami in 1966 in New York.
Situated in Vrindavan, this temple is the most revered and holds prime signifacance for all the devotees of ISKON and also known as Krishna Balram Mandir.
The founder acharya of ISKON wished to built a temple dedicated to both the brothers i.e Krishna & Balram, with most amazing architecture and spellbounding beauty, at this place where both the brothers spent their childhood. He wanted it to be a temple where people from all over world would arrive for spiritual activiation and connection with the supereme conciousness.
Story & Visit
We visited here in the evening. It is at the main Vrindavan road. The temple is closed in the afternoon from 1 till 5pm. Thus can only be accessed after 5.
You are greeted with multiple shops as soon as you enter the main gates. They keep the products either made or promoted by ISKON.
The crowds were more than usual since it was the Holi time. I was excited about this temple. As ISKON and Bankey Bihari are the two most revered temples that people specifically come here to visit. The mainstreams.
While the Bankey Bihari remains always full of people and you hardly get any time to patiently stop there, the ISKON on the other hand is famous for the vibe and charm its enviroment is blessed with by the divine, besides its unparalleled beauty.
Whole temple is constructed with ivory white marble. A uniquely designed arch connecting multiple domes and the entry of temple's vicinity greet you as you reach the end along the shops.
There are too many curves and the artictecture is quite complex to flesh out every little detail in words. Here you can see in the images below how every part is sculpted with intricate curves and delicate precision while still maintaining the durablity.
As you move forward across the compartments joined with arches you encouter another entry gate engraved with beautiful flowery patterns, leading to the temple hall where the main deties are placed and dance and music echoes most of the time.
Small boards are placed on most pillars and gates from here onward, that read 'No Cellphone, No Photography'. But these few days of Holi were exception, when no one was objecting and everyone could be found not missing this opportunity to click.
As soon as you reach inside, the vibrations of Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram, Hare Hare Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare fall at your years and capture you in the soothing devotion of divine.
Enormous crowds of people were enjoying and dancing and connecting with the Krishna with their eyes closed. But good thing was no one was breathing at my neck. People were behaving in a lot more civilized way, and respecting your personal space.
The singing would suddenly take up pace and every one would be excited. And then it would ease down suddenly and calmed the atmosphere. It literally felt like healing. I put my phone down and enjoyed it for quite some time. Even amongst the heaps of crowd it felt unbelievably claming and peaceful.
Usually no one is allowed to take pictures of the deity. But since it was festival celebrations, I managed to capture the unborn and the unending - lord Krishna along with Radha. And here are the dities for you to see and bow and take their blessings. The dieties, people travel from the farthest of places to have a glance of.
Moving back, we went to the domes and bowed to the other dities present there. The domes marked the wonders of construction, with huge pillars and modern art. We also spotted some westerners submerged in their spiritual practices inside these domes.
In the end we went to the bookstore near the main entrance to make a few purchases.
This is a must visit and worth spending your time. I was flabbergasted and taken away by the vibes there. I wish to visit this temple again at the times of less crowd and spend hours enjoying the music and dancing in the devotion of the divine.
Hare Krishna...!!
