ISKCON JAPAN IN TSUNAMI RELIEF
Tokyo, Japan: The ISKCON temple in Tokyo has given shelter to forty Nepalese who had to leave the Sendai airport area after nature’s fury hit the region. Shrikant Shah, a member of the temple, said, “We were approached by the Nepali embassy. We are trying our best.” For their act of kindness, the Nepali ambassador is expected to visit and thank the temple on Thursday.
President of India Inaugurates Science Conference
New Delhi: India’s President, Pratibha Patil, inaugurated the sixth All India Students’ Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ-2011) at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan. The three-day conference was organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata, in association with the Delhi Technological University (DTU) from March 12–14, 2011. More than 400 social, scientific, and spiritual thinkers and students from many countries participated in this event.
TEMPLE OPENINGS
Mombasa, Kenya: More than 4,000 devotees from around the world attended the opening of the New Dvaraka Dhama complex in Mombasa from April 9–13, 2011. The new temple will house the Deities of Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa and Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman.
Nigdi, Maharashtra: Sri Sri Radha-Govinda were installed in Their new temple in Govinda Dhama, a new ISKCON temple opened on March 22. More than 50,000 people attended. The temple is 50-foot tall and is decorated with wooden carvings. The ceiling is fitted with Mangalore tiles, which will help to keep the interior cool.
ISKCON’S MALATI DASI ON WIKIPEDIA’S FRONT PAGE
ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner Malati Dasi was featured on Wikipedia’zs front page on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2011. Born in Vallejo, California, she was part of the hippie movement before becoming an initiated disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1967.
KRISHNA VALLEY AT HUNGARY’S TOURISM EXPO
Budapest, Hungary: Devotees from ISKCON Hungary’s Krishna Valley presented their rural community’s activities at Budapest’s annual Tourism and Travel Expo this year in an effort to further promote the already popular tourist attraction. “Visitors saw little glimpses of our temple, restaurant, gift shop, cow protection gosala, gurukula school, and botanical gardens,” says Krishna Valley head of tourism, Sripati Dasa.
Contributed by Madhava Smullen, Dhwani Pathak Dave, Archana Dahiwal and Sesadeva Dasa