Who We Are?
About ISKCON Rishikesh
Hare Krishna! Welcome to ISKCON Rishikesh – Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple – a home to a loving community of practicing Hare Krishna devotees, dedicated to the practice of bhakti-yoga or loving service to Krishna, the Supreme Person (God). We are a branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a worldwide spiritual movement founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in New York City in 1966.
Unarguably, the most powerful unifying force is love. When that love has its foundation in the truth, the unity that it can bring about eclipses all sectarian differences. The truth is that every living entity is a divine part of God and thus related to every other living entity in creation. In our spiritual community, we’re striving to translate these esoteric principles into practical reality, aiming to live as a vivid example of that truth.
Vision of ISKCON
Founder Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Popularly known as the Hare Krishna Movement, ISKCON is a worldwide confederation of more than 600 temples and centres, 110 vegetarian restaurants, and a wide variety of community projects. ISKCON belongs to a monotheistic tradition, Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradaya, within the broad Vedic culture.
The philosophy of ISKCON is nothing but the philosophy of Sanatan Dharma – sanatan meaning that which has no beginning and no end – existing from the dawn of creation as the world’s most ancient religion. ISKCON is based on the Bhagavad Gita, and it traces its spiritual lineage directly to the speaker of this sacred book, Lord Sri Krishna, who is revered as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Bhagavad Gita teaches, the goal of life is to develop love of God, or Krishna, realized through the practice of bhakti-yoga, the science of devotional service.