ISKCON Boston is celebrating the 50th installation anniversary of the presiding deities Sri Sri Radha Gopivallabha. On this auspicious occasion ISKCON Boston would like to warmly invite you to join a 2-day online festival on Aug 7 & Aug 8 to celebrate!
We welcome you to join the online festivity on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/IskconBoston
You can also join via Zoom: Please join us at Zoom ID 916 4947 3119 (password: 108) or using a single click at https://zoom.us/j/91649473119?pwd=N3YwdmQ1bHFDM0ZjN1JsRGxOaHp6UT09.
Boston has an incredibly special history with respect to ISKCON! Srila Prabhupada first stepped onto American soil on September 17, 1965 in Boston when his ship arrived in Boston harbor, Commonwealth Pier, for a short stop en route to New York City. Later Srila Prabhupada visited Boston three times between 1968 and 1971. During his first visit to Boston in 1968 Srila Prabhupada conducted the first Brahminical initiation. When ISKCON Boston acquired a new building at 40 North Beacon Street, the first publishing group, ISKCON Press was first set up there. Soon it became a prominent temple bustling with many devotees.To support the publishing house devotees like Jadurani dasi, Baradraja dasa,Parikshit dasa, Visnu dasa, Locana dasa and Puskara dasa were engaged in painting different pictures, some of those original paintings are still hanging on the temple walls as a prized possession of ISKCON Boston.
One of the early devotees to join ISKCON Boston was a young college student Glenn Phillip Teton, whom we know as HH Giriraj Swami. Another stellar devotee, HH Niranjana Swami started visiting Boston ISKCON temple in 1972; who later accepted a monastic life in 1973 and went on to become a sannyasi in 1986. Several other senior devotees who either joined at or were associated with ISKCON Boston in the past, including HH Hrdayananda Swami and HG Garuda Prabhu, who were in Boston while they pursued their PhDs at Harvard, HH Romapada Swami, HG Pyari Mohan Prabhu, HH Bhakti Vrata Damodar Swami, Agrani Prabhu (Maharaj),HG Rukmini Mataji,HG Soma Das, HG Ananga Manjari Mataji and HG Jadurani Mataji. The mystical early days at ISKCON Boston can be reminisced from the BTG article: https://story.iskconboston.org/photo/photo-album/204
Regarding the Boston temple’s early beginnings, to replicate the success of Krsna Consciousness in New York and in San Francisco, Srila Prabhupada sent Satsvarupa dasa to start a center in Boston. With devotees efforts, in due course Boston ISKCON was incorporated on Sept 10 1968 at 95 Glenville Avenue, Allston MA. In the meantime, when Srila Prabhupada was in Sri Vrindavan Dham, His Divine Grace was donated three sets of Radha-Krishna Deities from Mr. Palmir, a life patron. Srila Prabhupada kept one set with himself, the second set of Deities went to Berkeley; and the third set went to Boston. Srila Prabhupada during one of his Boston visits personally installed Boston deities on Monday July 19th 1971 at the former temple location at 40 North Beacon Street and christened them as Sri Sri Radha Gopivallabha. Since then our beloved Deities of Sri Sri Radha Gopivallabha have captured countless hearts and minds with Their beauty and grace, overseeing the spreading of Krishna Consciousness in New England.
More information about the history of the Boston temple can be found at the following location:
