Inspired by Tirumala, Iskcon builds a new temple in Bengaluru

The temple, which has come up on the 28-acre land, comprises seven doors and the deity of Lord Srinivasa is nearly the of same height as the one located in Tirumala

Inspired by the design and aesthetics of Sri Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) has built a new Sri Rajadhiraja Govinda temple in Vasanthapura, off Kanakapura Road, at an estimated cost of Rs 105 crore. President of India Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the stone temple on Tuesday. It is constructed according to the traditional Shilpa shastras in the Dravidian style of architecture.

Tuesday also marked the 125th birth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada, founder of Iskcon, who built over 108 temples across the world. As the Vedic ceremonies are scheduled to continue till the end of July, the temple will be open to the public only from August 1, 2022.

The temple, which has come up on the 28-acre land, comprises seven doors and the deity of Lord Srinivasa is nearly the of the same height as the one located in Tirumala. The temple is surrounded by the shrines of Sri Sudarshana Narasimha, Sri Mahalakshmi, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha, Bhakta Hanuman and Garuda deva. A separate shrine has been constructed for Srila Prabhupada.

A large hall has also been made available where about 5,000 devotees can wait to have the darshan of the Lord. A cultural complex, called Sri Krishna Leela Park, is also coming up next to the temple.

After offering prayers, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, hailed Iskcon for making a positive difference in the lives of lakhs of people for the last 25 years. Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot was of the belief that the new temple and the cultural complex will systematically channel people’s energies to facilitate a positive transformation in society.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, said the Bhakti movement has made a unique contribution to the country and the world. He also extended support to the humanitarian activities of Isckon Bangalore in the coming years.

Madhu Pandit Dasa, President, Iskcon Bangalore, said the new temple has been inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s desire to build a grand temple like Tirumala.