About ISKCON Chennai

ISKCON has more than 500 centers all over the world. The Chennai chapter of ISKCON inaugurated the present gorgeous temple at Sholinganallur on April 26, 2012. It has a lot of unique features. Find the chakras that line the body of the temple-purusha on the steps, see the avatars of the Lord governing the eight directions in attractive glass paintings and more!

ISKCON Chennai is located off the East Coast Road at the Hare Krishna land, Sholinganallur. The deities worshipped in the temple include those of Radha Krishna Lalita Vishaka, Jagannath Baladev Subhadra, and Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga.

Spread over an area of over 1.5 acres, the temple is constructed on five levels. There is a 7,000 sq ft temple hall on the first floor, an auditorium for cultural and spiritual programmes on the ground floor and a prasadam hall in the basement.

In the temple hall, there are three teak-wood altars which house the deities of Lord Krishna with His consort Radharani and their assisting friends Lalita and Vishaka, Lord Chaitanya with Lord Nityananda and Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra. These deities have been sourced from Jaipur and Orissa. Designed under the guidance of His Holiness Bhanu Swami, the temple has imbibed various attributes from Vedic scripture and is inspired by the Pallava and Kalinga architecture.

The entrance to the temple is marked by the representation of the universe or the bhu-mandala on the marble floor. According to the cosmology of ancient Vedic puranas, the universe is described as series of circular islands surrounding a central pillar called Mount Meru. The design on the floor at the entrance depicts the same universal pattern. There is also a life-like statue of a cow feeding its calf at the portico.

The primary purpose of the temple to transform the material self-centred identity into a spiritual identity of unconditional love is graphically represented by means of a magnificent chandelier that projects various colours on the walls and ceiling. The chandelier has 500 Himalayan quartz crystals supposedly meant to intensify the spiritual energy in the temple.

The temple also visually displays various vastu shastra features.

About Bhanu Swami Maharaja : 

His Holiness Bhanu Swami Maharaja was born in Canada on the 26th December 1948 to the most fortunate Japanese parents. HH Bhanu Swami Maharaja is one of the senior disciples of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He holds a BA Degree in Oriental fine arts history from the University of British Colombia. He joined the Hare Krishna movement in India in 1970. Initiated in 1971 by Srila Prabhupada, he took sannyasa vows in 1984. Bhanu Swami was personally instructed in the art of Deity worship by Srila Prabhupada, and within ISKCON he has become an authority on the topic. He is a great inspiration for many devotees around the world and he preaches Krishna consciousness in Japan, Malaysia, Russia and India.

HH Bhanu Swami Maharaja met the disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in 1971 in Tokyo, just after his graduation in history. Srila Prabhupada was about to set on his India tour with his Western disciples and Bhanu Maharaja joined with them.

By 1972, His Holiness Bhanu Swami maharaja already earned credit from Srila Prabhupada for his exact Sanskrit pronunciation, expertise in cooking and excellence in deity worship. He also began to translate Srila Prabhupada’s books into Japanese.

Bhanu Swami has been a GBC member since 2003. His zonal assignments cover South India, and he is co-GBC for Japan. His history in management is as a regional secretary for South India since 1986. Having spent the last few decades in residence in Chennai, he has a clear understanding of the region. His GBC committee responsibilities include past chairmanship and, currently, participation in the Parallel Lines of Authority Committee for the Strategic Planning Initiative.

A scholar in Sanskrit and Bengali, Bhanu Swami has translated fifteen significant works of the Gaudiya Vaishnava canon, with six more titles in progress. Many of these works are commentaries from primary members of the Gaudiya sampradaya on theBhagavad-gita, Sri-Isopanishad, and Srimad Bhagavatam. Thus, Bhanu Swami’s contribution is a lasting one.

Bhanu Swami is a quiet achiever and has studied a variety of disciplines including martial arts, Reiki healing, Carnatic music (specifically vina). He is a reputed astrologer. His current efforts in spreading Krishna consciousness include completing the construction of a temple in Chennai and stabilizing the new temple in Tokyo.

Bhanu Swami’s depth of scholarship has enabled him to create presentations on topics like karma, reincarnation, yoga and Srimad Bhagavatam, and he presents these as he travels to select parts of the world, enlivening those he meets with heartfelt spiritual intellectualism.

He continues with this translation service to this day, giving us the nectar from the Bengali and Sanskrit works of the previous Vaishnava acharyas to enhance our understanding of the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy. He is also a member of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON. 

About Krishna :

Though Rukmini and Satyabhama enjoy worship as the consorts of the married king Krishna, the others do not enjoy this honour. A young cowherd Krishna is worshipped with his lover Radha. Kalindi, the goddess of river Yamuna, is worshipped independently. Besides the Ashtabharya, Krishna had 16,000 or 16,108 junior wives.