About Us
Srila Prabhupada lays the
roots
in Philadelphia
 In
1969, Srila Prabhupada sent a disciple named Subala dasa to
Philadelphia with instructions to establish a temple for the worship of
Lord Krishna. Subala dasa rented a small rowhouse in West Philadelphia,
near the University of Pennsylvania. A handful of devotees came to join
Subala, and city residents soon began to hear the chanting of the Hare
Krishna mantra and to taste Krishna prasada.
The temple relocated to a rental house in the Germantown section of the
city, and there, in July, 1972, Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra
were installed and taken out for a Rathayatra parade through Center
City. This was the first Rathayatra on the east coast of the United
States. |
Radha Krishna Temple
 In
February, 1974 the temple purchased its own building on Woodland
Street in Germantown. The next year was very auspicious. In 1975,
ISKCON of Philadelphia was formally incorporated, Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai
were installed and Srila Prabhupada came to Philadelphia to personally
take part in the Rathayatra parade and festival.
A steadily increasing congregation led to the search for a larger
facility, and in 1977 the temple purchased its present residence, the
former Cresheim Arms Hotel, an historic landmark in Mt. Airy. The
hotel's dinning and reception room became a temple room, and on the new
large altar Shri Shri Radha Sarad-Bihari were installed in 1979
. |
Krishna's Merciful Personal
Presence
Since then, the
Philadelphia
Radha-Krishna Temple has served as the center of worship, preaching,
spiritual education, and prasada distribution to a congregation of
about six hundred families. Through outreach programs in schools,
colleges and other venues, though public festivals featuring chanting
and prasadam distribution, through home visits and programs the temple
distributes Krishna's mercy to hundreds of more people every year.
The heart of our temple community finds its center in our beautiful
temple Deities: Their Lordships Sri-Sri Radha-Saradbihari, Lord
Jagannatha, Lord Balarama, and Srimati Subhadra-devi, and Sri-Sri
Gaura-Nitai. Srila Prabhupada taught his disciples that the Deity of
Krishna in the temple is Lord Krishna Himself. 
"We should know the arca-vigraha, the worshipable Deity, is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Himself, present before us. God is not wood and
stone; He is spirit. But because we can perceive only wood or stone, to
show us mercy, He appears as wood or as stone."
Therefore, Prabhupada carefully trained his followers to serve the
Deity every day with love and devotion. Krishna says "as they surrender
to Me, I reward them accordingly." When the Deity in the temple is
served and worshiped as God directly - and not as though He were a
stone statue - the Lord reciprocates by giving special mercy to those
who directly and indirectly serve Him, and take His darshan.
For more than 32 years, without interruption, the team of pujaris at
our temple has taken Prabhupada's instruction to heart by worshipping
our temple Deities with love and devotion. Every day Krishna is
awakened, lovingly bathed, dressed, decorated with ornaments, and
garlanded with fresh flowers. During the day He receives six bhoga
offerings and aratis, and in the evening He is dressed in His night
clothes and put sweetly to rest. |
We All Belong to Krishna's
Family
This opulent and
meticulous
daily puja is offered to the Lord on behalf of all the families in our
congregation, many of whom take advantage of our "open door policy" to
come as often they like and partake of the special mercy available
here. From 4:30 am to 8:00 pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year,
Krishna makes Himself available to all who wish to take His
association.
In addition to participating in our daily programs, devotees from all
over the greater Philadelphia area come on Sundays to worship together
and enjoy a special feast of delicious Krishna prasada. The children
look forward to our Sunday School, which for nine years has provided
enjoyable Krishna-conscious activities and instruction in the spiritual
knowledge of the Vedas, especially tailored for various ages, from
three to fifteen.
Older teenagers and young
adults participate in the Pandava Sena club which features discussion
groups, social activities, preaching, and service projects.
Because the Philadelphia Radha-Krishna temple is very concretely the
home of the Supreme Lord, the temple is by the same token the home of
all of you who appreciate and serve Him.
Of course, we urge the members of our congregation to turn their own
homes into temples of the Lord, yet the temple on Allens Lane is the
main support and anchor of the whole community. It is here, especially,
that we all unite together and perform the dharma for this age,
sankirtan, the congregational glorification of the Lord. Therefore,
come visit us and be a part of our family in glorifying Lord Krishna,
the supreme personality of Godhead.
To learn more about ISKCON's mission, please click: Here
To learn more about Srila Prabhupada, please visit: Here
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