Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to your divine personality!
On this, the most solemn day of your appearance, please accept our offering from the Vaiṣṇava communities in and around the city of Novorossiysk. All activities of the community are carried out only by Your Divine Grace!
In your temples, the worship of the Deities continues according to the accepted standards of ISKCON. One temple is located in the city of Novorossiysk, the temple of New Navadvīpa Dhāma with the Deities Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Śacīnandana, and the second temple is in the Vaiṣṇava settlement of Varṣānā with Śrī Pañca-tattva and Śrī Śrī Jagannātha-Baladeva-Subhadrā.
We regularly conduct programs in both temples – worship of the Deities according to ISKCON standards, daily classes on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sunday programs, festivals, kirtan melās and weekly chanting of the holy name. Harināmas are held once a week in four places of the large communities in different localities (Anapa, Gelendzhik, Varshana, Novorossiysk).
We distribute books daily and regularly conduct weekend saṅkīrtana. Our achievements in book distribution:
- Third place in the region, in the marathon
- Seventheen place in Russia, in the marathon
- Eighteenth place in Russia, for the year
There are some preaching programs – mantra-yoga, preaching lectures, preaching on social media, and on the YouTube channel, “Hare Krishna in Russia”. Around fifty new people joined this year. There is a program for caring for devotees, a mentoring system, and a curator system.
Our community has governing councils for each group, including spiritual councils of mentors and senior devotees, as well as management councils. Leadership meetings are held regularly. The following committees have been established:
- Preaching committee
- Family committee
- Parenting committee
Our community also has small groups for spiritual communication:
- Nāma-haṭṭas – thirteen groups
- Bhakti-vṛkṣas – three groups
- Mentoring saṅgas – five groups
- Women’s saṅga – eight groups
- Men’s saṅga – four groups
We offer educational programs to prepare devotees for praṇāma and initiation, as well as the following courses and trainings:
- ISKCON Student
- Bhakti-śāstri
- Bhakti-praveśa
- Bhakti-latā
- Leadership training
- Thematic seminars
- Hare Kṛṣṇa course
- Deity worship courses
- Reflection on Prabhupāda’s Mission
- Music education at the Kīrtana School
- Cooking courses
Senior ISKCON Vaiṣṇavas regularly visit our community. The Care and Protection of Children program is in operation. Temples have special rooms for children and their programs. And we plan to open Sunday schools in the temples. Sports and children’s playgrounds have been set up.
The Vaiṣṇavī eco-village, Varṣānā has the following facilities:
- Educational school for children
- Gurukula
- Kindergarten for preschool children
- Tourist club
- Various clubs and electives
- Philosophical online education for children, Our Roots.
- Teaching children kirtan and playing musical instruments
- Organizing leisure activities and children’s programs
- Organizing summer camps for children
- Acting school
- Indian dance studio
- Organizing children’s nāma-haṭṭa
In our community, we carry out the following social projects:
- Food for Life in four settlements.
- In Novorossiysk we successfully held a photo exhibition of the organization’s activities. We also plan to hold in other nearby cities.
- Take part in city holidays: Day of the village, May 9, Maslenitsa, etc.
- Maintaining social ties in the city: we develop relations and congratulate officials on holidays. We participate in the social life of the city (subbotniks, etc.).
- The international group of modern Indian dance “Anandaloka”, consisting of Vaiṣṇavīs, holds performances to the sound of the holy name.
- Cooperation with social care, support for the poor
Developments at the Vaiṣṇava settlement, Varshana:
- Made guest rooms in the temple
- New roads are filled
- New lines of communications are laid
- A new well for the community’s water supply is launched
- Night lighting of the streets is installed
- The temple has purchased new furniture for the guest room, the altar room, and the pūjā room
- The temple grounds have been improved
- Trees have been planted
- We plan to create a park area on the lake shore
- The Devāmṛta altar-making workshop is operating
- The Sundarī project for making kaṇṭhi-mālā is also active
- Sports and children’s playgrounds have been set up
- Fire hydrants have been installed
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, all our development and activities can only take place with your blessings! We are very much appreciative and sincerely grateful to you for creating ISKCON for us, a place and a community of people where we can peacefully practice our spiritual life and follow your mission of helping others.
We try to follow your instructions and the goals you have set for us, your followers and your śikṣā disciples. We feel your divine presence every day, otherwise we would not have achieved what we have.
Please allow us to continue serving under your guidance and supervision, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda. You are very dear to us, and we want to please you with our service. Please bless us so that our efforts will not be in vain and we will never stray from the path you have shown us.
ISKCON Novorossiysk