To our beloved founder-ācārya, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to you on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, in what has been, for us, a very special year.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, on one of your six visits to Australia, devotees were overjoyed to show you their newest preaching acquisition: a double-decker bus outlandishly painted bright orange with the hare krishna movement – the positive alternative emblazoned on its side. You were delighted and, upon inspecting its interior, remarked “I could live in this.” (The Great Transcendental Adventure, Kūrma Dāsa p. 105).
That same year – 1972 – this bus would bring a crew of ISKCON devotees, with an abundance of your books, to Brisbane for the first time. On that occasion, they stayed only two days, but Brisbane had its first taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Later that year, our first temple was opened on your behalf by your dear servants Upendra Dāsa and Citralekhā Devī Dāsī, followed by Cāru Dāsa and his wife Vaibhavī Devī Dāsī.
After this followed fifty-four years consisting of a total of nine location moves, literally hundreds of devotees made, and thousands more people whose lives have been touched by your books, prasādam, and/or the holy names, sung in the streets today as they were on that first 1972 visit.
However, this year something monumental occurred. After fifty-four years of being moved – sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly – from one location to another, we finally purchased a permanent home for our wonderful Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi and Your Divine Grace. In what can only be described as a miracle, after a seemingly endless citywide search for a suitable location, a church came up for sale a mere short walk from our then residence. Astonishingly, we then beat out other buyers to acquire, for your ISKCON, this heritage-listed property, built a hundred years earlier by the Methodist Church, at 8 Lee Road, Darra, Brisbane, Australia.
The building was old and in need of repair, but what rose up is an utterly charming, unique, character-filled, fully restored, beautiful temple. It also features delightful gardens, an expansive lawn, a huge permanent marquee to cater for large festival crowds, and the former hall was expertly converted into a massive, fully equipped commercial kitchen.
This work was the effort of your ISKCON Brisbane community, not only as it is now but of all those who came before us. It was completed by a small team who worked tirelessly around the clock to offer this to you.
Due to the proximity to our former premises, it was decided to take the Deities and yourself to your new residence via a Ratha-yātrā procession. An auspicious date was chosen for the move – 28 February 2026 – and a five-day festival was planned, culminating in Gaura-Pūrṇimā.
So many wonderful occurrences happened during this time: from roads being cleansed by steady rain the entire day before the parade to brilliant blue skies and sunshine on the day we moved, to local dignitaries crying with joy during speeches (one of them dressed for the occasion in a sari) and to wonderful gifts and blessings kindly sent to us by our first devotees.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you wrote to your disciples in a letter dated 13 December 1972 that you were very happy to know an ISKCON temple had been established in Brisbane, Australia, and that you would like to come here. Upon completion of the new temple project, we felt so happy to welcome you to your new home here.
Our temple is continuing to flourish in a number of ways, such as increased harināma-saṅkīrtana and book distribution efforts, bhakti-vṛkṣa programs, educational courses like Bhakti-śāstrī, prasādam distribution, Western outreach initiatives, bigger festivals, and more visits from senior devotees, including our GBC.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we love you with all our hearts. We know that strictly following your instructions will lead us to the perfection of our lives. Please forgive us for our shortcomings and bless us so that we can serve you in a way that always pleases Your Divine Grace.
With eternal gratitude,
Your insignificant servants at ISKCON Brisbane