Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Your glories are unlim-
ited, and your mercy flows for generations eternally.
In the early ’70s you visited Kenya with a desire to preach to the locals. Here is an update of
the last fifty years grown from the seeds you planted.
In the early ’80s a number of temple presidents and foreign devotees came and left Kenya and
East Africa because conditions were too austere and they were not having much luck developing
an Indian congregation or spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness among the local African community.
A couple of years later, the Nairobi temple was about to close due to lack of management and
no funds. In 1983, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Mahārāja became GBC for East Africa. He sent
one of his disciples, His Grace Umāpati Prabhu, to Nairobi. At the same time, Her Grace Mānasī-
gaṅgā and her mother, Tulasīpriyā Mātājī, came here from the UK. This was the turning point for
ISKCON East Africa.
In 1991, I remember we hardly had enough money to buy fruit, vegetables, or flowers for Śrī Śrī
Rādhā-Baṅkebihārī, and ISKCON, at that point, had a very bad reputation, especially within the
Gujarati community.
Gradually, by the humble efforts of His Grace Umāpati Prabhu, Her Grace Mānasī-gaṅgā
Mātājī, and Her Grace Tulasīpriyā Mātājī, standards started to improve. Funds started coming in,
and the congregation started to grow.
In 1994, we saw the opening of a magnificent and beautiful temple, and in 1996, Śrī Śrī Sītā-
Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa-Hanumān were installed. Gradually, surrounding properties were acquired
by the temple, and a residential complex was built behind the temple in 2006 that now houses
twenty gṛhastha devotees.
We acquired farm land in 2015, and we now grow our own organic vegetables. The Deities are
offered A2 milk from our own grass-fed cows. We have a very successful and renowned sweet shop.
In 2024, the temple acquired another forty acres of farmland for expansion.
In 2015, Kenya opened its first hostel service for local students, and that program is now thriv-
ing, with over eighty students at a time who follow part of the morning or evening program, eat
prasādam daily, and associate with devotees. This year, 2025, we have seen the opening of Yogi
Plate, subsidized lunch prasādam for students at a very affordable rate.
There is a truly stunning temple near the beach in Mombasa, and the old temple in Ganjoni is
still open and very active with local preaching. The Mombasa temple has also acquired adjoining
land, and a housing project is in the pipeline.
Over the past four years we have opened three preaching centers – one each in Eldoret,
Nakuru, and Juja, and these focus mainly on local African preaching – thus trying to fulfill your
desire to preach to the locals in Kenya. Both the Eldoret and Nakuru centers have acquired land
for new temple construction.
We have had one of the best records for book distribution in the whole of Africa, and for five
years in a row Nairobi has been leading the marathon.
This year, His Grace Umāpati Prabhu was selected to serve as the GBC representative for East
Africa and also as an initiating spiritual master, thus fulfilling the chain of paramparā as envi-
sioned by Your Divine Grace.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you visited Kenya in 1971, and all this expansion and growth has happened
within the last fifty years. ISKCON in East Africa is thriving and growing at an exponential rate,
and we have an active and engaged congregation. Śrīla Prabhupāda, this is all due to your mercy
and vision.
We feel so fortunate to be part of this community. Please bless us that we may expand with
more enthusiasm and vigor than ever before. Your vision was to see the local Africans become
devotees. Kindly bestow your mercy upon us so that we can all follow your specific instructions
for East Africa. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Your servant,
Aiśvarya Līlā Devī Dāsī
Vaiṣṇavī Minister for Kenya