Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to Śrī Guru and Śrī Gaurāṅga.
The year 2026 is a great festival for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. It’s the sixtieth anniversary of Your Divine Grace establishing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Over these last sixty years, a great flood of devotion to Kṛṣṇa has inundated the entire world. Every small corner of the planet has been affected. A testimony to this fact is the endeavors of the servants of your servants in Norway. Although the country of Norway did not receive the fortune of your physical presence, your devoted followers traveled here in the seventies to spread the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. According to all accounts, they were very successful, and the seed of bhakti was planted in the heart of the nation. Then, in the early eighties, a devotee couple turned their home into a temple and thereby started the first center for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Bergen, a city on the weather-torn west coast. After some years, a flourishing community of devotees moved their efforts to the capital, Oslo, and through the years Oslo has been the heartbeat of ISKCON Norway.
Today, a new generation of devotees still sustain themselves on this great heritage. For the twentieth year in a row, we will be celebrating the Ratha-yātrā chariot festival. Furthermore, the vibration of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa continue to linger in the air after the local devotees celebrated their annual festival, Scandinama, where they take the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa into the streets of the capital during the national celebration of the constitution.
A team of inspired householders, together with a growing congregation, maintain a small center in Oslo, where Śrī Śrī Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā reside, and here your Sunday love feast programs, together with Saturday night kirtans and morning readings of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are attended weekly by a happy crowd of locals. More recently, in the 2020s, a handful of brahmacārīs returned to Bergen to reclaim the west coast in your honor, and they have now opened a beautiful temple in a scenic part of that city, where curious Bergensians and aspiring devotees now regularly visit to receive the mercy of Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Gauracandra.
Our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is our hope that you will somehow be pleased with our efforts here in Norway. Your books are being distributed, and we know that this particular service is very dear to you. Following your order, the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā is now translated into Norwegian, and the reigning monarch, King Harald, has even received a copy with appreciation.
Our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we beg you to please bless our tiny endeavors so that we might be made able to continue spreading the saṅkīrtana movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu here in Norway. You have so kindly given us this ISKCON society, and this small branch in this faraway Arctic Circle land is flourishing by your grace. Our only desire is to make your books and teachings more and more appealing to the local Norwegians. Please be kind and grace us with your mercy to continue this great task.
The servants of your servants at the Norwegian yātrās, offering obeisances at your lotus feet
Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
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
Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
We bow to the shining dust from your lotus feet, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda! Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aşṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Mahārāja Prabhupāda kī jaya!
We express our deepest respects to you and pray that we may please you by following your instructions and serving your mission.
You have come to this misery-filled material world to bestow the supreme mercy of pure devotional service to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This grace is the teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, which liberates the world from the philosophy of impersonalism and emptiness. The world is sick, and numerous conflicts are arising both at the level of countries and the level of people – terrible wars and violence, diseases, mental abnormalities, earthquakes, fires, droughts, and floods. When you came to this world, you brought the only remedy: the reunion with one’s true self as a loving servant of the Lord. This is the only way to extinguish the fire of material existence.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you bestowed on us the purest knowledge and the eternal mercy of the ācāryas. You placed the responsibility on your sincere followers to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in modern society. The task is difficult and impossible on a material level. In your books, talks, and lectures, we hear your insistence, guidance, and power as you encourage your followers to be serious and sincere in their spiritual lives. You provide the conviction that the almighty Absolute Truth, the source of all existence, and the source of all love, always reciprocates the devotion of His servants.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, by your divine grace we have the opportunity to serve the first and incomparable Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda in Russia. This is your grace, as is the grace of the first Omsk Deities, Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi. Thirty or forty years ago, none of us could have imagined that we would ever be able to serve the source of all existence.
Now, our temple complex in the city center occupies an area of 250 square meters. The total area of the premises is 1,700 square meters, and more than 280 devotees are engaged in the worship of the Lord.
Lord Śrī Govinda gives joy to the earth, cows, and senses. For the satisfaction of the Lord, you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, have established the Cow Planet Farm, which is now home to more than two hundred happy cows. The supreme spiritual abode of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is described as consisting of two main aspects, manifested in the spiritual world as the Audārya-dhāma (abode of mercy) and the Mādhurya-dhāma (abode of sweet love). This place is akin to the Audārya-dhāma, as it is ruled by the beautiful Pañca-tattva.
We conduct the following preaching programs:
- Harināmas are held twice a week for two hours
- Once a week, devotees participate in weekend saṅkīrtana
- There are weekly meetings in twelve spiritual communication groups
- There are programs for those who are just beginning to learn the spiritual science, such as Reading the Bhagavad-gītā, Sunday Yoga, and Yoga in the City Parks.
- On Sundays, the temple hosts a Sunday Program.
- Every two months, devotees organize mantra concerts.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you gave us the resources and methods to achieve ISKCON’s goals: to preach the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as described in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; to spread and encourage the saṅkīrtana movement, which involves chanting the holy name of the Lord together and following the instructions of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, and books; and to prepare delicious food for the Lord and distribute it to the people.
We can never fully thank you for the invaluable gift you bestowed on us. To fulfill your instructions and achieve these goals, you gave us everything we need. Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Your servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Omsk
Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept my humble obeisances.
This year in France we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the installation of your dearest Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Deities at New Māyāpura Dhāma. May they grant us spiritual strength so that we can overcome our anarthas, be fixed up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and cooperatively serve your mission in France.
By casting your merciful glance on France, you offered us both the gradual and the fast track processes for purification: “One can gradually become purified by seeing, touching, and worshiping temple Deities, places of pilgrimage, and holy rivers. But one can attain the same result immediately simply by receiving the glance of exalted sages.” (Bhāgavatam 10.86.52)
We may not have received your physical glance in this life, still, we can experience your divine presence in your books, recorded lectures, conversations, letters, and in your mūrti form. We can feel how deep is your compassion by hearing your pastimes from the lips of your sincere disciples and followers.
As far as we in Paris are concerned, the government is increasingly embracing the Indian culture. Last month, a new Indian cultural center opened in the heart of Paris, next to the Eiffel Tower. We were invited for the inauguration, and devotee artists from Belgium are now having an exhibition there for a few months. In the Paris region, a big temple from the Swami Narayan community is about to open at the end of 2026. We are also connected with them and hope to hold kirtans and classes there.
Meanwhile, your beloved Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Parisīśvara are kindly tolerating our lack of experience and maturity. You wrote, “I am also glad to hear that in your temple no one misses mangala arati and that everyone is becoming steady and peaceful in their service. It sounds as if you are taking care of your men very nicely. This is first class management. Please continue in this kind of management.” (Letter to Kurusrestha, Bombay, 28 December 1974)
Sorry for not being up to this level yet. Also, I feel deeply ashamed to see such a poor facility for both the Deities and the devotees. Still, Rādhārāṇī’s lotus hand is delicately pouring mercy upon us all to push on the mission, and attracting more and more souls to take shelter in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Even if we struggle to reach the standard They deserve, our attempt to follow your instructions is improving the situation day after day. We are still a small team of ten to twenty devotees living in the temple or close by. Our congregation is growing in number and maturity, but unfortunately, we must admit that we hardly attract locals to the temple. We try our best to reach out with harināma, book distribution, programs at the temple, home programs, kirtan events, and online programs … only by your mercy will these attempts bring a change in people’s lives.
My dear Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence [mauna-vrata]. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet. (Bhāgavatam 7.9.44)
After regularly touring in Paris for few months, our saṅkīrtana party unfortunately has stopped these past months. We are sorry for that. You wrote, “To manage a sankirtana party nicely is more precious than all other activities. That is the verdict of Bhagavad-gita and the mission of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.” (Letter to Tamala Krishna, Bombay, 13 November 1975)
Book publication is finding a second breath also, with dedicated devotees patiently investing their time and energy in BBT-related services. New titles are about to come, including a reprint of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. You wrote, “Our first important business is to hold Sankirtana as many times as possible. The next important business is publication work.” (Letter to Krishna Dasa, Los Angeles, 28 July 1969)
Book distribution is still going on, but less intensely compared to past years in terms of scores, but more and more devotees are entering the dance on a regular basis. Having said that, while finding ever fresh happiness in the preaching field, it is heartbreaking to see practicing devotees leaving your divine ISKCON boat in the hope of finding greener grass … in vain. Please kindly forgive our shortcomings and enlighten us not to commit the same mistakes.
One of your faithful disciples recently told me that we need more than better facilities for the Deities; our first priority should be to take care of the devotees. Indeed, how long can we continue preaching to newcomers without caring for the practicing devotees? How long can we distribute books without developing relationships with the people? How long can we neglect the needs of senior devotees, who dedicated their life and soul to your mission?
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, if you feel I can be of any help in this regard, please engage me. With the blessings of my spiritual master, our GBC leaders, some senior devotees, and my wife, I decided to step aside from work – at least temporarily – to step back into deepening relationships, explore new areas of preaching, and dedicate more time to your mission. My only hope in this attempt is to please you and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Parisīśvara.
Please kindly guide us, and please kindly keep us on the bona fide path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
An unqualified servant of your servant,
Jīva Praṇa Dāsa
On behalf of the management team of Rādhā-Parisīśvara Mandir
Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Please accept our obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet! Thank you for your compassion toward the citizens of Russia and the Soviet Union. Despite difficulties, you came to Moscow fifty-five years ago and carefully planted the seed of devotion in the hearts of the Russians.
Your mission continues to develop in the Russian territory. We have had the honor to develop your mission in Perm and the Perm region. Please accept our yearly report on our activities as an offering to you!
By your grace, we have the opportunity to serve our Deities: Śrī-Śrī Jagannātha-Baladeva-Subhadrā-Sudarśana-cakra, Śrī-Śrī Nitāi-Gauracandra, and Śrī-Śrī Prahlāda Nṛsiṁhadeva.
We conduct training courses on Vaiṣṇava philosophy, courses on receiving the praṇāma-mantra, receiving initiation, and bhakti-śāstra for devotees, as well as courses for studying the Bhagavad-gītā for new people.
Ten training courses on the philosophy and practice of Vaiṣṇavism, ninety-eight students who regularly attend classes, seven teachers, and qualified mentors.
For your satisfaction we distribute books. We hold monthly saṅkīrtana festivals. We organize harināmas – one harināma per week. Devotees pay great attention to building relationships and cooperation with government officials, thanks to which we are allowed to hold harināmas on the streets of the city. We distribute prasādam through our Food of Life program and also run a Gauranga confectionery.
We organize trips for devotees and residents of the Perm region to holy places: Vrindavan, Mayapur, Jagannath Puri, and Kurukshetra.
We organize traditional Vaiṣṇava festivals and the chanting of the holy names on a regular basis. We hold Ratha-yātrā each year. We organize round tables as a way to communicate with the representatives of authorities and other faiths in order to build trust and cooperation: the round table cycle “Spiritual Heritage of Russia: 17 facets” within the framework of Presidential Decree No. 809. In 2025, two events were held, in 2026, five are planned. Interreligious dialogue: visiting the Perm synagogue at the international conference in the framework of the interfaith round table.
In the council at the yātrā, we develop friendly relationships, team spirit, and cooperation. We meditate on expressing your will in managing our yātrā.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, thank you for filling our lives with a higher purpose! Bless us to continue developing your mission.
Your servants at ISKCON Perm
Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
This year, as we look at the global landscape of your ISKCON, we are deeply moved by how your movement connects different corners of the earth into one grand spiritual family. In Poland, we often feel like a unique section of a much larger, magnificent orchestra that you have put together. You are the supreme conductor, and the movement you started is nothing less than a divine symphony of saṅkīrtana.
Every devotee in our yātrā brings their own unique tone, their own realizations, and their own service. Yet without your expert guidance, our individual sounds would simply be noise. You showed us how to tune our hearts to the desire of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You taught us that true harmony is found only when everyone plays together for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord.
We are reminded of the beautiful words from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.24): “A devotee whose voice is choked with ecstasy, whose heart melts, who cries untiringly and sometimes laughs, who loudly chants without shame and dances – such a person purifies the entire universe.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you created a sanctuary in Poland where this verse comes alive. Whether it is through the thundering mṛdaṅgas at our summer Festival of India tour, the quiet dedication of book distribution on rainy winter streets, or the sweet, steady congregational chanting in our temples – the music of your mercy is constantly playing in our lives.
Sometimes, as a yātrā, we face moments of dissonance or difficulty. In those moments, we look to your books and your instructions to find our rhythm again. We find strength in the eternal truth stated in Bhagavad-gītā 18.78: “Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.”
You are our Arjuna, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Your words are the absolute standard that keeps our orchestra united and focused. Following in your footsteps, the Polish yātrā wants to remain a faithful, dependable instrument in your hands. We want to play our part in this global symphony with purity, enthusiasm, and dedication, ensuring that no note is missed and that your glorification reaches every town and village in our country.
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we beg for your continued mercy. Please keep us united, please keep us fixed in your service, and please allow us to remain forever grateful to be a part of your divine arrangement.
Your humble servants in the saṅkīrtana orchestra,
The devotees of the Polish yātrā
