The Temple Room
The most sacred space within the palace complex is the main temple room aesthetically clad in white marble and directly facing Giri Govardhan. This former assembly hall of the King is now the residence of the presiding deities, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Giriraj Govardhan, and Srila Prabhupada.
The deeply spiritual and sanctified vibrations in the temple room helps one revive one’s dormant spiritual nature and inspires one to get immersed in Vedic rituals, holy chants and highly positive vibrations. One can either spend a quite time here in contemplative meditation, or participate in one or more of the daily sacred ceremonies.
Kirtan / Katha Hall
The palace complex has multiple spaces, both indoors and in the open beneath trees, for kirtan and katha. The roof of the palace building can accommodate 300 devotees and presents an amazing unobstructed close-up view of Sri Govardhan.
The samadhi garden area carpeted with silken sands from the banks of the Yamuna and surrounded by beautiful Kadamba and Tamal trees transports one to the Vraja of the past and can seat over 500 devotees.
The temple hall also serves as a space for Kirtan and Katha. During the month of Kartika, the group of listeners is typically much bigger and classes are moved to the backyard of the palace under the shade of tall Kadamba trees.
Prasadam Hall
The prasadam serving area can easily cater to 30 devotees at a time. However, the ashram has several flexi spaces with the capacity to feed up to 2,000 guests for any meal.
Temple Ashram
The original structure of ISKCON Govardhan Palace was built by Maharaja Bhawani Singh of Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh, to serve as a summer house for the royal family during their visits to the Holy Dham.
The architectural style of the palace is a beautiful mélange of Rajput and European themes. Built out of limestone and natural materials, the palace has vast courtyards surrounded by several smaller arched spaces. These spaces have now been converted into residential quarters, study rooms, halls and public areas for both resident and visiting devotees.
The first floor of the palace houses the temple room and 5 residential rooms, from which one can relish the beautiful view of Sri Giriraj Govardhan, the gardens and the goshala. The ground floor has a prasadam hall and living spaces including two large dormitories all of which open up to beautiful courtyards.
Of the many exalted places spread all over the holy land of Vraja, why did Srila Ragunatha Dasa Goswami choose to reside near Govardhan?
Srila Ragunatha Dasa Goswami, offers his deepest personal prayers to Giriraj Govardhana through his timeless composition, Govardhana Vasa Prarthana Dasakam. He prays to Giri Govardhan, why would I stay in any other place? Please grant me residence near you – nija nikata nivasa dehi govardhana tvam – because you are the tilaka of Vraja. The land of Vraja is considered the body of Lord Krishna and Giri Govardhan, the tilaka on His forehead.
Vrajavasis call Giri Govardhan, Giriraj Baba, the most benevolent fatherly shelter. All Vrajavasis, even Lord Krishna and Shrimati Radharani come to visit Giriraj. Giriraj is Krishna himself but also the supreme servant most dear to Krishna. He has assumed this magnificent form where Radha and Krishna can perform and relish their various loving pastimes. Giri Govardhan expands himself to serve Radha and Krishna, their cows, calves, cowherd boys, gopis, by providing roots, fruits, fresh water, caves and everything required for Their pleasure pastimes. This is no ordinary hill but an extraordinary servant of the Supreme Lord.
Giri Govardhan can fulfill everyone’s desires, be it material or spiritual. Srila Ragunatha Dasa Goswami´s lifelong desire manifests as an outpouring of his heart in the form of his prayer, nija nikata nivasa dehi govardhana tvam begging for residence in Govardhan so that one day he may eventually have darshan of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna during one of Their many visits here. Anyone who resides in Govardhan following in the footsteps of Srila Ragunatha Dasa Goswami and subservient to his devotional mood can have darshan of the divine couple even today by the mercy of Giri Govardhan who is Hari Dasa Varya – Lord Hari’s best servant.
ISKCON Govardhan Bhaktivedanta Ashram also known as Srila Prabhupada’s Palace is a wonderful facility at the service of the countless devotees who come to Giri Govardhan throughout the year from all over the world for darshan, worship, parikrama, or simply deep contemplation and sadhana – all to seek but a drop of His boundless mercy.
Annual Festivals
Vaishnava Calendar
04:15 am
Mangala Arati
04:45 am
Tulasi Puja
07:30 am
Sringar Darshan
07:40 am
Guru Puja
08:00 am
Bhagavatam Class
12:30 pm
Raj Bhoga Arati
4:15 pm
Usthapana Arati
6:30 pm
Tulasi Arati
7:00 pm
Sandhya Arati
7:45 pm
Giriraj Arati
8:00 pm
Bhagavad-Gita Discourse
8:30 pm
Shayana Arati
New Devotee Kitchen
One of the main activities at ISKCON Govardhan is prasadam distribution to devotees visiting from all over the world. To appropriately cater to an ever increasing number of visiting devotees, we need to build a new kitchen with enhanced capacity and modern amenities.
Sankirtana Van
With a growing number of resident Brahmacari devotees we now have the ability to expand our book distribution activities to every nook and corner of Vraja and much beyond. A sankirtana van is essential to get started on this.
Land for Goshala and Agriculture
We are actively seeking to acquire land to help take better care of our cows. Currently, we have to give away cows due to space constraints. Although we are extremely conscientious in giving our cows to well-funded local goshalas who take life-long care of the cows we cannot hold on to, we would much rather do this ourselves.
In due course of time, we would like to have our own grazing pastures for our cows and agricultural land that would cater to our needs of grains, vegetables, and fruits making the ashram completely self-sufficient.
