Sri Sri Krishna Balaram
The presiding deities
The presiding deities of ISKCON Govardhan are Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Giriraj Govardhan and Srila Prabhupada.
When ISKCON started redeveloping the property in 1994 and the prasadam hall was being constructed, many Giriraj Shilas were found buried in the ground. All those shilas were relocated to create a replica of Giri Govardhan in the Kadamba trees grove and have been worshiped there since then. The main shila had a blackish complexion, and was worshiped by the King. This shila is now seated in our main altar as Krishna Shila. A few days later, while digging the ground to construct a water tank, the local Vrajavasi workers found a big Giriraj Shila with white complexion. This became our Balarama Shila. Our main worshipable deities are Krishna Balarama.
These Silas however, were not established immediately. Tamal Krishna Maharaj´s initial plan was to have a deity of just Srila Prabhupada on the altar. A group of visiting devotees having completed their parikrama carrying a brass deity of Srila Prabhupada, donated the deity to the ashram. This deity was placed on an asana on the main altar. However, the palace was still under extensive renovation and somehow, in the midst of large-scale worker activity, this deity got stolen.
After this incident, Sri Krishna Balaram shilas were established for their worship on the main temple altar. When Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja first saw Sri Sri Krishna Balarama present on the main altar, he immediately understood that Srila Prabhupada’s mood and desire was to always keep Krishna and Balaram in the center and not himself. After this Srila Prabhupada was established next to Sri Sri Krishna Balarama altar.
The Krishna Balaram deities in ISKCON Govardhan and known to be extremely responsive. Many resident and visiting devotees have experienced Their vivid reciprocation to their sincere service and prayers.
The Gaura Nitai deities and Srila Prabhupada´s deity were personally worshiped by Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja during his studies at Cambridge University. In accordance to his will, these deities were moved to ISKCON Govardhan after his demise.