Hare Krishna

Among the must-see sights of Bangalore is the Sri Radha Krishna temple, which is the home for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. More commonly known as ISKCON, the temple sits high on a seven-acre hillock called Hare Krishna Hill. ISKCON is a society formed for practitioners of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. The bhakta's devotion is specifically directed to Krishna, along with Radha, his divine consort. Krishna is the eighth avatar, or bodily manifestation, of the immortal being of Vishu. Vishnu (the Renewer) along with Brahma (the Creator), and Shiva (the Destroyer) form the Hindu trinity of gods. For keeping your Hindu avatar scorecard up to date, the ninth of Vishnu’s ten avatars is Belerama, more commonly known as Buddha. Buddhists, however, do not consider Buddha to be an avatar. More on this “who’s who” in Buddhism when we visit a buddhist temple.

Hare Krishna’s founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Sri Prbhupada), popularized Hare Krishna in the West with his travels to New York City in 1965. Many will remember Hare Krishna devotees in the 1960’s as young men, heads shaved save for a small ponytail, wrapped in robes, selling incense in airports. The Hare Krishna mantra from the song of the same name was popularized from the musical Hair:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Rama

After paying one rupee (about 2.5 cents) to a footwear attendent, one enters the mulitiered temple complex barefooted, following the sign saying, “Enter Darshan.” Clueless, we followed the signage. Later, we discovered Darshan is a Sanskrit term that has variant meanings, but basically is related to seeing with reverence and devotion. The term is used specifically for beholding highly revered people with the intention of inwardly contacting and receiving their grace and blessings. In Indian culture, the touching of the feet is a show of respect and it is often an integral part of darshan.

To actually enter the temple, one negotiates the Harinama mantap. This is 108 winding steps of foot-square pieces of marble raised about one inch. They are traversed by reciting one round of the Hare Krishna maha mantra per step. A speaker system with a low-toned resonant recorded voice of Srila Prabhupada chants the maha mantra with full clarity as people synchronously move in a small maze until they reach the stairs of the temple entrance.

There are three temples devoted to the gods. The final temple has iconic images of Krishna and Rahda. And if you’ve thought about how much incense had to be sold by the Hare Krishna hawkers to pay for this complex, we found a full-throttle merchandizing engine in the temple. Be mindful that the devotees attending the temple are religious and devout, but the amount of merchanizing from book stands, food stalls, thousands of wall, table and floor decorations from tiny to room-size, the multivision theatre, more book stalls with literature in multiple languages, and more opportunities to buy paintings and prints of Lord Krishna as an impish youth and magnificent god abound. The society, nonetheless, is very altruistic. Revenues from the sales of merchandize subsidize their free food program for children and other good works, from organic farming to a cow protection program.

When leaving the temple, everyone is offered a small portion of rice seasoned with a yellow spice. It’s served in a banana leaf pressed into the shape of a bowl. This food is referred to as prasadam or blessed food. We were told people who visited the temple would take this prasadam home to those who could not attend. Amen and may it be so.