ISKCON’s growth has been remarkable and the impression it has made on today’s world is, without any doubt, very substantial.

Some key events in the history of ISKCON

1965- Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston aboard the Jaladutta. He was 69 years old and had suffered ailing health. In the same year, he moved to the Lower Bowery, east side of New York where he started preaching Krishna consciousness

1966- A few students started following Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was incorporated

1967-1968 – Temples were established in New York, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Seattle, Montreal, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1967 (June 9th)– Jayananda Prabhu’s efforts to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire to have the first Ratha-yatra outside of India bore fruit. ISKCON’s first Ratha Yatra was held in San Fransisco. This festival was later brought to cities around the world

1968- Srila Prabhupada established the first farm community at New Vrindavan, West Virginia

1970- ISKCON had almost 100 centres worldwide so Srila Prabhupada established the Governing Body Commission (GBC) to manage his rapidly growing movement

1971- Srila Prabhupada planted the seed of Krishna consciousness in Moscow, then known as “the iron curtain”

1971-1973– Temples opened in Europe, Canada, South America, Mexico, London, Africa and India

1970-1977- ISKCON built major temples in India at Mayapur, Vrindavan and Mumbai

1972- The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) was founded and is now the world’s largest publishing house for books on Bhakti-yoga

1973- The Bhaktivedanta Institute was formed to write books and magazines and to hold conferences to present the teachings of the Vedas to the scientific world

1974- Inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s words that nobody should go hungry within a 10 mile radius of any ISKCON temple, devotees started running free food programmes. The project later became known as Food For Life and serves free meals to the needy around the globe

1977- Srila Prabhupada passed from this world to enter the eternal pastimes of Krishna in November. He left behind 108 temples, more than 10 000 followers and a legacy of spiritual literature that no other spiritual leader had given to the world before

1989- After the Glasnost reforms, Srila Prabhupada’s followers in the Soviet Union could practice their beliefs freely

1991- More than a million copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita as it is were sold in the former Soviet Union

Today, ISKCON has over 450 centres, schools, restaurants around the world and Srila Prabhupada is venerated by hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life.