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Lay devotees teach Sunday classes. Here a devotee prepares to lecture on the Bhagavadgita. In the background are the deities of New Goloka Temple: Krishna and Radha. |
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The deities Krishna and Radha, known together as Radha-Golokananda stand at the center of New Goloka's altar. They are surrounded by paintings and photographs of the saints and gurus of ISKCON's lineage, as well as other divine incarnations. |
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During the first half of a Sunday service, worshippers chant the names of God (mantras) and other devotional songs. |
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Music is very important in Hare Krishna worship. Here the prayer leader chants into the microphone, another devotee plays the harmonium, and several people play drums as the community sings together. |
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Festive decorations hang above the heads of the devotees as they chant prayers before the deities. |
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New Goloka's spiritual leader, Bir Krishna Goswami, gives a sermon during the second half of a Sunday worship. |
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On the annual Hindu day of Sivaratri, a Brahmin performs a puja (ritual bathing) for the god Siva, whom ISKCON devotees consider a demigod in service of Krishna. |
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In the foreground devotees worship through song; in the background a life-size image of ISKCON's founder Srila Prabhupada looks on. |
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A troop of dancers performs before the congregation. The altar is to their right. Devotees believe that such dances are a form of worship in addition to being an artistic and cultural expression. |
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On another occasion, children put on a play that dramatizes the events in the life of an avatar (divine incarnation) of Krishna. |
