International Society for Krishna Consciousness

An ISKCON temple (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the "Hare Krishnas"), founded in New York in 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, still its founder-acharya: Gaudiya Vaishnava, the devotional school of Chaitanya, worshipping Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Prabhupada taught Krishna consciousness as universal rather than Hindu; many members now call themselves Hindu, a change debated within the movement. The deities are treated as present and never neglected: from mangala arati at 4:30 in the morning to the last arati at nine, pujaris wake, bathe, dress and feed them, and the curtains open for six or seven aratis a day, with the Srimad Bhagavatam class each morning. A small core of initiated devotees, many of them Western converts, live at the temple (brahmacharis in the ashram) and staff it; the much larger congregation, now mostly Indian American families, comes for the Sunday Feast (kirtan, arati, a class, and a free vegetarian feast for everyone) and the festivals, Janmashtami above all. Initiates vow sixteen rounds of japa a day and the four regulative principles: no meat, fish or eggs, no intoxicants (tea and coffee included), no gambling, no illicit sex; the kitchen uses no onion or garlic, and all food is offered to Krishna first. Unlike other Hindu temples, ISKCON seeks converts: book distribution, chanting in the streets, the Ratha Yatra. A temple president runs each temple under a zonal secretary of the Governing Body Commission, and gives 1% of its income to the North American regional body. Money comes from the boxes, deity sponsorships at listed prices, festivals, and often a Govinda's restaurant; about half of temples have struggled financially. Most North American temples ended the old Life Membership some twenty years ago for patron programs; the game keeps a one-time life membership. ISKCON acknowledged abuse in its boarding schools of the 1970s and 1980s in 1998, and the former students' lawsuit was settled for $9.5 million in 2005. Practice varies by temple; separate sides of the temple room are customary rather than a rule.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Hinduism
Its words	temple, temple, temple room; the temple president leads the program; the class; Sunday; the Bhagavad Gita
Worship	image focus, responsive, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on floor; men and women on either side
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; choir discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected; song leader expected; recorded discouraged
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	vaishnava; full observance; fasts light
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	episcopal; leaders come by appointment; property local with conditions
Leaders	one leader, full time, trained by in house; marriage any
Belonging	high commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing not emphasised; collected by boxes, plate, online
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian, eggs forbidden, onion and garlic forbidden

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Every day	4:30 am	Mangala arati (short, and plays quickly: people come 3% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected
Every day	7:00 am	Greeting and Bhagavatam class (greeting and srimad bhagavatam class, short, and plays quickly: people come 4% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected
Every day	12:00 pm	Raja-bhoga arati (short, and plays quickly: people come 3% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected
Sunday	5:00 pm	Sunday Feast program (then sunday feast, free to all, 60 minutes)	the temple president	expected
Every day	9:00 pm	Shayana arati (short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected
Every day but Sunday	4:30 pm	Afternoon arati (short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected
Every day but Sunday	7:00 pm	Gaura arati (short, and plays quickly: people come 4% as often as to a main service)	the temple president	expected

Leader: a temple president. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply temple president stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction.
Sunday Feast: after the program on Sunday, free to all: everyone there eats, visitors too, and nobody is asked for a donation. A household sponsors each, members taking turns, giving its cost and a fifth more; with none, the congregation pays. It needs a stove and a cook from the volunteers for each 40 there (the sponsors cook too); those it can't feed go without (−0.02), and when it can't be held, or is dropped, its regulars miss it (−0.04).
Its kitchen: without eggs or onion and garlic: meals cost 1.05× as much; no bake sale.
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Harinama initiation (on request, +0.04 to those there, asked for 0.02 times a year by a household, 120 minutes): First initiation in ISKCON, by an ISKCON-approved guru (who may live far away and visit for it), with a fire sacrifice before the deities: after a year or more of keeping them, the devotee vows to chant sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra on beads each day and to keep the four regulative principles (no meat, fish or eggs; no intoxicants; no gambling; no illicit sex), and is given a Sanskrit name. A second, brahmana initiation with the Gayatri mantras follows for those who will serve the deities.
Deity seva (on request, +0.02 to those there, $101 from the household, asked for 0.5 times a year by a household, 20 minutes): A family sponsors a service to the deities from the temple's published list: one of the day's aratis, an abhishek, a week's flowers, or a new outfit for the deities, offered in its name while the family looks on. Prices run from $21 for an abhishek to $501 for an arati and over $1,000 for a dress; families take them for birthdays, anniversaries and the festivals.
Puja at home (on request, +0.03 to those there, $151 from the household, asked for 0.2 times a year by a household, at home (120 minutes and half an hour's journey each way)): A priest goes to a family's home for a Satyanarayan puja (a thanksgiving, often at the full moon), a griha pravesh (blessing a new house), or another household rite: about two hours of chanting, offerings, and the story, ending with arati and prasad shared with the guests. The family pays the temple's price for a rite at home, which is higher than at the temple.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a devotee after about 26 weeks.
Joining age: 16.
Kinds of belonging: initiated devotees (may hold office); life members ($1,001 once); received by the temple president.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the donation, by boxes, a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
Rites asked for: households book 2 rites at the prices it lists, from $101 to $151 (below), members half as often again as regulars; the fees go to the seva sponsorships line, in place of a flat stipend.
Life members: a one-time fee of $1,001, paid with a chance of 0.15 × the household's engagement each month.
Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
Owed above: NA RGB share, 1% of what it takes in, to the North America Regional Governing Body; not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.

The temple president, the staff, and who decides

How the temple president comes: sent by the Zone, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
Paid: full time; housed by the congregation.
Who they are: trained in-house (they ask 90%); women among them (about a third); most married.
Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational temple president ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Temple president ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate temple president ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Sunday school coordinator (unpaid; from the members; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Cook ($22,000–$38,000; keeps the kitchen)
- Pujari ($24,000–$45,000 + $9,000 benefits, full time; leads worship; performs the rites families book; cares for 30 more)
- Temple manager ($40,000–$70,000 + $12,000 benefits, full time; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once); cares for 30 more)
Its boards: the temple board (advising, over the money).
Renovations: The temple president decides, advised by the temple board.
New construction: The temple president decides, advised by the temple board, then the Zone must consent.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Canteen, Harinama and the book table, Seva meals.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Janmashtami night, Ratha Yatra, Shila campaign.
Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Car wash, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, Dance classes, Parties and receptions.
Outreach: an open-air meeting, literature (from a reading room or an office), invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Festival parking.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Murti shrineThe deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
required Shoe rackShoes come off before entering the temple hall.
required kitchenThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness asks every temple for one.
required monks' quartersThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness asks every temple for one.
expected Floor sheetsThe temple room is an open floor before the altar: devotees sit on it for class, and stand and dance in it for kirtan.
expected HundiOfferings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
expected Temple bellA devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Oak pewPews would fill the floor where the kirtan dances before the deities.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in its season, the diyas is worth up to ±0.027 (missing it, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The class lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the temple president's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.

How each class lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Bhakti, the Way of Love+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Karma and Dharma+0.015
Lessons of the Ramayana+0.015
Service as Worship+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter by Chapter+0.015
The Guru's Grace+0.015
The Upanishads+0.015
What the Festival Means+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+0.333
Floor sheets	+0.5	expected The temple room is an open floor before the altar: devotees sit on it for class, and stand and dance in it for kirtan.
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit	discouraged Pews would fill the floor where the kirtan dances before the deities.
Row of chairs	0
Liturgical furniture
Columbarium niches	+0.333
Havan kund	0
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Murti shrine	+1	required The deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
Navagraha shrine	+1
Pulpit	no fit
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Pipe organ	-0.333	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Temple bell	+0.5	expected A devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Banner	0
Diyas	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Gopuram	0
Great dome	+0.333
Marigold garlands	0
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Shikhara	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+0.333
Vimana	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Head scarves	0
Hundi	+0.5	expected Offerings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
Pangat mats	0
Pillar	+0.333
Projection screen	0
Shoe rack	+0.5	required Shoes come off before entering the temple hall.
Vestment cabinet	+0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Dhvajastambha	0
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit

Sources

International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Wikipedia (link)
Governance Structure, ISKCON GBC (link)
Collaborative Leadership: Inside ISKCON's New North America Regional Governing Body Model, ISKCON News (2024) (link)
Hare Krishna at 40, Beliefnet (2006), quoting E. Burke Rochford (link)
After 50 years, Hare Krishnas are no longer berobed hippies, The Gazette (Washington Post, 2016) (link)
Visitor Info, ISKCON of Houston (link)
Harinama Diksha, ISKCON Bangalore (link)
GBC Releases Decision Clarifying Initiation Standards in ISKCON, ISKCON News (2023) (link)
Why Hare Krishnas Distribute Books, Back to Godhead; ISKCON Brooklyn book distribution, ISKCON News (link)
ISKCON Life Membership: What is it?, Krishna.com (link)
ISKCON Abuse Cases Settled for USD 9.5 Million, Pluralism Project (link)
GBC Pauses Vaishnavi Diksa Gurus, Again, ISKCON News (link)
Seva lists: ISKCON Temple of Greater Chicago (2026), ISKCON Milton (link)