Grand Opening; ISKCON ROHINI

By Raas Raman Krishna Das

Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are striving very hard to fulfill his desires to spread Lord Chaitanya’s movement in every nook & corner of the world.

ISKCON ROHINI, situated in the north-west area of Delhi is another feather in Srila Prabhupada’s cap. HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj has finally made it making it as 17th temple in the Delhi-NCR.
On the auspicious occasion of *Ram Navmi*, 17th April, the temple was formally inaugurated & *Bhavya Pran Pratistha* of Radha Madhav with Lalita-Vishaka, Ram Durbar & Panchtatva was done amidst the presence of great vaishnavas from all across the globe.

Grand Opening festivities were spreaded over 8 days starting from 14th April till 21st April with an aim to do justice with each & every single devotee associated with the temple whether s/he be fund raiser, donor, preacher or any other. But the chief functions were held on 16th & 17th April for *Netronmilan Utsav & Pran Pratishtha Samaroh* followed by *Kirtan Mela* on 20th & 21st April.

Under the instructions of *Deity Ministry* all the ceremonies were led by HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj & HH Loknath Swami Maharaj along with others like HH Guru Prasad Swami Maharaj, HH Revati Raman Swami Maharaj, HH Radha Raman Swami Maharaj etc.. No. of Prabhupada’s disciples like HG Mahaman Prabhu, HG Sardik Prabhu, HG Surdas Prabhu etc. had also graced the occasion. Various temple presidents like HG Mohan Rupa Prabhu from ISKCON DELHI, HG Radhe Shyam Prabhu from ISKCON Pune & other key post holders were also seen during the period.

One must be very curious to know how this all happened. It’s not an overnight matter. Decades passed away & then we got this magnificient temple. Going down the memory lanes, we find that with only one devotee HG Krishna Priya Prabhu, this all started when he began distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books here in 1984. Gradually over the years, more devotees joined the movement & then in the years 1992 & 1996, *Shradha Kutir* & *Bhakti Kutir* were established solely for preaching purposes. With the increasing no. of devotees, *Rath Yatra Festivals* were introduced in Rohini which also gave a great opportunity to the general people to connect with ISKCON.

So, this way, with the combined efforts of one & all, final approval for land was recieved from DDA in 2008. What to say then; all were already enthusiastic, things took their pace & temple construction process started laying its ground work. After cornerstone laying ceremony held in 2009, land was worshipped & *Anant Shesh* was installed in 2011.

HG Keshav Murari Prabhu from ISKCON PUNJABI BAGH was appointed as the temple president. HG Ved Vyas Prabhu (Surya Pipes) was made the chairperson of the project & HG Radha Keshav Prabhu (CA) was given the wholesole charge of finance. Guru Maharaj attached HG Raas Priya Prabhu (architect) too with the project who had already a rich experience of temple architecture.
What next??
Temple began to take its shape with 2 basements & 3 floors above the ground. However, the project was expected to be finished by 2020; it has completed now in 2024. Covid 19 restrictions also restricted the pace of the temple; it brought its pace down but couldn’t stop it completely.

Preaching was already in process even when there was no mention of the temple. So, not surprisingly, temple boasts of 1000 families today as its total congregational size in which 100 devotees are 2nd initiated & 400 devotees are 1st initiated.
ISKCON TEMPLES are not just mere places of worship & all; they are also spiritual educational centres. Keeping up this spirit only, the temple has been running its so many educational programmes & consequently temple possesses 100 Bhakti Vaibhavs & 400 Bhakti Shastris today.
Moreover, the temple has various departments like *IYF, IGF, ITF, Sunday Gurukul, Sunday Feast* to cater to the different age groups.
Last but not the least, the temple has its *4 Kartik Sankirtan Parties* too which come out daily in the morning the whole kartik month to distribute the holy names to one & all.
The temple is finally ready now; please come; have darshans, perform various services & make your lives meaningful as well as successful.