Iskcon Temple Chennai

Located on the East Coast Road in the Sholinganallur locality of South Chennai, ISKCON Temple is the spiritual and cultural hub of the city. This temple in Chennai is not only the biggest Radha Krishna temple in Tamilnadu but one of the biggest ISKCON temples in India.

With the history of the ISKCON temple in Chennai dating back to the late 1970s, the construction of the temple began in the late 1990s and was completed in 2012 in many phases. The temple houses the deity of Lord Krishna, alongside Radharani and their friends Lalita, Lord Chaitanya, Lord Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra inside three teak-wood alters which are one of a kind. These deities are sourced from Rajasthan and Orissa.

Under the guidance of Sri Bhanu Swami, the beautiful architecture is inspired by the Kalinga and Pallava kingdoms’ architecture. At the entrance of the temple, one would see the wonderful design of various Hindu universes on the marble flooring. The various universes are circled by a central pillar called Mount Meru. The design is implicated from the ancient Vedic Puranas where Mount Meru is described as the center of all the universes.

The temple is a blend of various cultures with modern scientific technology. To attract more and more people to the ISKCON movement, the authorities of the temples organize lectures and audio-visual programs about Hindu philosophy.

Spread over an area of 1.5 acres, the ISKCON temple, or the Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple is built on five floors.

History of Iskcon Temple Chennai

The foundation stone of the ISKCON ideology was laid in the city of New York, USA by Swami Prabhupada. After New York, Swami returned to India and started preaching the ideology of Krishna and peace across many Indian cities.

Swami Prabhupada visited Chennai in 1972 and delivered lectures in and around the city. After three years, a small center was opened in Kilpauk and was later moved to T. Nagar. There the ideology of ISKCON gained its pace and it widely spread among the citizens of Chennai.

Then Swami Prabhupada wrote a letter to the ISKCON disciples and put forth the idea of constructing a temple. As the devotees serving under Bhanu Swami acquired a piece of land in Chennai, the construction of the temple began in 2000. The temple was built by the donations of the devotees and it was completed in 2012.