ISKCON Temple Chennai: History, Timings & Visitor Guide

ISKCON Temple Chennai is open every day, usually from early morning to late evening with a break in the afternoon. Darshan and aarti timings change with the season and on festival days.

• MorningOpens early morning (around 5 to 6 AM)
• AfternoonShort break around midday at many temples
• EveningEvening aarti around sunset, closes by about 8 to 9 PM

Ask the temple office on arrival for the day's aarti schedule.

Dress Code & Temple Rules

• DressModest, traditional clothes covering shoulders and knees
• FootwearRemove before entering; use the shoe stand
• PhotographyNot allowed inside the sanctum
• Not AllowedLeather items, tobacco, alcohol, non-veg food
• QueueFollow queue lines and staff instructions on festival days

ISKCON founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, wanted to establish ISKCON centers in India. In 1971, when he returned to India after his success with spread of ISKCON in the Western world, he directed Giriraj Maharaj to go to Madras and preach activities, resulting in many enlisting as life patrons. Prabhupada wrote in a letter,

In Madras we wanted to start a center and it was almost settled that the Chief Justice (Veeraswamy) would give us a place. So actually, if it is possible to open a center in Madras that would be very nice.

Prabhupada visited Madras in February 1972 and delivered lectures. In 1975, a centre was opened at 50 Aspiran Gardens, 2nd Street, Kilpauk, which was later shifted to Kilpauk Garden Road. In 1988, the centre moved to T. Nagar, where the congregation of Chennai ISKCON increased greatly. During a morning walk on 18 December 1975, Prabhupada remarked: "Now our European and American boys are preaching in South India and big, big acaryas have received them."

Architecture of ISKCON Temple Chennai

ISKCON Temple Chennai is part of the Centre for Spiritual Art and Culture and is located off the East Coast Road at the Hare Krishna land, Sholinganallur. The deities worshipped in the temple include those of Radha Krishna Lalita Vishaka, Jagannath Baladev Subhadra, and Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga.

Spread over an area of over 1.5 acres, the temple is constructed on five levels. There is a 7,000 sq ft temple hall on the first floor, an auditorium for cultural and spiritual programmes on the ground floor and a prasadam hall in the basement.

Festivals & Rituals at ISKCON Temple Chennai

The temple conducts an annual Ratha Yatra (chariot procession) festival in February, where the idols of Krishna, Rukmini, Satyabhama, Gaura Nitai, and Prabhupada were taken on procession on a decorated chariot through the neighbouring areas of Adyar, Besant Nagar, and Thiruvanmiyur, with performances of traditional Tamil art forms, singing, and chanting. Besides, the annual Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is celebrated in July, where idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Subhadra are taken on chariot procession around the neighbouring areas of Pallavakam, Neelankarai, Vettuvankeni, and Injambakkam before reaching its final destination at the ISKCON Temple at Akkarai.

Gaura Purnima (March), commemorating the birth of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who lived around the 15th century in Navadvipa, West Bengal, to spread the yuga-dharma, which refers to the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra

Jhulan Yatra and Balarama Jayanthi (August), commemorating the divine love of Radha and Krishna and the birth of Balarama