About Us

We provide specialized programs of student-centered education and training in the Vaisnava sastras and devotional life skills. We help students pursue excellence in their study and assimilation of sastric knowledge and to become expert in its application - in their own lives, in helping others, and in perpetuating the mission of Srila Prabhupada.

We offer systematic sastric study courses such as Bhakti-sastri, Bhaktivaibhava and Bhakti-pravesa, as well as professional certificates in teaching along with a variety of seminars and workshops.

Situated in the serene and spiritually powerful environment of Sri Mayapur Dham, we offer students an opportunity to deepen their connection to the special blessings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu while residing at His birthplace and the world headquarters of ISKCON.

In addition to our established course offerings, we provide a unique development field for piloting and refining new educational initiatives for the benefit of the Krishna consciousness movement. Today's world, crying for guidance in a spiritual wilderness, deserves deeply trained and educated spiritual leaders. You are invited to realize your full potential for personal spiritual growth and leadership in society with the help of the Mayapur Institute.

---

Meet our teachers:

Jayadvaita Swami received initiation from Srila Prabhupada in 1968, at the age of nineteen. Practically the first task assigned to him was to staple booklets. He later went on to typing manuscripts, transcribing Srila Prabhupada's dictation for books, and then typesetting, proofreading, managing book production, and editing. He has served as an editor or assistant editor for nearly all the books of Srila Prabhupada published during Srila Prabhupada's lifetime. Since 1988 he has served as a director of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, and from 1991 through most of 1998 he served as editor in chief of Back to Godhead magazine, for which he had been an assistant editor for several years. Recently he served as editor of a three-volume translation and commentary for Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta, a sixteenth-century Sanskrit philosophical and devotional work by Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and Sri Krishna Lila Stava, by the same author.

In 1985 and 1986, he spent a year and a half traveling with a party of pilgrims on pada-yatra, a journey on foot, through various states of India, stopping in a different town or village every night. In 1987, along with Dhanurdhara Swami and Bhurijana Dasa, he co-founded the Vrindaban Institute for Higher Education. Apart from his services in publishing, he travels widely, teaching about the philosophy and culture of Krishna consciousness. He has lectured extensively at colleges and universities, especially in the United States, but also in more than 50 other countries. Maharaj is a regular teacher for the MI Bhakti-sastri Course, and recently also began teaching for the MI Bhaktivaibhava Course.

Bhakti Vighna Vinasa Narasimha Maharaja was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in London in 1971. A year later he received second initiation. He has been preaching for the last twenty years in Asian countries such as India, Philippines, China and Thailand. Through his years of preaching he has given countless souls practical guidance and deep inspiration. Taking sannyasa in Mayapur in 1994 from Tamal Krishna Goswami did not mean much of a change in his lifestyle, since Maharaja has always been strict in his sadhana. Whoever gets to know Maharaja admires and respects his sincere and faithful practice of chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. He truly "walks his talk". Maharaj has been teaching with the MI since it's inception.

Born in New Jersey, USA in 1947, Candramauli Swami came in contact with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Denver, Colorado at the age of 25. In 1973 he began practicing Krsna consciousness in New York City and shortly thereafter began serving at New Vrndaban farm community in West Virginia. He received initiation in 1973 from His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1986, he accepted the sannyasa order and began preaching in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Boston. In the early 1990's he became involved with the ISKCON Prison Ministry in America, and began visiting inmates, holding programs, personal visits, along with writing letters to inmates and sending in Srila Prabhupada's books. In 1995 he began serving as the resident sannyasa in Chicago ISKCON where he is based today. At present, Candramauli Swami preaches mainly in America, India, and Western Europe and the UK. He is an initiating Spiritual Master within the ISKCON Society.

Bhanu Swami, a member of the GBC, preaches extensively in Asia, and especially in South India. Maharaj is known for his deep understanding of Vedic literature, and gives seminars on various topics like Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction and Sri Isopanisad.  He has translated many books into English, including Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana's Gita Bhusana and Srimad-Bhagavatam Sarartha-darsini commentaries by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura.
.

Born as Real Gagnon to French Canadian Roman Catholic parents in the Province of Ontario, Bhakti Raghava Swami spent seven years of his undergraduate studies in a seminary before completing his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Ottawa in 1968, majoring in philosophy and psychology. After serving as a Social Worker and Counsellor from 1968 to 1971, he joined the Hare Krishna Movement in 1974 and was initiated the same year as Raghava Pandit Das. From 1974 to 1976 he served at the ISKCON Ottawa temple. From 1976 to 1992 Maharaja lived in India pioneering the New Bhakta Program and the Nama Hatta village preaching program from Sri Dham Mayapur and the Bhaktivedanta Youth Services (BYS) from ISKCON Calcutta. He accepted the order of sannyasa on Gaura Purnima of 1985. From 1993 to 2000, he served as Co-GBC for ISKCON Canada and as the Temple President for ISKCON Montreal.  From year 2001 to 2004 Maharaja was based in Indonesia where he helped to develop and oversee several rural community projects in addition to Youth Hostels. In the year 2004, Maharaja completed his Master's degree in Education, Cum Laude, from the State University of Yogyakarta writing his thesis entitled "A Comparative Study of Gurukula and Pondok Pesantren - A Case Study of Three Gurukulas in India and Three Pondok Pesantren in Indonesia".

In 2006 Maharaja became involved with preaching activities and community development in Cambodia where he established an NGO called the "Global Varnasrama Educational Social Cultural Organization" (GLOVESCO) and is spearheading a rural community called "Yasodapura Asrama". That same year Maharaja was able to return to India after a long absence of 13 years and spearheaded a rural project in South India called Sahyadri Sri Krishna Balarama Ksetra from where courses on Varnasrama College were introduced. He was instrumental in establishing the national Varnasrama Development committee for India in 2007 and in November 2009 was appointed as National Minister for the Daiva Varnasrama Ministry Promoting Rural Development in India.  Maharaja has concentrated his preaching mostly in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia and Cambodia. He travels extensively and holds seminars promoting the varnasrama mission. He has authored several books such a "Make Vrindavana Village" and "Varnasrama Education".

Kadamba Kanana Swami, a disciple of Jayadvaita Swami, started his spiritual life in Vrndavana, the Holy land of Krishna, where he immediately felt he had found his home. He joined ISKCON in Vrndavana shortly after Srila Prabhupada's departure from this world, and served there in various management positions until 1984. After a one year break in Australia he returned to India, this time to take charge of the construction of Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi in Mayapura, where he remained until 1990. He liked the pioneering spirit of working in India and above all he liked to stay in the Holy Dhama. In 1990 he became the Temple President of the Krsna Balarama temple in Vrndavana and remained in that position until 1995. After that he began to travel and preach around the world and in 1997 he received sannyasa. Besides preaching in Europe, South Africa, India and Australia, he still has some involvement in supervision of the Vrndavana temple, and is a regular facilitator for the MI Bhakti-sastri Course.

Bhakti Brhat Bhagavata Swami, a former educationist, joined ISKCON in Durban South Africa in 1983 and for the next five years he distributed over 30,000 books, mainly Science of Self Realization and Bhagavad-gita. He placed full sets of Srila Prabhupada's books in over 50 libraries, colleges and universities in South Africa, and has preached extensively to high school and university students. During that time he also served as Sankirtana Leader and subsequently served as the Temple Vice President in Durban until 1992.

In 1991, Maharaja founded the Bhaktivedanta College of Education and Culture (BCEC) in South Africa. Under his direction, and because of his traveling internationally since 1994, the BCEC has expanded to other countries including Hong Kong, Philippines, India, Kenya, Mauritius, UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, Trinidad and Guyana. The BCEC offers bridging courses like Bhakti-sadacara and Yoga Ladder leading up to Bhakti-sastri and Bhaktivaibhava Degrees. Certification includes Bhakti-sadacara Certificate, Bhakti-gita Diploma and Bhakti-sastri and Bhaktivaibhava Degrees. Extensive courses are also offered for children. From July 1991 to December 2009 over 14,200 students passed through the BCEC.

From 1997 to 2000 Maharaja served as Temple President in Durban. From 2001 to 2004 he accepted the responsibility of Temple Co-President of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir in Vrndavana. From 2004 to 2006 he served as Regional Secretary for Gauteng in South Africa. Maharaja's current service responsibilities include International Co-Director of BCEC, Member of the Board of Directors of the Mayapur Institute, Member of the GBC Ministry of Educational Development, Member of the GBC Succession Committee and Chairman of ISKCON Leadership Education And Development System (A GBC Succession Committee Initiative). Maharaja currently travels - preaching and teaching Krishna consciousness in ISKCON centers, yoga centers, schools, colleges and universities.

Anuttama Dasa, a member of ISKCON since 1975, serves as ISKCON's International Director of Communications. He joined ISKCON in Denver Colorado and served there as Sankirtan Leader and later Temple President before transferring to Washington DC, in 1993. He was appointed to the Governing Body Commission in February, 1999. He is editor of the Hare Krishna Report, a bimonthly media newsletter. He is a Trustee of the ISKCON Foundation, and a Board Member of Children of Krishna, an organization founded in 1996 to assist second generation ISKCON youth. He is also the President of the Washington DC Chapter of the Religion Communicator's Council, and a member of that interfaith group's national Board of Governors. He has taught communications workshops in North America, Europe, and Russia, and assisted in the development of the VTE Book Distribution Training Course, and teaches the VTE Leadership and Management Training Course here in Mayapur.

Hari-sauri Dasa was born in England on November 17th, 1950. In May 1971 he emigrated to Australia where, on the second day of arrival, he met the members of the newly-emerging Krsna consciousness movement. He was duly accepted as an initiated disciple by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on April 9th, 1972 in Sydney.  In August of 1975 he moved to the newly-opened ISKCON Krishna-Balaram temple in Vrndavana, India, where he served as temple commander. In November of the same year, he joined Srila Prabhupada's personal entourage, remaining as His Divine Grace's servant for sixteen months. In March of 1977 Srila Prabhupada appointed him ISKCON's Governing Body Commissioner for Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, a service he performed for over seven years. He was also instrumental in establishing branches of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in Australia and Indonesia. In 1986 he began the work of transforming the diary he kept while traveling with Srila Prabhupada into a book. Five volumes have been published with two remaining. In 1990 he worked as publisher for Back to Godhead magazine, the Krsna consciousness movement's spiritual periodical. In 1996 he moved with his wife Sitala and daughter Rasarani to ISKCON's World Headquarters, Sri Mayapur dhama and still resides there.

Since 2004 he has regularly traveled to Asia, the South Seas, Europe and America delivering his seminar series "Srila Prabhupada The Living Bhagavatam".  He is currently the coordinator for the exhibitions in the Mayapur Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. He is also the secretary for the Mayapur Vrndavana Trust (MVT). In 2009 along with Pranava dasa of Sweden he co-founded the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC) in Kolkata, a project aimed at preserving and disseminating works on Gaudiya Vaisnava culture and philosophy, as well as Vedic cosmology. Hari-sauri is a strong supporter of the MI and has taught several courses during the last ten years. He can be contacted on his website www.lotusimprints.com.

In 1970 Suresvara Dasa read Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is and joined the Hare Krishna movement in Boston, USA, home to the BBT's precursor, ISKCON Press.
Over the years Suresvara's service has revolved around Prabhupada's books. As a young brahmacari, he distributed books, especially in the Southeastern USA. From 1976-1980 he served as the indexer for the North American BBT in Los Angeles. From 1980-1993 he served at Gita-nagari, the ISKCON farm in Pennsylvania, where he married, fathered a daughter, and wrote several articles for Back To Godhead about Krsna conscious rural life.

From 1993-1995 he and his family lived at the Bhaktivedanta Eco-village in Karnataka, South India, and in 1999, while living in Prabhupada Village, North Carolina, USA, he served as the editor for Hare Krsna dasi's book Speaking about Varnasrama, tracing the evolution of Prabhupada's spoken word about implementing daivi-varnasrama-dharma in the modern world, starting with ISKCON.

Since 2001 Suresvara has served as the main book distributor and class-giver at New Navadvipa, ISKCON's temple in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since 2008 he has been serving half the year in Hawaii and the other half in Sridham Mayapur, where he has been studying and teaching at the Mayapur Institute. He is currently coordinating MI's Orientation Days and Bhaktivaibhava Course Module 2 (Srimad-Bhagavatam Cantos 4-6), serving as a teacher and writer.

Atul Krishna Dasa joined ISKCON's Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir in 1985. A disciple of Prabhavisnu Swami, he served as a book distributor and fund raiser in Melbourne from 1986 to 1996. He joined the Bangladesh Yatra in 1996 and preached village to village for 3 years, during which he learnt fluent Bengali. Since 1999 he has been residing in Sri Dhama Mayapur, where he has been teaching bhakti-sastri and has been involved in teacher training. He conducts teacher training and bhakti-sastri seminars throughout India, Asia and Australia. He is currently supervising the Bhakti-sastri and Bhaktivaibhava Courses in Mayapur.

Caitanya Carana Dasa took to Krishna consciousness in 2000 whilst working as a school teacher. He is a disciple of Bhakti Caitanya Swami. He joined as a full time devotee at Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha Mandir in Durban, South Africa, in 2003. He served as book distributor and preacher for 6 years. After completing his Bhakti-sastri and Teacher Training Courses in the 2009/10 season, he joined as a Mayapur Institute staff member. Currently he serves as the Assessment Co-coordinator and as an assistant facilitator for the Bhakti-sastri Courses, which are conducted by the Mayapur Institute throughout India.

Gaura Nataraja Dasa was initiated by Bhakti Raghava Swami in 2002 and second initiated in 2005. He is very much involved in youth and congregation preaching in South India. He took up and successfully completed post-graduation studies in Yogic Sciences and Human Consciousness in the Mangalore University (2003-2005). He has since pursued the practice and research of ashtanga yoga through the medium of Srila Prabhuapdas books and traditional yogic texts and has been trying to integrate the aspects of yoga into a traditional Vaishnava lifestyle. He has also written a book called Krishna Yoga on yoga for devotees. This book explains how devotees can practice yoga as a means of gaining good health and mind so that they can be always physically and mentally fit to serve Krishna. Gaur Nataraj Dasa has also been studying and practising Astrology for the last 4 years. At present he and his wife Sundari Devi dasi travel to different temples in India teaching yoga to devotees. They also counsel devotees on lifestyle through Yoga and Astrology.

Janmastami Dasa joined ISKCON in 1977 and for the next 16 years distributed books all over North America, serving as Sankirtana Leader in seven temples and then as the National Sankirtana Leader for the United States from 1988 - 1991. He served as the Denver Temple President from 1992 - 1996. In 1997 he moved with his wife, Samkalpa Devi Dasi, and two sons, Prahlada and Devala Rsi, to Mayapur, where he has been working in educational development ever since. In 1999 the Mayapur GBC gave him a mandate to start the Mayapur Institute, and he served as its Director from it's inception in 2000 until 2009. He is now focusing all of his energies on curriculum development, teaching, preaching and Vaisnava seva.

In 1996, Radhika Nagara Dasa joined ISKCON in Scotland where he served as a Book Distributor and Sankirtana Leader until 2008. He was actively engaged in nama-hata and university preaching over the north of England and Scotland. He was also part of the ISKCON Scotland's Temple Council and Managing Directors for five years. Since 2008, he has been studying Srila Prabhupada's books in the Holy Dhamas. He coordinates and facilitates Bhaktivaibhava at the MI and teaches Bhakti-sastri at the VIHE.

Raghupati Dasa is a disciple of Gopal Krishna Goswami. He joined ISKCON in Vrindavan in 1989 and served there for 10 years as a Book Distributor, College Preacher and Temple Manager. He holds a BA (Philosophy, English and Hindi), an MA (Philosophy) from Agra University (India) and an MBA from Aston University (UK). Currently he works for Birmingham City University in England. He completed his Teacher Training Courses in Mayapur and went on to start and teach the MI Online Bhakti-sastri pilot in the UK.

Vasudeva Dasa joined ISKCON in 1978. In the mid to late 80s he made a series of documentaries that are still distributed by ITV, BSL, and Touchstone Media. One of the films, Timeless Village of the Himalayas, won a major award presented by a foremost Film Organization in Hollywood, the American Film Institute. Four years ago Vasudeva moved to Mayapur and has since produced three new films, with a fourth one about ISKCON Mayapur that is due to be premiered during this Gaura Prunima Festival.

Laxmimoni Devi Dasi was initiated by Srila Prabhuada in 1969 while attending the State University of New York at Buffalo. She received a B.A. in psychology after getting an "A" for her senior sociology project: "Life in a Krishna Temple." She has been involved in ISKCON educational projects since 1974. Now she is a member of the GBC Ministry of Educational Development and a GBC Deputy. She was the principal of the Vaishnava Academy for Girls, in the USA, for 29 years. She has given seminars on the practice of Krishna consciousness and on media awareness and has traveled to ISKCON schools to teach primary and secondary teachers. Recently, she has traveled in Europe and India, where she taught teacher-training courses and a Bhakti-sastri seminar.

Nanda Devi dasi joined ISKCON in 1972 in Boston Massachusetts. She has done a variety of services around the globe. In 1974 in Mexico, she served as head pujari, in New York she was the women's samkirtan leader, in Puerto Rico she was the head cook, and more recently, in Alachua Florida, she served as the temple president for seven years. Now trying to dedicate more time to reading and studying Srila Prabhupada's books, she organizes local reading groups for women, cares for Tulasi devi, dresses the Deities and teaches Bhakti Sastri courses in Alachua, New Vrndaban and Mayapur.

Devaki Devi Dasi was born in Germany in 1958, and after a long search and journey , she joined ISKCON in Sydney in 1985 . Here she spent four years in the brahmacarini ashram and received training in all basic aspects of spiritual practice. After entering the grihastha ashram, she and her husband preached in Riga, Latvia, and spent very adventurous years in pioneer work , developing the first more organized temple in the former Soviet Union.For the last ten years she has been regularly visiting and preaching in Ukraine, the Baltics, Sweden, Nepal and Bangladesh. She serves as co-leader in the main temple in Dhaka, Bangladesh. giving vision, direction and inspiration for the project. She is also an active member of the GBC Committee for Devotee Care.

Anuradha Devi Dasi was born in Germany and migrated to Australia while in her late teens.She joined the movement in 1979 in Vrindavan and returned to Sydney to preach. Later, she was engaged in a variety of services along with her husband - opening centres, running a brahmacarini asram, cooking and sewing for the deities. She raised a large family, partly in Australia and later in Bhubhaneswar, India. In 1996, she helped her husband to start their own farm, very effectively carrying out Srila Prabhupada's instruction of simple living and high thinking. In recent years she has been preaching in Ukraine, Germany and Australia. She took Bhakti-Sastri and TTC in Mayapur.

Shyamala Sakhi Devi Dasi, born in India and initiated by Radhanath Swami, has been practicing Krishna consciousness since she first visited Mayapur in 1987. She holds a bhakti-sastri degree with High Honors from the MI, where she has been teaching since 2005. Shyamala Sakhi Devi Dasi and Sauri Dasa, her husband and senior Prabhupada disciple, started preaching centers in Vishakhapatnam and Mangalore and are the founders of the Bhaktivedanta Eco Village in Karanataka, South India. For the past 15 years she has been living with her family in Prabhupada Village, a farm community in North Carolina, USA, where she regularly gives Bhagavatam classes, and deeply studies Prabhupada's books. She has a 16 year old son who has been at the Gurukula in Mayapur for the last four years.

Su-gita Vani Devi Dasi joined ISKCON in south India in 2001. She has been associating with the Mayapur Institute from the start of her devotional career, initially as a student and later as a facilitator. She is involved with college preaching and cultivating small groups of devotees in her home-base in Thiruvananthapuram. Recently, she extended her preaching to Russia. She holds a Master's degree from the University of Oxford in the U.K. Her special preaching field is the interface between the three modes of material nature and secular academic disciplines. She received first and second initiation from Jayapataka Swami.

Sri Radha Govinda Devi Dasi, psychotherapist and Vedic Astrologer; President of MAPSS (Mayapur Astrologic & Psychosomatic Sacred Sciences - www.mapss.us). Initiated by HH Jayapataka Swami, she was born in a Madhva brahmana family in South India and grew up within the Vaisnava tradition. She started doing school outreach with she was 15 and later travelled and gave presentations and courses in various places, from South America to Europe, from the Middle East to Mexico. She has a Bhakti-sastri (Honors) and loves to study Srimad-Bhagavatam and to personally convey Krishna consciousness. Married to Kaunteya Prabhu (Co-Minister of the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry; Co-Chair of the GBC Organizational Development Committee and member of the GBC Strategic Planning Team), they live in Mayapur.

Madhurya Madhavi Devi Dasi was born and brought up in the society by her father (a disciple of Srila Prabhupada) and mother (a disciple of Jayapataka Swami). Since her childhood she has had a deep attachment for Deity worship, and after receiving 2nd initiation from Jayapataka Swami in 2006 lived and served at ISKCON Atlanta New Panihati Dham as assistant head pujari. While living in the ashram, she also completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology at Georgia State University, and headed up the youth preaching and training program. In 2008 she received her diploma in Arcana from the MA, and the following year became a permanent resident of Sri Mayapur Dham with her husband.

Radha Sundari Devi Dasi was born in England in 1978 and moved to the US two years later where her parents took shelter of the New Vrindavan community.From a tender age, she received the association of sanyasis and other senior Vaishnavas.She received initiation from H.H.Radhanath Swami and she is engaged in a variety of services, ranging from teaching and editing to holding leadership positions within ISKCON.After her marriage to Ananda Tirtha Das in 2005, she moved to Mayapur where she is raising her son.