Top 10 ISKCON Temples Around the World

Quick answer: The ten ISKCON temples most visitors list first are Vrindavan, Mayapur, Bangalore, Mumbai (Juhu) and Delhi in India, and London (Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho), New York, Los Angeles, New Vrindaban (West Virginia) and Sydney abroad. ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was founded in New York in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Kartik (Damodar) month 2026 runs from about 26 October to 24 November, which is a good time to visit any of them.

Last updated: 30 October 2026

This guide lists ten ISKCON temples, what each is known for, and how to plan a visit. It also gives the key Kartik 2026 dates for India, the USA, UK and Australia, because ISKCON temples hold some of the most visited Damodar-month programmes. We do not list darshan timings, prices or phone numbers, because they change. Check each temple's official website before you travel.

The ten temples at a glance

The list is not a ranking of holiness. Every ISKCON temple follows the same daily rhythm of mangala arati, kirtan, Bhagavad Gita class and vegetarian prasadam, and many devotees are most attached to the temple nearest home.

1. Krishna Balaram Mandir, Vrindavan

Vrindavan is the land of Krishna's childhood in Braj, and the Krishna Balaram Mandir is the ISKCON temple most pilgrims to Braj visit. It is dedicated to Krishna and Balarama, with white marble halls, and it holds the samadhi of Srila Prabhupada, who left this world in Vrindavan in 1977. The Hare Krishna mahamantra is chanted here throughout the day. In Kartik, Vrindavan is the heart of Damodar month, and the evening lamp offering to Krishna as Damodara is a highlight. See our Damodar month 2026 guide.

2. Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, West Bengal

Mayapur, in Nadia district on the Ganga, is revered as the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the 15th-century saint who taught congregational chanting of Krishna's names. ISKCON treats it as its international centre, and devotees come here from many countries for the annual Gaura Purnima festival in spring. A very large Temple of the Vedic Planetarium has been under construction for years, so ask the temple about its present status before you plan a visit around it.

3. Sri Radha Krishna Chandra Temple, Bengaluru

Standing on Hare Krishna Hill, this is among the largest ISKCON temples in the world, and it is known for grand Janmashtami celebrations, a large prasadam kitchen and outreach programmes. It combines a modern building with traditional deity worship. For more on this temple, see our ISKCON Bangalore temple record.

4. Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari Mandir, Juhu, Mumbai

Near Juhu Beach, the temple welcomes large numbers of visitors each day. The main deities are Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari, with Gaura-Nitai and Sita-Rama-Lakshmana-Hanuman on the altars. The temple is also known for its large food-distribution programmes. Weekends and festival evenings are very crowded.

5. Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir, Delhi

Located in East of Kailash on Hare Krishna Hill, the Delhi temple is known for its architecture and for the Vedic cultural centre in the complex, which presents the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita through exhibits and light-and-sound programmes. It is a convenient first ISKCON visit for NRIs landing in Delhi.

6. Bhaktivedanta Manor and the Soho Street temple, London

ISKCON in Britain began in London in the late 1960s, and the Radha Krishna Temple in Soho Street is its best-known temple in the city centre. George Harrison of The Beatles supported the movement and later gave Bhaktivedanta Manor, a country house in Hertfordshire, which became a major UK temple and a centre for Janmashtami. Read our Bhaktivedanta Manor temple page for what visitors should know.

7. 26 Second Avenue, New York

This is where it all began. Prabhupada arrived in New York in 1965, and in 1966 he started ISKCON from a small storefront on Second Avenue in Manhattan. The building is remembered as the movement's first temple. Today the New York community worships at its current temple, so check ISKCON's official website for the address and programmes before you go.

8. Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarakadhisa Temple, Los Angeles

Often called the western headquarters in ISKCON's history, the Los Angeles temple is known for weekly Sunday programmes with kirtan, a talk and a vegetarian feast (the "Sunday love feast"). It is a good example of how ISKCON temples welcome first-time visitors of every background.

9. New Vrindaban, West Virginia

In the hills of West Virginia, devotees built the Palace of Gold as a memorial to Srila Prabhupada, and the community runs a Krishna temple and farm life around it. It is a popular destination for Indian-American families who want a quiet retreat, especially in autumn.

10. Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Temple, Sydney

Sydney's ISKCON community runs regular kirtan, Gita classes and food distribution, and it plays a part in the festival life of Hindus across Australia. Australian dates for Kartik festivals can differ by a day from India, as the table below shows.

Also worth knowing: ISKCON runs large temples in many other places, including Durban in South Africa and Radhadesh in Belgium. If you do not live near any of the ten above, search the official ISKCON directory for your city.

Kartik (Damodar) month 2026: key dates for ISKCON temples

ISKCON and other Vaishnava temples count the month by the full moon (purnimanta), so Damodar month 2026 runs from about Monday 26 October to Tuesday 24 November. Some temples start the lamp offering on 26 October and others on 27 October, so follow your own temple's calendar. India's dates are from Drik Panchang. The columns for other countries follow the HinduTone panchang calculator, which matched Drik on every tithi we checked.

If your temple is in western Canada, note that British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba use daylight time all year from November 2026, while the rest of Canada and the USA moved to winter time on 1 November. Evening lamp times are set by your own sunset, so use your temple's announcements. For deeper reading see Gopashtami 2026, Tulsi Vivah 2026 and our Karthika Masam 2026 hub. The Gita Jayanti 2026 guide covers the 20 December Mokshada Ekadashi, a major day for ISKCON Gita programmes.

Visiting an ISKCON temple: simple etiquette

• Dress modestly: covered shoulders and knees are standard. Many temples sell or lend scarves and dhotis.
• Remove footwear before entering the temple hall, and switch your phone to silent.
• Prasadam is strictly vegetarian, prepared without onion and garlic. Do not bring meat, eggs or alcohol onto the premises.
• Photography rules vary by temple and by hall. Ask before photographing the deities.
• Arrive for the evening arati and kirtan if you can; the first and last programmes of the day are the busiest.
• Everyone is welcome. You do not need to be a member of ISKCON to attend a programme or take prasadam.

If you wish to fast on Ekadashi or Kartik Purnima, keep it within what your health allows. People who are pregnant, elderly or diabetic, or who take regular medicines, should speak to their doctor first. A simple prayer and a lamp are a complete observance.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded ISKCON and when?

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York in 1966. He had arrived in the United States in 1965 and began teaching from a storefront on Second Avenue in Manhattan.

Where is the main ISKCON temple?

ISKCON treats Mayapur in West Bengal as its international centre, and Vrindavan holds the Krishna Balaram Mandir and Prabhupada's samadhi. The movement has no single temple that outranks the others for daily worship.

Can non-Hindus and first-time visitors enter ISKCON temples?

Yes. ISKCON temples welcome visitors of every background. Dress modestly, remove your shoes and follow the temple's guidelines on photography and prasadam.

When is Damodar (Kartik) month in 2026?

Damodar month runs from about Monday 26 October to Tuesday 24 November 2026 in the full-moon (purnimanta) reckoning used by ISKCON and North Indian temples. Karthika Masam in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which uses the new-moon (amanta) reckoning, runs from 10 November to 8 December. Follow your temple's calendar.

What is the Damodar lamp offering?

Every evening of the month, devotees offer a small ghee lamp to Krishna as Damodara and sing the Damodarashtakam. Read the verified text and a step-by-step method in our Damodarashtakam guide.

What is the Sunday love feast?

It is the weekly open programme at many ISKCON temples, usually with kirtan, a short talk and a vegetarian meal offered as prasadam. Times vary, so check your local temple.

Do I need to book to visit these temples?

Daily darshan usually does not need booking, but some temples ask you to register for festival programmes or accommodation. Check the official website of the temple, because timings and rules change, especially in Kartik.

Editor's note

Editor's note (30 October 2026): We rewrote this guide on 30 October 2026. It now has an at-a-glance table, a short description of each temple, visiting etiquette, seven FAQs, links to our Kartik guides and a table of the key Kartik 2026 dates for India, the USA, UK, Europe, UAE and Australia. We replaced the Moscow entry with New Vrindaban because we could not confirm current visiting arrangements for Moscow, and we removed claims about the number of temples worldwide that we could not verify. We list no timings or prices.

Related guides

• Damodar Month 2026: Kartik dates and Damodarashtakam
• Karthika Masam 2026
• Tulsi Vivah 2026
• Gopashtami 2026
• Swami Srila Prabhupada
• ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir, Tirupati