A message from our temple president...
ISKCON of Arizona was established in 1987, and is a branch of ISKCON, the International Society For Krishna Consciousness. ISKCON is a growing worldwide spiritual confederation of temples, ashrams, schools, prasadam (spiritual vegetarian) restaurants, and farm communities, whose purpose is to re-spiritualize the entire human society.
ISKCON is a non-profit religious organization, founded in New York City in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Before Srila Prabhupada departed this world in 1977, he trained a Governing Body Commission (ISKCON GBC) to manage ISKCON after his demise. The Governing Body Commissioner for the Western United States visits ISKCON of Arizona annually to make sure we are maintaining the spiritual standards Prabhupada established for his Hare Krishna movement.
Our goal is to bring to the community of Tucson, many cultural and bona fide aspects of India's ancient spiritual traditions, called Vedic culture. Most importantly in our mission, is the distribution and dissemination of transcendental knowledge contained in the ancient teachings of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam, and other literatures and texts.
Although part of a much larger network of temples, ISKCON of Arizona operates completely autonomously, financially and managerially. We depend on your kind donations to help us carry our mission forward. All donations are tax-deductable.
We hope you will enjoy your journey though this website, and we invite you to correspond with your inquires or interests.
Namaste and Hare Krishna!
Sandamini devi dasi
Tucson Temple President
Sandamini Devi Dasi is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. She joined Krsna consciousness in 1974, serving for many years in the San Diego temple as a leader in various capacities. In 1987, she came to Tucson to found the ISKCON Tucson Temple and Govinda's Natural Foods restaurant. Sandamini is the temple president, expert cook and manager of the restaurant.
Jivananda Dasa Vanacari is a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder Acharya of the Internal Society for Krishna Consciousness, and has been practicing Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of love) since 1973. He is a renounced Vaisnava Monk, an initiating Diksa Guru, a renowned scholar in the ancient teachings of the Vedic Literatures and an effective spiritual/personal counselor. While constantly traveling worldwide he helps people to develop their dormant love for the Supreme, one another and all living entities.
Suresvara Dasa joined the Hare Krishna movement in July 1970. He received 1st & 2nd initiations by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1971 and 1972 while serving in New Vrindaban. In 2011, while teaching at the Mayapur Institute, Suresvara’s concern over how distant many younger devotees were from Srila Prabhupada reached a tipping point, so that spring he conceived and began researching a seminar series he would call “Srila Prabhupada, Our Founder-Acarya.”
Krishna-Nama Dasa has been associating with the Tucson ISKCON community for over 30 years and has been an active part of that community since 2018. At this time, Krishna-nama serves as the Chairperson on the Board of Directors of ISKCON of Arizona. In addition, he also serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for Mantra Oasis. Krishna-nama also hosts the Tucson radio show, Kirtan Cafe, that airs three times a week on KMKR FM. Krishna-nama wishes to assist the ISKCON community in any way that can best serve the devotees, guru, and Srila Prabhupada.
Hamsa Balarama Dasa began attending ISKCON Tucson in 2011 and was initiated in 2015. He is a retired priest of the Episcopal Church. He comes to us with forty five years of experience in running and managing churches and congregations. He is a disciple of HG Jivanada dasa Vanacari.
Radha Sundari Devi Dasi aspires to give back what has been freely and mercifully given to her. She’s an aspiring devotee in this wonderful community since 2015 and she also serves Tucson at large through her decluttering and organizing business, The Heart’s Mirror. She lived and served at the ashram for 3 years with her husband, Govinda Madhava dasa, where they took shelter of their spiritual teacher (Guru) HG Jivananda das Vanacari back in 2018. Together they ran a successful college outreach program, Krishna Cove, and were active members of the ISKCON Tucson vision team while living at the ashram. Her gratitude is endless and her heart is full.
Krishna Jivani Devi Dasi is an initiated disciple of Jivananda Dasa Vanacari and has been practicing Krishna Consciousness in the Tucson community for over 10 years. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and has been employed as an instructional faculty in higher education for over 15 years. She also has many years experience as a personal counselor.
Kirtan Yajna Das was born in Nepal, and joined ISKCON in 2005 in Kathmandu while doing his MA in Tribhuvan University. He met devotees from Russia doing sankirtan in the busy street of Kathmandu, and was attracted to Krishna Consciousness and joined the temple as a full time brahmachari. He was doing book distribution and preaching activities with Russian devotees under the guidance of HG Patri Das. Within the six months of joining the temple, he was initiated by HH Mahavishnu swami and served his spiritual master as a personal secretary for several years. He later served the temple as temple president for about 5 years from 2008. Later he was invited to Tucson temple by Sandamini Devi and joined the community in 2013. Since then he has been actively involved in ISKCON Tucson and serving as priest, preacher, and assisting with fundraising for the temple.
Contact email for the Board of Directors - IskconTucsonBOD (at) gmail.com