Mission & History
The ISKCON Tucson Temple is a nonsectarian community dedicated to spiritual education and to promoting unity and peace in the world through the chanting of the holy name, the distribution of sanctified vegetarian food, and the sharing of spiritual knowledge and practices based on the great ancient scriptures, as presented by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
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
ISKCON Tucson President
Servants of the Servants
Sandamini Devi Dasi
Sandamini Devi Dasi is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. She joined Krishna consciousness in 1974 and served for many years at 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 serves as the temple president and is also the expert cook and manager of the restaurant.
Jivananda Dasa Vanacari
Jivananda Dasa Vanacari is a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and has been practicing bhakti-yoga (the yoga of love) since 1973. He is a renounced Vaiṣṇava monk, an initiating dīkṣā guru, a renowned scholar of the ancient Vedic literatures, and an effective spiritual and personal counselor. While traveling worldwide, he helps people develop their dormant love for the Supreme, for one another, and for all living entities.
Suresvara Dasa
Suresvara Dasa joined the Hare Krishna movement in July 1970. He received first and second initiations from 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 became deeply concerned about how distant many younger devotees were from Śrīla Prabhupada. That concern reached a tipping point, and in the spring of that year he conceived and began researching a seminar series titled “Śrīla Prabhupada, Our Founder-Ācārya.”