by Akarsini Radhika dd

Inspired by the congregational preaching programs in India under the auspicies of HH Jayapataka Maharaja, and seeing vast opportunity for similar preaching in Rome, Kancanarupa Mataji, assisted by Sarvakanti Rai Mataji, has revitalized Nama-hatta in Rome. Many devotees, including HH Jayapataka Maharaja, have given their blessings to Kancanarupa and Sarvakanti Rai, who thus decided to dedicate their energies to this venture.

Although both have many duties to perform at the temple, desiring to further the spreading of Krishna consciousness Kancanarupa and Sarvakanti Rai created within the temple a Nama-hatta office, which was inaugurated by HH Jayapataka Maharaja on 7 September 2007.

Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta

Academy of Indian Traditional Sciences

A dialogue between Eastern and Western experiences and cultures

Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta (CSB)  has been founded by Matsya Avatara das (Marco Ferrini) in 1995. It's an Academy committed to the study and teaching of Vedic-Vaishnava Tradition. It is a non-profit society recognized by the Italian Government. Its Academic Department of Traditional Indian Sciences works in several Universities and collaborates with Institutes, Colleges and researchers worldwide.

Ancient Indian culture, rich in values that have perennially inspired civilizations, and specifically scholars, nowadays continues to be of great relevance to all of humanity. Traditional ancient Indian philosophy, psychology, Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga disciplines merge with modern scientific discoveries to surpass the divisive boundaries of knowledge.

by Kaunteya das.

Temples can benefit from updating their constituencies and inviting their feedback.

Villa Vrindavana, Florence, Italy, offers an example to emulate in the field of communication with the congregation. Today I focus on two tools they use: the weekly e-newsletter and the feedback questionnaire. The weekly e-newsletterw, sent to about two thousand contacts, keeps devotees and friends abreast of the temple's initiatives. Let's take a look at their latest mailout, dated 16 November 2006.

After some cordial greetings (in this case “Dear devotees, dear friends, Hare Krishna”) it invites to participate, on the morning of Sunday, 19 November, to a meeting discussing the objectives of Villa Vrindavana for the coming year, 2007. It specifies that there will be “ample space for your ideas and proposals.” This in itself is a noteworthy announcement, showing the temple leaders' desire to involve the congregation to participate in shaping the future. More involvement—especially in decision-making—increases the sense of belonging and the feeling of ownership of the project; as a result people feel more inclined to participate and contribute in different ways.