BRUSSELS: A senior professor of Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, has called for more researches into the Bhakti (devotion) movement that still inspires India.

The divine protector Nrsimhadeva, with his ferocious half-man half-lion form, is one of the most recognizable avatars of Lord Krishna. Vaishnavas pray to Him when they're in danger, remembering how he saved the boy devotee Prahlad from his tyrannical father, the demon Hiranyakashipu. But how much do we really know about Nrsimha?

In today’s environmentally aware world, it may shock guests to find out that some ISKCON centers – while claiming to represent a society of spiritual welfare workers and self-sufficiency exponents – serve their vegetarian meals on Styrofoam dinnerware.

WASHINGTON: National Vegetarian Month is kicked off on October 1st by World Vegetarian Day. In response, The Humane Society of the United States—the nation's largest animal welfare organization—is encouraging consumers to try delicious meat alternatives that are not derived from the routine abuses billions of farm animals endure.

The buzz is building for Los Angeles’ Kuli Mela festival, which will run from Wednesday July 29th until August 2nd this year.

Kuli Mela is a series of festivals designed to reunite, inspire, educate and entertain alumni from ISKCON’s Gurukula schools, popularly known as “Kulis.” Since its inception in 2006, it has evolved into a sensation and revolutionized the way ISKCON youth socialize and plan their futures.

There are almost 2.5 million people unemployed in the UK. Those at least are the official figures. Over 7% of the workforce. It’s become a job in itself just looking for a job. Even the most qualified find it hard with one in ten graduates still failing to find a job a full year after graduating.

In 2007 and 2008 so far, Hare Krishna monk Robert Edwards has traveled 1,290 miles across the rural English counties of Somerset and Devon, hosted 25 meditation groups, and distributed over 1,000 books.

His adventure is inspired by the ancient Indian tradition of “Padayatra,” meaning pilgrimage on foot.

This January, over 600,000 pilgrims swarmed onto Sagara island, just off the Eastern Coast of West Bengal, India, to take a holy dip where the river Ganges meets the ocean. Some had traveled thousands of miles for the sacred event – Ganga Sagara Mela.

Here are three different recipes for eggless mayonnaise, lifted from my first cookbook 'Great Vegetarian Dishes'.

The first recipe uses condensed milk as the base and is a sweet mayonnaise. The second recipe calls for evaporated milk, and the third is a dairy-free variety featuring pureed tofu.

PIPRI VILLAGE, India — Two very different recent scenes from India: At a power breakfast in New Delhi for many of the country’s corporate leaders and top economic officials, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that India had “weathered the storm” of the global economic crisis and was witnessing “green shoots” in industry and services that signaled a return to more rapid growth by next year.

This December, while most of us are nursing cups of hot tea and trying to keep warm, a group of intrepid ISKCON youth adventurers will be hitting sunny beaches and exotic locales across Mexico.

But theirs is not just any holiday—it’s the fifth annual Kirtan Yoga Festival Tour. Starting life as a Krishna conscious way for youth to get together in between ISKCON Youth Ministry’s longer summer festival tours, this winter excursion has grown into a powerful outreach tool of its own.

Lord Krishna is portrayed in multiple images as the naughty child, divine lover and eternal philosopher. And television producers and filmmakers are cashing in on his aura to woo audiences.

While TV shows like Jai Shri Krishna and the latest animated show Little Krishna have been entertaining viewers, the big screen has also been abuzz with animated movies like Bal Krishna and Krishna: Aayo Natkhat Nandlal in recent times.

More devotees should know about the holy town of Shukratal. Shukratal is the place where Sukadeva Goswami spoke the sacred Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) to Maharaja Pariksit 5000 years ago.

Bangalore, INDIA – In the latest development in the longstanding feud between the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and a breakaway group of devotees who took over the prominent ISKCON temple here, a City Civil Court issued a ruling in favor of the splinter group on Friday, April 17.

If acting is meant to deliver a message, then that’s what the New Delhi based acting team Vaikunta Players do. The troupe performs plays that bring out the essence of literatures such as the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.

The group has performed at several major ISKCON events, but Vaikunta Players are also seen as contributing to inter-religious dialogue. The band was invited to perform at the ‘Church of Transfiguration’, a popular church in New Delhi.

What is the relevance of the charming, dark-skinned, flute-playing god, Krishna today - outside the temple altar? Why would any one care to browse through miniature paintings of a cowherd, frolicking amidst bovines and beauties? Or driving a chariot in a mystical battle? Because Krishna gives us ethics (in the Bhagavad Gita), sweetness and unconditional love (Bhagavat Purana).

Live 24-hour Kirtan this weekend on www.iskconlife.tv

There is going to be a really GREAT 24-hour kirtan broadcast from ISKCON Birmingham this weekend. Hear live kirtans from HH Sacinandana Swami, HG Pankajangri Prabhu, HG Madhava Prabhu, Aindra prabhu's Vrindavan group (Govinda, Gopal and Varun Prabhu's), The USA Mayapuri's (Visvambara, Bali, Kish and Akinchan Krishna Prabhu's), and leading devotees from around the UK.

Despite difficulties earlier this year, ISKCON’s certified organic farm in Australia, New Govardhana, is now able to supply its Radha Krishna deities with all the vegetables needed for their offerings.

Simply Wonderfuls are fudge-like sweets made from butter, sugar, and milk powder. They require no cooking. Combine the ingredients, and the result is simply wonderful!

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes, YIELD: about 15 sweets