ISKCON Silicon Valley new property

By Akruranath Das

ISKCON of Silicon Valley has recently purchased a property in Mountain View, California, which will serve as the new home of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Sri Radha-Madana Mohan, and Sri Sri Laksmi-Nrsimhadeva, and as the principal meeting place and base of operations for the ISV community.

ISV has pioneered congregational book distribution and is rated among the top temples in North America. With no full time distributers, ISV’s book scores remain high due to the sincerity of householders (weekend warriors). ISV has an enthusiastic grhastha congregation with many activities for children and a variety of outreach programs including college outreach, corporate outreach, monthly Harinama Sankirtan, Motel Gita book distribution, Bhakti Shastri classes, Bhakti Life programs, and thrice-weekly regular temple feast programs with live internet broadcasts (www.virtuualtemple.org), as well as special observance of all Vaisnava holidays and festivals. ISV also participates with ISKCON Berkeley in organizing the annual Ratha Yatra festival in San Francisco.

The new property is located at 1965 Latham Street, Mountain View, CA 94040, near the intersection of El Camino Real and Renstorff Avenue.
It has a great central location in the heart of Silicon Valley, very close to companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, etc and not far from Stanford University.  The building is charming and well constructed. It was built in1985 as an office building, and renovated by its most recent owner in 2006 to be used as a Gnostic Christian sanctuary and shrine of Mary Magdalene, and the sellers were pleased that a feminine Deity, Srimati Radharani, would continue to be worshiped on site. It is over 4,900 sq. ft on a 1/4 acre lot. The parking lot accommodates 17 cars, and there is additional street parking available in the neighborhood. There are two beautiful mature pepper trees in the parking area which provide shade and a pleasant fragrance. The peaceful but conveniently-located neighborhood has many apartments available for rent as well as nice single family residences.

The ISV congregation is very excited about the new property.  We have been looking for a property for years, but with prices high and inventory low, nothing suitable could be found in ISV’s price range.  Members of the congregation spontaneously donated a combined total of approximately $350,000 in the final weeks before closing on the sale. However, additional fundraising is continuing in order to complete the necessary renovations and pay off the mortgage. ISV will be installing a commercial kitchen in the building and conducting other extensive remodeling and repairs.  We expect all the work to be done in time for the Deities to move in by October 2012.

Although the new temple will not officially open until then, ISV observed two programs at the property in June. On Saturday, June 9th, our regular Saturday program was convened at the new location, with class given by His Holiness Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Maharaj and an ecstatic kirtan led by His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu.  On Sunday, June 10, a memorial service was held for ISKCON supporter - Purusottama-Bhai Patel, with addresses given by His Holiness Giriraja Swami and His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu. (Please see attached photos)

We invite all devotees worldwide to help our Ananda Vardhana new temple project, increasing bliss throughout the Bay Area, by connecting to http://isvnewtemple.com/ and donate for this new ISKCON temple.
If you need more information, please contact isvnewtemple@gmail.com 

We would keep you all updated with the progress of our new Home base and thanks for your support for us.

Your servants
Ananda Vardhana Team at ISV