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ISKCON New York (founding site)

Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, USA

VerifiedDocumented history
Deities
Radha Krishna
Traditions
vaishnava
Worship status
active
Coordinates
40.7255, -73.9857
Darshan hours
Varies by temple and season; consult the temple's own website for the current daily schedule before visiting.
Best time to visit
Year-round; Janmashtami and Rathayatra (a major public chariot festival ISKCON New York helped popularize in the West) are notable observances.
How to reach
ISKCON's original storefront was at 26 Second Avenue in Manhattan's Lower East Side; present-day ISKCON NYC operations are centered nearby in Brooklyn, reachable by subway.
Festivals
Janmashtami (August/September), Ratha Yatra (varies)
Associated saints
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Location

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The International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded in New York City on 13 July 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who had arrived in the United States from India in September 1965 at age 69, initially with few resources. A storefront at 26 Second Avenue in Manhattan’s Lower East Side served as his first center, from which the movement’s now-global network of temples grew; ISKCON is credited with introducing large-scale public kirtan (call-and-response chanting) and the Ratha Yatra festival to a wide Western public for the first time.

Sources

  • historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's ISKCON article during authoring: confirms the 13 July 1966 New York founding date, Prabhupada's September 1965 arrival, and his age (69) on arrival.

For review

  • A dedicated Wikipedia article on the 26 Second Avenue storefront specifically could not be found in this pass; its role as ISKCON's founding site is confirmed via the main ISKCON article rather than a source dedicated to the building itself. Present-day ISKCON NYC temple operations have moved location(s) since 1966; this entry represents the historical founding site, not necessarily the current primary temple address.