The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) commonly known in the West as the Hare Krishna Movement comes in a tradition that traces all the way back to Lord Krishna Himself. ISKCON was founded in New York in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), referred to as Srila Prabhupada. His spiritual teacher, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, asked him to teach Bhakti to the English-speaking world.

• At 69 years old, Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston in 1965. By 1966 he was living in New York City and had developed a following.
• From 1966 to 1968, temples were established in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first Ratha-yatra outside of India was held in San Francisco and began an annual ISKCON tradition in more than 20 major cities around the world.
• From 1971 to 1973, temples opened in Europe, Canada, South America, Mexico, London, Africa, and India.
• In 1970, the Governing Body Commission, ISKCON’s international managerial body, was established to oversee the Society, which had grown to close to one hundred temples, schools, restaurants, and farm communities.
• From 1970 to 1977, ISKCON built major centers at the pilgrimage sites of Mayapur and Vrindavana, India, and a large temple in Bombay.
• In 1972, Srila Prabhupada founded the publishing house Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), now the world’s largest publisher of books on Bhakti yoga. Krishna.com is sponsored and maintained by the BBT.
• In 1973, the Bhaktivedanta Institute was formed to write books and magazines and to hold conferences to present the teachings of the Vedas in scientific terms.
• From 1974 to the present, ISKCON Food for Life has run food relief programs in dozens of cities around the world.
• In November 1977, Srila Prabhupada passed from this world. ISKCON had 108 temples and more than 10,000 followers.
• In 1989, the Hare Krishna movement come out from underground in the Soviet Union, as glasnost brought an end to persecution.
• By 1991, more than one million copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is had been sold in the former Soviet Union.
• In the early 1990’s, Krishna.com is launched, as well as ISKCON.com and other Hare Krishna websites.
• Today, ISKCON has about 400 centers around the world, with a worldwide congregation in the tens of thousands, from all walks of life.