ISKCON      BARODA

4.30-4.55am – Mangal Arati
Mangala-arati is the first temple ceremony of the day. It begins at 4:30am and is considered mangala, or ‘auspicious’ for all who participate. The devotees sing beautiful prayers glorifying the spiritual master and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

4.55-5.15am – Tulasi-arati
This ceremony is right after mangala-arati. Tulasi is a sacred plant which is very dear to the Lord, and worship of Tulasi-devi is most beneficial. Tulasi-arati is performed like this: The devotees sing prayers to Tulasi-devi while one devotee offers her arati with incense, ghee lamp, and flowers. When the song is finished, the devotees circumambulate Tulasi-devi and offer her water by pouring some drops at her root.

7.15am – Deity Greeting
After the Deities have been worshiped in private, They give Their audience (darshana) to the devotees and the public, who then can see the shrine and offer worship and prayers. This is accompanied by a recorded singing of the Govindam prayers of the Brahma-samhita. The priest offers a short arati ceremony with ghee lamp, incense, chamara, and, in warm weather, a peacock fan.

7.30am – Guru-Puja
At this time, as members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness we offer our obeisances to Srila Prabhupada as the instructing guru for all devotees. We are eternally indebted to him for single-handedly bringing Krishna to the Western world and thus giving everyone the opportunity to become a lover of God.
During the guru-puja, the devotees sing prayers glorifying the spiritual master and offer flower petals and obeisances at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.

7.45am – Srimad-Bhagavatam Class
After all the singing and dancing the devotees sit down and listen to a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam. The speaker reads a verse and Srila Prabhupada’s explanation of it, and then elaborates on the topics discussed there. At the end of the class, there are usually questions or comments. Thus an interesting and enlightening discussion takes place.

12.30-12.55pm – Raj Bhoga Arati
The raja-bhoga-arati follows the noon offering of food to the Deities. It lasts for about 25 minutes. The priest offers incense, ghee lamp, water, cloth, flowers, camara, and (in warm weather) also a peacock fan.

4.30pm – Dhupa Arati
This arati lasts for 10 minutes. The priest offers incense, flowers, camara, and (in warm weather) also a peacock fan. Food offered to the Deities is usually fruits.

7.00-7.25pm – Sandya Arati
This is also known as Gaura-arati. The devotees sing Sri Gaura-arati–a joyful song glorifying Lord Chaitanya and His associates. It lasts for about 25 minutes.

7.45pm-8:30 Bhagavad-Gita Class
Conducted in a similar manner to the morning Bhagavatam class, evening Bhagavad-gita class draws in congregation members as well as the residents.

8:30pm – Shayan Arati
The final arati of the day allows all the devotees to have a last opportunity to see the Deities and offer their prayers.

9:00pm – Temple closes