ISKCON Tri Central Valley

My journey into Krishna consciousness began very simply, without much knowledge or understanding. It started through my sister, who first came in contact with devotees and introduced us to the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. I still remember clearly that my son was just one month old. My mother and I counted 108 peanuts at home and chanted. That was our beginning. In those early days, chanting was irregular. Sometimes we chanted two or three rounds, sometimes none. I owned a Bhagavad Gita, but I...

Tirupati was beautiful, with roads lined by flowering trees arching over them, monkeys playfully fighting or looking to steal the next banana from a distracted devotee, and the sound of “Govinda, Govinda!” ringing through the air every few seconds. Last summer, my family and I visited Tirupati—not for the first time, but the only time I’m old enough to remember. I vividly recall being exhausted after hiking up the Srivari Mettu, a staircase that spans 2.1 kilometers in length. Devotees had...