ISKCON Temple Sydney — Attraction in Sydney

The so-called centre of the Sydney bhakti yoga movement is now a sad state of affairs over the past 20 years with different 3+ different temple presidents, with the temple in total disrepair and dilapidation.

There are almost no locals attending, with a large turnover of people.

People become proud of chanting and guru worship and think they are superior to others. No humility or kindness.

There are many factions and cliques present. There are no staff available to work there, so the movement has essentially become a forced labour hire movement. New recruits are migrants or students who are duped into working for various gurus under the guise of Bhaktivedanta's movement. It has now become a mass conversion program to try and recruit as many people as possible. Thats not the spirit.

In 2012 a swami with Australian disciples was caught in Thailand violating the regulative principles and was stood down. Fast forward to 2025 - this very same swami has been reinstated!

Divisions are created in the Sydney society itself by offering programs at the temple in Hindi Only. There is a reason why it is called the International Society. Not the Hindi Society. Yet expatriates who make these programs never listened to Krishna Conscious in Hindi when they were back home. The whole point of ISKCON, is to attract people from the spiritual platform, not to create divisions based on language.

Lack of financial integrity with the food for life program and finances in general. Money is quick to be collected, with tap and go facilities installed. The founder said that no one within 8 miles of a temple should go hungry. This is not the case in one of the most prestigious cities in the world at Sydney. In comparison to Melbourne, there is no advertised times of when food is available.

Food for Life Inc, is a global mass humanitarian food relief program which does not solicit donations or even put up posters in the temple asking for funds. Various bogus names are used which indicate an issue, "anna daan" etc - which has nothing to do with food for life global or feeding the...

My visit rekindles fond memories of The Movement since My childhood days, to a certain extent. People can make or break a movement as is the case currently.

I was impressed by the ceremony and worship. There should be more marketing on food for life being a non denominational entity which operates in the local area, as opposed to 20 km away.

Behold, all is not that it seems. There is always a catch. Even with Our Sanatan Dharm. Essentially giving something without expect of a return, which is what should occur. In this case, the return is that either money needs to be collected for fundraising, the need to become a disciple for a successor Guru, the need to be a staff member or something else.

Devotion nowadays has become more about group formation and being a corporate entity with KPI’s. People will only treat each other well if they are part of the same camp or agenda so to speak.

The words prabhu and mataji are used so often. Do People know the meaning? The only ones being served are those who are known or with a certain behaviour.

There is a fair deal of factionalism and cliques which form. Worshippers frequent these factions and treat others differently. Essentially only looking out for your own. Not kind to everyone.

There are 4 different camps: Northern, Western, South West and the Yoga Lounge crew. These groups don’t talk to each other, nor will acknowledge each others programs. People who attend the yoga lounge programs get charged a fee for “dinner”. A good marketing exercise for an “upmarket” audience. Not quite in the mood of Bhaktivedanta’s movement.

The biggest challenge for patrons is the drive and parking. 99% of the Worshippers reside in west...some 30km+ away. Yet many wont acknowledge, promote and assist in the formation of an ISKCON temple closer to where they live and the rest of the worshippers reside.

There is even an outreach centre near the vicinity of the proposed new temple catering to the North Sydney Clientele (who live in the west)…which reiterates my point.

So much for the spirit of cooperation based on the...

Visited yesterday for Janmashtami and I was so disappointed with my experience. I’ve grown up in the iskon temple and I’ve honestly always had such a grand experience. I’ve been to the iskon temple in Atlanta USA, Houston USA, Miami USA, Mayapur India, Vrindavan India, and Chosica Peru and always had a similar experience of having arti inside the temple which includes singing and dancing for about an hour, then after having class which is preaching for maybe 20-30 minutes, and then afterwards prasad is served for free to all the devotees. Then of course in particular festivals their are extras like having the opportunity to bathe Krishna with Yogurt on Janmashtami. When I went to this particular temple in Sydney it was a totally different experience. It felt more like a transaction than worshiping. First, the temple is so small that they literally close the door in your face and only allow in maybe five people at a time. Once you’re in there is no chance to sing any Kirtan, you are ushered quickly to the front on the diety (which were very small by my surprise, I’m use to seeing life size large dieties in a temple setting). Then once you are in front of the diety they ask if you’ve purchased any prasad from them to offer the diety and this confused me as any purchase like this has never been required of me in any other country when looking to worship Krishna on his birthday (Janmashtami) and since I hadn’t made such purchase I was brushed aside (after waiting outside for 30 minutes with my husband and our one year old son) and pushed to the exit. I wasn’t given the opportunity to pray or admire Krishna, or sing the arti (which was being poorly sung by a small 10 year old girl), or just anything. It was all very transactional and disappointing. My husband and I drove almost 2 hours to get to this temple and we were inside it for a total of 5 minutes. I’ve never spoken badly of any temple before but I will never return. I’ve never missed the Atlanta temple more than I do in this moment....