On July 10th, an official delegation of the Parliament of India visited ISKCON’s Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Sacisuta temple in Moscow. The delegation was led by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. She has arrived in Russia on a five-day visit to address the Russian Parliament Duma on July 12. Among other guests of the ISKCON temple were actress and MP Hema Malini, who is now representing the district of Mathura in the Parliament, India’s Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran, as well as other deputees from different Indian states and representatives of the Russian Duma. 

Sumitra Mahajan speaking at ISKCON Moscow

“I am happy to see all of you, who are praying to Lord Krishna, – Sumitra Mahajan addressed the congregation. – I would like to express my gratitude to Swami Prabhupada for bringing here, to Russia, and for introducing the teachings of Lord Krishna to the people here. And this is not only in Russia but all over the world. I am very grateful to him that these teachings of Lord Krishna are becoming known to the whole world through ISKCON.”

She also mentioned, that Krishna’s teachings have already been translated into Russian in the 18th century and quoted a Sanskrit verse from the Bhagavad-Gita, which says, “In order to overcome evil, I [Krishna] descend many times on Earth”.

Hema Malini

Temple president Sadhu-priya das welcomed the guests, saying that Srila Prabhupada had arrived in Moscow in 1971, and since then the Krishna-conscious society has been actively expanding. Today, there are 180 ISKCON temples and spiritual centers in Russia, and every year tens of thousands of Russian people go on pilgrimage to the holy places in India.

Sadhu-priya das has presented Sumitra Mahajan with a Russian copy of the Bhagavad-Gita and a picture of merchants doing puja to the Deities in Astrakhan, Russia, in the 18th century. The guests paid their respects to Srila Prabhupada’s murti and made a puja to the temple Deities, Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Sacisuta. The visit ended with prasadam lunch at the temple restaurant “Sattva”.

Sadhu Priya Das presents a picture to Sumitra Mahajan

Hema Malini has shared images of herself from the ISKCON temple on her Twitter. “At the Iskcon Temple, Moscow, where we were given a warm welcome and served a tasty lunch,” she added.
https://twitter.com/dreamgirlhema/status/884408323365257217

Here is a video about the event in Russian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRR0ZFVbyg

The guests offering puja to Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Saci Suta