International Society for Krishna Consciousness

What International Society for Krishna Consciousness does

International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a global non-profit religious organization founded on July 11, 1966, in New York State by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada to propagate Gaudiya Vaishnava (Krishna consciousness) teachings. Its mission is delivered through a network of 108 temples worldwide (now extending into Bengaluru, West Bengal, and Kolkata), daily deity worship services (arati, darshan), chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam courses, Vaishnava festivals, yatras/pilgrimages, and large-scale charitable programs including Annadanam (food distribution), Go-seva (cow protection), and the Annamitra Foundation's PM POSHAN mid-day school meals under a West Bengal government contract covering ~1,800 Kolkata schools at ₹10 per student. The digital face of ISKCON is the iskcontemple.org platform, a white-labeled OTT built by M/s Ally Blocksecure Media Private Limited (TheAlly) that bundles daily darshan videos, e-Arati digital worship, guided chanting, an event/calendar system, festival donation campaigns, guesthouse booking, marriage-hall booking, and catalog-based donations for Annadaan, Gaushala, Gita Daan, and Purushottam Month giving. ISKCON also owns and leverages an unusually deep proprietary content library: Srila Prabhupada's translations of more than 60 volumes of classic Vedic scriptures have been distributed in cumulative excess of 500 million books across 80+ languages.

Commercially, ISKCON functions across three revenue streams: (1) donation/alms flows from devotees and supporters directed to temple operations, food charity, cow protection, festival celebrations, and education; (2) temple services and facility rentals covering guesthouses, marriage halls (e.g., Godhuli hall, Godhuli), event tickets, and special puja services; and (3) government-contract revenue via the Annamitra Foundation under the PM POSHAN program. Pricing across streams is heterogeneous: donations are voluntary, government per-student funding moved from ₹6.78 to ₹10, and facility/booking pricing is catalog-based. Go-to-market is community-led: temples, festivals, yatras, and Gita courses drive engagement, while the OTT platform extends reach globally and supports online giving, virtual participation in rituals, and event ticketing. The organization also engages in defensive actions including filing an FIR (2026-01-16) against fraudulent guesthouse-booking portals impersonating ISKCON Mayapur and working with cybercrime agencies. Governance is decentralized: temples operate autonomously under the umbrella society; subsidiary entities include the Annamitra Foundation (charitable food programs) and ISKCON Mayapur.

Name

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Legal name

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Website

https://iskcontemple.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ISKCON is a global non-profit religious organization operating 108 temples, providing Vedic education and charitable food programs including PM POSHAN school meals in India, with a digital OTT platform for daily darshan, donations, and bookings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Spiritual Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (813110), Educational Support Services (61171), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL), Religious & Spiritual Festivals/Observances (Public Events) (MPAGAEAC), Religious Music & Worship Broadcasting (MPABALAN), Hindu Theological Colleges & Vedic Studies Institutes (EDAHAKAJ)

Keywords

• Religious services
• Spiritual education
• Charity programs
• Temple worship
• Vedic scriptures

Headquarters

HQ city

Bangalore

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Primary revenue stream from devotees and supporters donating toward temple operations, food distribution programs (Annadanam), cow protection (Go-seva), festival celebrations, education, and miscellaneous temple services.
2. Temple Services and Facilities: Revenue from guesthouse accommodations, marriage hall bookings, event tickets, and special puja/ritual services offered at temple premises.
3. Government Partnership - School Meals Program: ISKCON's Annamitra Foundation receives per-student government funding (increased from ₹6.78 to ₹10.00 per student) to supply cooked vegetarian meals to schools under PM POSHAN program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ISKCON fundamentally operates as a nonprofit religious society providing Krishna Consciousness worship services, Vedic scriptural education, and humanitarian charitable programs. Its core offerings include daily temple worship and arati ceremonies, Vedic courses, large-scale food charity (Annadanam and PM POSHAN school meals), cow protection (Go-Seva), and a digital OTT platform for devotional content and online donations.

Product overview

ISKCON's digital presence is built on a white-labeled OTT platform provided by M/s Ally Blocksecure Media Private Limited (TheAlly), offering a unified spiritual and devotional service ecosystem. The core offering is the ISKCON Temple Website (iskcontemple.org) which serves as a comprehensive platform combining multiple interconnected services: Daily Darshan video content for temple worship viewing, e-Arati for digital worship, Chanting for spiritual practice, a Donations Portal supporting charitable causes (Annadaan, Gaushala, Gita Daan), and an ISKCON Calendar for tracking Vaishnava festivals. The platform is operated by ISKCON Bengaluru.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ISKCON Temple Guesthouse Booking Bookable guesthouse accommodation at the ISKCON HBR Layout Bengaluru temple premises for devotees and visitors seeking overnight stays during temple visits, festivals, and yatras.
• Marriage Hall Booking Rental of the temple's marriage hall venue for Vedic / Hindu wedding ceremonies organized by devotees and the wider community.
• Godhuli Hall Venue Rental Bookable Godhuli Hall at the ISKCON HBR Layout Bengaluru temple used for cultural events, community gatherings, and samskara ceremonies.
• Yatras - Pilgrimage Tour Packages Organized pilgrimage tour packages for devotees to visit sacred Vaishnava sites and ISKCON temples under spiritual guidance.
• Gita and Vedic Education Courses Structured educational programs teaching Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Vaishnava philosophy to children and adult seekers through temple-based and online classes.
• PM POSHAN School Mid-Day Meal Service (Annamitra Foundation) Government-contracted supply of cooked vegetarian mid-day meals to government and aided schools under India's PM POSHAN program, delivered through ISKCON's Annamitra Foundation per per-student funding from state education departments.
• Go-Seva (Cow Protection and Goshala Operations) Charitable cow protection program including an on-site Goshala at the ISKCON Bengaluru temple for sheltering, feeding, and caring for cows, supported by devotee donations and volunteer engagement.
• ISKCON Gift Shop Retail merchandise outlet selling devotional items, spiritual books, murtis, beads, and Krishna Consciousness-themed products to devotees and visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 million books of Srila Prabhupada's translations have been distributed worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered major and support.

• West Bengal Government (BJP)majorOthers · 1 June 2026West Bengal's newly elected BJP government announced partnership with ISKCON's charitable arm Annamitra Foundation to supply cooked mid-day meals to approximately 1,800 government and aided schools in Kolkata under the PM POSHAN program. Per-student funding increased from ₹6.78 to ₹10.00. The vegetarian menu follows sattvik Hindu principles.
• Cybercrime and Law Enforcement AgenciessupportOthers · 16 January 2026ISKCON Mayapur filed FIR and is working with law enforcement and cybercrime agencies to combat fake booking portals impersonating the temple's official accommodation system to collect fraudulent payments from devotees.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Art of Living (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar): Large Hindu spiritual organization offering temple-equivalent ashrams, meditation programs, and extensive charitable/educational initiatives in India. Comparable in operating model (donations + programs + charitable arms) and target audience to ISKCON Bengaluru.
• Ramakrishna Mission: Hindu monastic organization running temples, educational institutions, hospitals, and large-scale charitable relief programs. Highly comparable in combining spiritual community operations with educational and charitable service delivery.
• BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha: Global Hindu temple and community organization with extensive network of mandirs, youth programs, and charitable initiatives. Directly comparable as a competing global Hindu devotional organization with multiple temple sites.
• Akshaya Patra Foundation: Large-scale school meal charity serving millions of students daily in partnership with central and state governments under PM POSHAN. Direct operational peer to ISKCON's Annamitra Foundation for the institutional catering business.
• Chinmaya Mission: Hindu spiritual organization with global centers, Vedanta education programs (Bala Vihar/Gita classes for children), and charitable activities. Comparable to ISKCON's emphasis on scripture study, youth education, and temple-based community.
• Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust: Hindu charitable trust operating free hospitals, educational institutions, and drinking water projects. Comparable scale of free-service charitable operations and donor-funded institutional model.
• Mata Amritanandamayi Math (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham): Hindu spiritual organization running a major university, hospitals, and disaster relief programs. Comparable in combining spiritual community with large-scale educational and charitable operations.
• Vivekananda Kendra: Hindu spiritual service organization with branches across India running educational, rural development, and yoga programs. Comparable in temple/community operations and devotional-yoga service offerings.

Emerging players

• Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA): Yoga university combining spiritual tradition with modern educational delivery. Adjacent peer in religious/spiritual education and certificate programs overlapping with ISKCON's Gita courses.

Broad incumbents

• T-Series (for religious content/media distribution): Dominant Indian devotional and spiritual music/content distributor operating large-scale digital streaming of bhajans, aartis, and religious programming. Comparable as a media platform for Hindu devotional content reaching mass audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iskcon
• Facebookfacebook.com/iskconglobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iskcon-hbr-layout-bengaluru

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Society for Krishna Consciousness