MVT was established on 13th September 1972 at Los Angeles, California, USA, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of our founding, and MVT is celebrating Srila Prabhupada's glories to mark this auspicious occasion.
Festivities started at MVT Rishikesh, our newest property on 7th October 2022, where over 400 devotees, seekers and public gathered for a very special Kirtan Mela. Attendees noted the excellent arrangements on the beautiful lawns of MVT Rishikesh and glorified the melodious rocking kirtans of Vishambhar Sheth and his troop.
In good spiritual competition, the MVT Vrindavan team responded with a 4-day Kirtan Mela featuring HH Indradyumna Swami, HH BB Govinda Swami, HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, HG Panca Gauda Prabhu, HG Madhava Prabhu and more. The event culminates on Sunday 23rd October 2022 at MVT Vrindavan with a special MVT Book Launch to honour Srila Prabhupada, with speeches by two of the earliest MVT Trustees: HH Gopal Krsna Goswami (the first Trustee and Secretary of MVT, appointed by Srila Prabhupada on the day of MVT's founding), and HH Jayapataka Swami, who although senior joined shortly later.
The MVT Team (led by HG Advaita Chandra Prabhu, Founder of the devotional books publishing house Torchlight Publishing and a long time MVT Trustee and former Chairman) created a book to celebrate the 50 year history of our organisation. The beautifully bound hardback book briefly describes MVT's origins, history, purpose and activities. Copies were distributed to GBCs and devotees at MVT's 50th Anniversary festivals.
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MVT also took the opportunity to announce its new projects:
MVT Rishikesh, which in just its first year of operation achieved a top rating for Rishikesh guesthouses.
MVT Yoga, a new Yoga Teacher Training initiative, announcing its first Yoga Alliance-recognised Teacher Training Course. More details can be found at http://mvt.co .
And various other initiatives to serve the devotees under the expert guidance of the decades long-serving trustees, including: a new website, an Ayurvedic Spa providing traditional South Indian medicated oil massage for ailments, online prasadam delivery, and significant administration revamp involving dozens of cloud softwares which will serve MVT's guests better than ever before.
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MVT will continue its celebrations at its original place, Los Angeles, followed by Sridham Mayapur during the GBC meetings and festival there.
The last couple of years have been tough for the tourism (and associated pilgrimmage sector) with huge challenges presented on MVT and its staff. Through conservative management under the guidance of Their Holinesses HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj and HH Gopal Krsna Goswami Maharaj (the two most senior trustees), MVT was able to not only sustain but contribute significantly to ISKCON globally during recent crises.
MVT is most well know for its flagship guesthouse just behind the ISKCON Vrindavan - Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Temple, but it has many other activities which are less well known:
MVT, although established independently from ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada himself with specific reasoning, is managed by devotee trustees (half of whom are ISKCON GBC members) and a large team of employees globally.
This year marks a steady five decades of custody of Srila Prabhupada's personal Guru Dakshina endowment fund, and enables MVT to continue serving ISKCON and the devotees going forward.
MVT continues to welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds with its new brand statement: Spiritual Ashrams at the Holy Places.
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