ISKCON Sri Radha Krishnachandra Temple (Hare Krishna Hill)

The ISKCON Sri Radha Krishnachandra Temple stands on Hare Krishna Hill on Chord Road in Rajajinagar, north-west Bengaluru, in Karnataka, India. Opened in 1997 by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, it is a large Vaishnava temple complex with a multi-storey gopuram, a main hall of worship, shrines to Radha Krishna, and a hilltop setting that gives it a distinctive skyline. Visitors climb the steps or ramps up through the complex, remove footwear at the entrance, pass security checks and file through the darshan halls, where devotional chanting, aarti ceremonies and Sanskrit hymns are performed. Prasadam counters sell sweets and offerings, and a bookshop and a vegetarian restaurant operate within the campus. The temple is among the most visited in the city. Darshan usually runs from early morning to early afternoon and again in the late afternoon and evening, with schedules changing on festival days. A visit takes about one to two hours, longer if queues are long. Weekday mornings are the quietest time. Sundays, evenings and festivals such as Janmashtami draw very heavy crowds, and queues can run for an hour or more. An optional paid fast-track darshan is available for those who prefer to skip the standard line. Entry is free. Visitors are expected to dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and mobile phones and cameras are commonly restricted inside the main shrine areas. Mahalakshmi and Sandal Soap Factory stations on the Green Line are roughly one to two kilometres away, so most travellers finish the journey by auto-rickshaw, cab or BMTC bus. The evening light on the gopuram makes for good exterior photographs from the courtyard.