The Purposes

1. To help devotees feel accepted, appreciated, and recognized for their efforts in spiritualizing their environment and life.
2. To encourage devotees to raise their home standards.
3. To inspire devotees to take more responsibility in the missionary activities of ISKCON.
4. To ensure devotees that their local temple leadership cares for them.
5. To build better, more productive relationships with every active member of the community.
6. To consider every Bhakti Home as a potential center for expanding Krishna consciousness, a reference point for seekers and other devotees alike.

The idea is also to gradually focus the leadership’s attention toward giving advice and guidance on crucial matters, relevant for congregational devotees: children’s education, stability of marriages, reciprocal support between temple-based and home-based devotees. The leadership and community can then create a harmonious atmosphere of cooperation and symbiosis.

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Sraddha-kutir

An Abode of Faith and Spirituality

Srila Prabhupada Wished to See All Homes Transformed into a Center of Spiritual Cultivation

"Everyone can establish a small temple in his house, and he can begin family-wise—himself, his wife, his children. That is wanted. This Krishna consciousness movement wants to see that every house has become a temple of Krishna. That is our program."

(Lecture, 13 December 1972)

In ISKCON, this aspect of nurturing every single family into a “center of Krishna conscious faith” has not yet developed to its fullness, although it is a central and core strategy for the respiritualization of the world. This Sraddha-kutir initiative (Sraddha-kutir is the original term used by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura) aims at acknowledging the residences of practicing devotees as places of spiritual cultivation. It’s an invitation to every family, couple, or single to be formally recognized as an “ISKCON-followers unit.”

by Kaunteya das,
19 April 2008, Sridham Mayapur

Indian ISKCON leaders appear thrilled at the opportunities offered by the Sraddha-kutir and Damodar programs

About eighty ISKCON leaders from all over India—including GBCs, regional secretaries, temple presidents, and other administrators and preachers—converged on Mayapur for the Indian Continental Committee meetings of April 19–20. These meetings offer leaders the chance to discuss and share on relevant topics and breakthroughs.

The Congregational Development Ministry introduced two initiatives, which are becoming its focus for this year. The first is the Sraddha-kutir campaign: the recognition of singles, couples, or families that successfully obtain a certain standard of spirituality in their home. The program aims at building a better, deeper relationship between the temple and its community members by acknowledging the latter’s efforts in purifying their life and living environment. HH Jayapataka Maharaja showed a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the purposes of the initiative, the means for putting it into practice, and the benefits that temples and communities would accrue by implementing it.

The Need to Care for Devotees

The Counselor program stresses the need to provide care and education to all members of our society. Why are devotees leaving ISKCON? Not because they find a higher philosophy, as there is no higher philosophy than Krishna consciousness. The main reason is that many devotees don’t feel cared for by the society they serve. They feel neglected and are often treated impersonally. His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaja presented a plan to solve such problems in a booklet entitled "Simple Steps for a Simple Temple":

The Siksa Program is a system for encouraging the congregation (especially those who are enthusiastic about the Bhakti-vriksha program) by recognizing their chanting and spiritual standards. It is a great way to help congregational devotees consolidate and increase their spiritual practices. It also offers a system to identify those who are serious about advancing in Krishna consciousness. The Siksa Program has five levels, gradually leading to initiation. The levels, in brief, are:

Often we see that there are groups of devotees who live in locations far away from temples, Nama-hattas or any other standard type of preaching program. Due to their family or employment situation, devotees sometimes have to stay in isolated places. But if they are following the regulative principles, chanting a prescribed number of rounds, regularly reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and accepting all other aspects of Vaisnava culture like Ekadasi fasting, they can be recognized as part of ISKCON’s congregation. Such households are termed Sraddha Kutirs. The members of the Sraddha Kutirs are expected to be active preachers. They may later create Nama-hatta or Bhakti-vriksha groups.

Sraddhavana jana-he! Sraddhavana jana-he!   Lord Nityananda Prabhu summons the faithful to take part in His all-auspicious Nama-hatta. One extension of Hare Krishna Nama-hatta currently cropping up in Sri Nityanada Prabhu's preaching zone, West Bengal, are Sraddha Kutirs, or "homes of the faithful." As lighthouses guide ships to the shore, devotees are opening the doors of their homes and sharing the most valuable jewel, Krishna consciousness. Sraddha Kutirs provide yet another facility where devotees can progress in sadhana-bhakti and preach to their neighbors. As Kali Yuga advances and society becomes increasingly stratified, Sraddha Kutirs serve as shelters for people who want to experience the peace and happiness exclusive to the practice of Krishna consciousness.