Madhu Pandit Dasa-At A Glance

Madhu Pandit Dasa was born in 1956 in Trivandrum.An IIT Alumnus ,he completed B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in 1980. Madhu Pandit Dasa serves as the President ofISKCON Banglore. ,Chairman of the Akshaya patra Foundation and Chairman of Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir.He joined the Akshaya Patra Foundation in July 2000. He joined the foundation in order to serve the underpriviledged children by providing mid-day meals at Governemnt chools of Bengaluru Rural District.
He also gave the foundation a working governance model,where transparency and accountability are the core values.Akshaya patra has become one of the few trustworthy NGO by following these values.Under his guidence, Akshaya Patra has been awarded the Institute of Chartered Accountant Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
Madhu pandit Dasa took the teaching from Srila Prabhupada,the founder -Acharya Iskcon . He got inspiration from Srila Prabhupada.
Madhu Pandit Dasa has been rewarded Padma Shri Award on 67 Republic Day by the Government of India.

Madhu Pandit Dasa conceives the 300 crore & 210-metre-high project, Chandrodaya Mandir

Chandrodaya Mandir, the Rs. 300 crore and 210-metre-high project by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was conceived by Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of Akshaya Patra Foundation. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was applauded by the President Pranab Mukherjee for undertaking the construction of this project. The temple would be three times taller than the Qutub Minar. Madhu Pandit Dasa stated that the construction of this temple will enhance the beauty of Vrindavan. It will be a marvel gracing the city and help in making Vrindavan a hub of religious tourism. The foundation stone of the temple was laid on March 16 and it is expected to be completed in five years.  The project supports the welfare programmes for the widows of vrindavan and the restoration of important sites of Braj.

“The present project will hopefully generate positive spin-offs both for local society and the economy. I am confident that ISKCON will continue to partner both the Central and the State governments in their efforts aimed at social change and reformation,” said Mr. Mukherjee at the Anantha Sthapana Puja on the temple premises at Vrindavan.

The President said the temple would be an architectural marvel seeking to recreate the glory and the times of Lord Shri Krishna. “It shall enable thousands of pilgrims who congregate at Vrindavan every year the opportunity of experiencing new levels of spiritual consciousness. The temple would strive to disseminate the philosophical message of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam in an easy to understand and rational manner.” he said.

Madhu Pandit Dasa celebrates Radhashtami at ISKCON temple, Bangalore

True devotees of Lord Krishna not only celebrate Janamashtami with great fervor and vigor, but also religiously wait for the celebrations of Radhashtami. Radhashtami, also known as the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, is celebrated a fortnight after Sri Krishna Janamashtami. Srimati Radharani is revered as the eternal partner of Lord Krishna and is deeply worshipped. For the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya, Radhashtami is considered to be one of the most important festivals. This year, ISKCON Bangalore celebrated Radhashtami on 21^st September. Present at the celebrations along with hundreds of devotees was Madhu Pandit Dasa, chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Ancient scriptures read that with the mercy of Srimati Radharani, it becomes easier for one to approach Lord Krishna and enter into a transcendental

By the mercy of Srimati Radharani, one can easily approach Lord Krishna and enter into His transcendental association.

Their Lordships Sri Radha Krishnachandra were gorgeously decorated and offered special services. 108 names of Srimati Radharani were chanted whilst flowers were being offered during Pushpanjali Seva. The deities were also served with 56 types of delicacies.

The evening gleamed in the grand ‘abhisheka’ and worship of Sri Radha Krishnachandra. Their Lordships were anointed with white sesame paste and bathed with panchamrita, panchagavya, fruit juices and herbal extracts. Then, a paste made up of sandal was applied on the idols and the Deities were given a shower bath sieved through flowers, fruits and jewelries placed on a plate. Madhu Pandit Dasa was a part of these rituals and various sevas.

Following this was an elaborate Aarti followed by kalashabhisheka with holy water from 108 kalashas while enchanting Purusha Sukta prayers.

There was a video presentation on different places of pilgrimage in and around Vrindavana and also excerpts from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures on the glories of Srimati Radharani.

Madhu Pandit Dasa Biography

Madhu Pandit Dasa (former name Madhusudan S) was born in 1956 in Nagercoil, India. As a degree student, he was selected by the National Science Talent search program of the country. He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in the year 1980. During his days in IIT, he became interested in the books of Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON. While he was doing his M.Tech course in IIT-Mumbai in 1981, he decided to dedicate himself to the service of Lord Krishna by becoming a full-time missionary member of ISKCON.

In 1994, he initiated an integrated social development project for the benefit of the rural people of Mysore and Mandya districts. A model, prototype organic farm based on natural and earth-friendly farming methods along with an internationally accredited farmer-training center has been setup in the 110-acre land on the banks of river Kaveri in Srirangapatam.

The primary purpose of this is to establish self-sufficient farming communities. The farming techniques employed are traditional and organic to promote pro-environmental agriculture. Hundreds of farmers are deriving inspiration to adopt environmental and soil friendly agricultural methods researched and disseminated scientifically from this model farm. Rural women are trained in this farm in the practices and methods of organic farming. This farm is also supporting hundreds of farmers during the transition from chemical to organic farms. Many neighboring farms have successfully converted into organic farms.

He initiated the Akshaya Patra program to provide mid-day meals to underprivileged children in the Government schools of Bangalore Rural District during July 2000.

Madhu Pandit hopeful about the budget to focus on mid-day meals

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s budget is being awaited by all as the promise of a ‘Transformational Budget’ has set each one hopeful. The upcoming budget has also inspired aspirations for boosting up the National Programme of Mid Day Meals in schools. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is hopeful about the Mid Day Meal (MDM) scheme as this will enhance the support from the Government and hence more children can be helped across the country.

Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of the Akshay Patra Foundation, feels that the upcoming budget will push forward the MDM programme. As MDM has become one of the largest programmes all across the world for boosting school children in India, the budget will definitely be decisive about pushing the programme forward.

UN has declared 2015 to be the international year of evaluation of Millennium Development Goals. This has further increased the hopes from the budget that it will focus on bettering and expanding the MDM programme.

The Akshay Patra Foundation operates on the model of Public Private Partnership. So a better support from the Government will help the NGO immensely.

About Akshay Patra Foundation

The foundation was incepted in 2000 and is not-for-profit organization running the mid-day meal programme. The Foundation is working in collaboration with the Central and State Governments and is currently feeding over 1.4 million children across 10,661 Government and Government aided schools in 23 locations, across 10 states of India every day.

Akshaya Patra supports UNICEF’s ‘World’s largest Lesson’

Indian NGO, Akshaya Patra Foundation has lent its support to a campaign started by UNICEF and Global Goals Campaign titled at ‘The world’s largest lesson’. This is a sustainability oriented campaign wherein children in over 100 countries across the world will be taught about new sustainable development goals.

Under this campaign, specifically created lesson materials including an animated film by author and education expert Ken Robinson will be provided to the children. These materials will acquaint kids with the Global Sustainability Goals. A downloadable comic book created by Karl Kesel, Grace Allison and Josh Elder would also be a part of the study material ensemble.

“The World’s Largest Lesson is a fantastic opportunity to tell all children, everywhere what the Global Goals are and how they can play their part to make sure they are achieved,” said Richard Curtis, founder of the campaign.

Anthony Lake, executive director for UNICEF said, “The campaign will do more than teach children about the global goals. It will engage them in the effort to achieve those goals- educating them about the challenges that are shaping their futures and encouraging them to drive change in their own communities.”

Supporting this drive is Akshaya Patra Foundation, which provides midday meal to 1.4 million children every day. Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “ We are proud to be associated with this drive started by UNICEF. Children are the future of the global civilization. By imparting them knowledge about sustainability goals, we are in a way making our future better.”

Bollywood Superstar Hrithik Roshan has been roped in to be India’s brand ambassador for ‘ The world’s largest lesson’. This puts him in the league of other global brand ambassadors for the 

President Pranab Mukherjee meets Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa

Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, the Chairman and Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa, the President of Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, met with Sri Pranab Mukherjee, the Honourable President of India. During the meeting, Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa briefed the Honourable President about the upcoming world’s tallest temple - Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir and various aspects of the project.
 
Sri Pranab Mukherjee was very appreciative of the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir project and efforts of its team. He expressed his heartfelt good wishes for the project and said that he will always support any endeavour to spread the teachings of Lord Krishna. He also congratulated Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa for envisioning such a wonderful project to spread the glories of Lord Krishna, following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir aims to bring about an awakening among Indians and create a nation that is not only full of talent, creativity and energy but also adorned with exalted values and character.  We wish to make a bold statement about the importance of Lord Sri Krishna and His divine mission in the world, using contemporary architectural language. The tall, imposing skyscraper temple should proclaim the status of Vrindavan as one of India’s spiritual capitals. The temple will draw attention of the world’s thinkers, leaders and inquisitive minds to know more about Lord Sri Krishna and His soothing, healing message for the harried world.
 
Madhu Pandit Dasa thanked The President for his support and said “We feel highly honoured and encouraged by the gesture extended by The Honourable President of India, Sri Pranab Mukherjee. Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir will not only house a temple for the worship of Lord Sri Krishna, but will also become a centre for disseminating the profound message of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, delivered in a modern context. This project is dedicated to play a larger role in shaping the future of this country.”