Hare Krishna Golden Temple

Hare Krishna Golden Temple (Telugu: హరే కృష్ణ గోల్డెన్ టెంపుల్) is located at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, India. It is the first Golden Temple to be constructed in Telangana. It was inaugurated in 2018 by Vice President of India Sri Venkaiah Naidu.

Hare Krishna Hill
Hare Krishna Hill is the hillock on which this temple is situated. HKM Hyderabad is a charitable society with the objective of propagating Krishna consciousness all over the world.

Features of the temple
About 7000 years ago the Lord manifested himself as Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at Road No. 12 Banjara Hills. Along with Lord Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, Lord Shiva also self manifested himself as Swayambhu Sri Panchajanyeshwara Swamy at the same place. The Hare Krishna Golden Temple is the 1st Golden Temple in Telangana and has a 50 foot Golden Dhwaja Stambh (flagstaff), 4600 square foot Maha Mandapam and five golden stairs Rajagopuram. Within the temple are the murtis (sacred images) of Lord Narasamhadev and his consort, Lakshmi. The Temple has Harinam Japa Mantapa located right after the Dhvaja Stambha. It provides a unique way to remember and glorify Lord Krishna by chanting His holy names while proceeding for His darshan. Visitors to the temple can choose to either go through the Harinam Mantapa or directly proceed for darshan of Lord Shri Lakshmi Narasimha. The Japa Mantapa has 108 steps and on every step the devotees stand and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. There is a rare Shaligram shila kept in the Garbhalayam of the presiding deity Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy. This Saligrama Shila was found in Gandaki River (Near Muktinath Temple, Nepal).

Shrines (altars)
Hare Krishna Golden Temple has two shrines:


 * 1) The first shrine is dedicated to Swayambhu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy
 * 2) The second shrine is dedicated to Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.

Darshan Timings
The temple is open to the public from 7.15 am to 12.15 pm during the morning session and from 5.15 pm to 8.15 pm during the evening session. The day begins with a Grand Aarti ceremony called mangala-aarti followed by worship of Tulasi Devi, Sri Narasimha Arati. During every aarti session the devotees sing and dance to the rhythm of Hare Krishna (mantra).

Hare Krishna Golden Temple timings:

Morning
 * 1) Mangal Aarti - 04.30 AM
 * 2) Darshan Aarti - 07.15 AM
 * 3) Pallaki & Guru Puja- 07.35 - 08.20 AM
 * 4) Srimad Bhagavata Purana Class- 08.30 AM
 * 5) Darshan Close- 12.15 PM

Evening
 * 1) First Darshan- 5.15 PM
 * 2) Tulasi Aarti - 06.45 PM
 * 3) Sandhya Aarti - 07.00 PM
 * 4) Shayan Aarti - 8.00 PM
 * 5) Darshan Closes- 8.15 PM

Weekends
 * 1) Afternoon closing time- 12.15 PM on weekdays and 12.30 PM on weekends
 * 2) Evening closing time- 08.45 PM

Festivals
HKM Golden temple celebrates festivals that are related to avatars of Lord Vishnu or with Vedic culture. Main festivals that are celebrated within the temple are:


 * Rama Navami
 * Brahmotsava
 * Narasimha Jayanti
 * Panihati Chida-dahi
 * Ratha Yatra
 * Balaram Jayanti
 * Jhulan Utsav
 * Sri Krishna Janmashtami
 * Vyasa Puja
 * Sri Radhashtami
 * Deepotsava
 * Govardhan Puja
 * Vaikuntha Ekadashi
 * Nityananda Trayodashi
 * Gaura Poornima
 * Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Abhishekam-Every month Swathi Nakshatra Day

Social services
Hare Krishna Golden Temple also known as HKM Hyderabad provides free food to those in need through various food distribution programmes such as Akshaya Patra, the world's largest NGO-run mid-day meal programme serves Over 1.8 Million meals to school children every day. and other programmes including Bhojanamrita  Saddimoota and Annapoorana schemes. The visitors to the temple are provided free lunch from 12.30 PM through Nitya Annadana Seva.