Hi. This is Krishnavesha--Krishna for short. As you can see, I'm not from India. I was born in England of white English parents (Mum was part Maltese), and became interested in Hinduism and philosophy at the early age of fourteen. My search brought me into contact with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) one summer's day in 1972, when I met a band of devotees singing names of God and dancing on Oxford Street in London.
I soon became a bi-cultural girl, still in love with my English heritage--bluebells, Big Ben, fairy woods, the Queen, crumpets, and Flakes--yet also deeply immersed and involved with the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and the way of life of the temple community I became a part of in London, and later in the United States. I also traveled to India several times on pilgrimage and actually lived there for three years--an incredibly mind expanding experience.
Along the way, I managed to find time to go to university in the US and earned an MA in education. I worked in Texas as a bilingual kindergarten teacher and a college instructor of English as a second language.
I returned to England in 2005, seeking to consolidate my years of experience and learning into some useful work and thus give back to society. At Bhaktivedanta Manor temple in Hertfordshire, I found my niche in the excellent schools programme run by ISKCON Educational Services, and spent a blissful four years helping to organize school visits to the temple where about 20,000 students come every year from schools all over the south of England to learn hands-on about Hinduism. Students visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor get a superb overview of all the Hindu traditions, as well as the direct cultural experience of being surrounded by the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of our own Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu community.
Now I have my own company, Avesha Presentations, and I specialise in traveling to far flung places in Britain and Ireland, to schools that may be too far away from a Hindu temple to make a visit to one. I bring the temple to your school.
I soon became a bi-cultural girl, still in love with my English heritage--bluebells, Big Ben, fairy woods, the Queen, crumpets, and Flakes--yet also deeply immersed and involved with the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and the way of life of the temple community I became a part of in London, and later in the United States. I also traveled to India several times on pilgrimage and actually lived there for three years--an incredibly mind expanding experience.
Along the way, I managed to find time to go to university in the US and earned an MA in education. I worked in Texas as a bilingual kindergarten teacher and a college instructor of English as a second language.
I returned to England in 2005, seeking to consolidate my years of experience and learning into some useful work and thus give back to society. At Bhaktivedanta Manor temple in Hertfordshire, I found my niche in the excellent schools programme run by ISKCON Educational Services, and spent a blissful four years helping to organize school visits to the temple where about 20,000 students come every year from schools all over the south of England to learn hands-on about Hinduism. Students visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor get a superb overview of all the Hindu traditions, as well as the direct cultural experience of being surrounded by the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of our own Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu community.
Now I have my own company, Avesha Presentations, and I specialise in traveling to far flung places in Britain and Ireland, to schools that may be too far away from a Hindu temple to make a visit to one. I bring the temple to your school.
For temple visits, mail order of educational books and artefacts, and for more guest speakers, I recommend you visit ISKCON Educational Services.
What you see in the slide show
The grounds at Bhaktivedanta Manor are beautiful in the early morning light. Here you catch a few glimpses of the gardens and woods the students will be visiting when they arrive.
Then on to the mandir itself--a mock tudor building gifted to ISKCON by George Harrison of the Beetles.
Inside, the devotees are performing their early morning meditations, chanting names of God together on prayer beads, circumambulating the tulasi tree, greeting the freshly dressed Deities at the shrine with song and dance, and spiritually readying themselves for the day. Pupils from Bhaktivedanta Manor Primary School also participate. Morning worship is followed by class from Shrimad Bhagavatam; then breakfast, taken in the traditional dining style of the Hindus--with seating on the floor.
The cooks are already preparing lunch for today's hundreds of guests to the mandir, including the schools that will be visiting--and also for London's homeless. Meet some of our dedicated tour guides and the bullocks that are being hitched up to their cart ready to give rides to the students.
A school arrives and is greeted by Director Indriyesha and his staff. The students then embark on a tour of the grounds, including a bullock cart ride. This is followed by an interactive presentation on Hinduism conducted in one of the manor house's beautiful old rooms. Then dressing up in traditional Hindu costume, a traditional Hindu lunch (including chips as well as curry), optional souvenir shop and traditional Hindu wedding face painting.
The grounds at Bhaktivedanta Manor are beautiful in the early morning light. Here you catch a few glimpses of the gardens and woods the students will be visiting when they arrive.
Then on to the mandir itself--a mock tudor building gifted to ISKCON by George Harrison of the Beetles.
Inside, the devotees are performing their early morning meditations, chanting names of God together on prayer beads, circumambulating the tulasi tree, greeting the freshly dressed Deities at the shrine with song and dance, and spiritually readying themselves for the day. Pupils from Bhaktivedanta Manor Primary School also participate. Morning worship is followed by class from Shrimad Bhagavatam; then breakfast, taken in the traditional dining style of the Hindus--with seating on the floor.
The cooks are already preparing lunch for today's hundreds of guests to the mandir, including the schools that will be visiting--and also for London's homeless. Meet some of our dedicated tour guides and the bullocks that are being hitched up to their cart ready to give rides to the students.
A school arrives and is greeted by Director Indriyesha and his staff. The students then embark on a tour of the grounds, including a bullock cart ride. This is followed by an interactive presentation on Hinduism conducted in one of the manor house's beautiful old rooms. Then dressing up in traditional Hindu costume, a traditional Hindu lunch (including chips as well as curry), optional souvenir shop and traditional Hindu wedding face painting.
Some educational books and artefacts available from ISKCON Educational Services