The story and vision of New Madhuvan
A farm community inspired by the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda — a place to experience a natural way of life, inner peace and spiritual growth, open to everyone.
New Madhuvan — literally, "the new honey-grove" — takes its name from Madhuvana, one of the twelve sacred forests of Vraja in India. The community unfolds across 13 hectares of land — a single, continuous sanctuary that holds the temple, the goshala, the gardens and the Vrajaloka eco-village. It lies deep in the Bulgarian countryside, surrounded by open fields and forest, far from the noise of the city — cows, gardens, fresh air and quiet from dawn to dusk.
The community was founded by followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda, drawn together by a shared conviction: that the modern world needs living examples of a life in harmony with nature — built on care for the land and animals, honest work, healthy food and time for the inner life — rather than on endless consumption.
What we are building
Living community
Cow protection
Natural agriculture
Spiritual education
In the disciplic line
The community follows the Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya sampradāya, the disciplic succession coming down from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through the Six Gosvāmīs, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and — in our own time — Śrīla Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of ISKCON.
New Madhuvan is inspired by and connected to ISKCON's worldwide family of temples, farms and communities.
Words you will meet on this site
The vocabulary of bhakti-yoga is old and precise. Here are some of the terms that appear across these pages, with short working definitions.
- Bhakti-yoga
- The yoga of loving devotion — the practice of remembering, serving and offering everything to God (Krishna).
- Sādhana
- Regulated daily spiritual practice: rising early, chanting, worship, study and service.
- Sevā
- Devotional service — any action offered with love to God, the spiritual teacher, cows, land or community.
- Kīrtan
- Congregational singing of the holy names of God, usually accompanied by mṛdaṅga drums and karatāla cymbals.
- Japa
- Personal, quiet chanting of the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra on a strand of 108 tulasī beads.
- Maṅgala-ārati
- The auspicious first offering of the day, held about ninety minutes before sunrise, with lamps, incense and kīrtan.
- Ārati
- A short ceremony of offering — lamps, water, cloth, flowers and a fan — accompanied by song.
- Prasādam
- Literally 'mercy' — vegetarian food first offered to Krishna on the altar and then honored by the community.
- Goshala
- The cow shelter — the physical and spiritual heart of a Vedic community.
- Go-seva
- The service and lifelong protection of cows, bulls and calves.
- Vraja / Vṛndāvana
- The land of Krishna's youthful pastimes in India — the eternal spiritual atmosphere our community tries to remember and honor.
- Sampradāya
- A disciplic line of teachers and students, preserving a spiritual teaching across generations.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda
- His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda (1896–1977), founder-ācārya of ISKCON and our principal teacher.
- ISKCON
- International Society for Krishna Consciousness — the worldwide Vaiṣṇava movement founded by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1966.