MADHU PANDIT DASA
Madhu Pandit Dasa, formerly named Madhusudan Sivasanka, was born in 1956 in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, India.Madhu Pandit Dasa was awarded a scholarship by the reputed National Talent Search Examination of India while pursuing his undergraduate studies.He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from India Institute of Technology,Mumbai in the year 1980.While at the institute, he devoted himself to spiritual development the study of the Bhagavad Gita. In particular, he followed the teachings of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as told in “Bhagavad Gita, As It Is”
After graduating in 1980,again he joind IIT-Mumbai,did his M.TEch there.While he was doing his M.Tech,he dedicated his life to the service the mission of Swami Prabhupada by becoming a full-time missionary member ofISKCON. He joined the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) in mid-1981 and did different services. In late 1982 he was made the president of the Trivandram branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971).
In 1984, Jayapataka Swami directed Madhu Pandit das to meet Shankabrit das (who was in Tirupathi at that time) to formalize the handing over of the management of ISKCON Bangalore society to Madhu Pandit das. Subsequently a meeting was held on July 1, 1984, and all the then office bearers resigned. Those actually serving in ISKCON Bangalore were brought in as members of the society and the following office bearers were elected:
1. Madhu Pandit Das President
2. Chanchalapathi Das Vice President
3. Pranananda Das Treasurer
4. Bhanu Swami Secretary
In September 1987, ISKCON Bangalore was operating from a rented house in the city with a handful of devotees. Under the leadership of the Temple President,Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, ISKCON Bangalore applied for a 7-acre hillock from the Bangalore
Development Authority (BDA). The master plan of the project on the Hare Krishna Hill was conceived by him.The whole construction was carried out by the ISKCON Construction Department. Between 1990 and 1997 a total of 10 million man-hours were put by 600 skilled craftsmen, 32,000 cubic meters of stone, 131,250 tones of cement and 1,900 tones of steel were used.
Madhu Pandit Dasa is also the head of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which is an NGO providing free lunches to millions of Indian school children with a reported endowment of over $500 million USD. Now Akshaya Patra Foundation considered as the world’s largest NGO-run school meal program (Limca Book of Records), it began in 2000 as a small scheme that fed just 1,500 children around Bangalore. In less than 10 years The Akshaya Patra Foundation has become one of India’s best conceived, technology-intensive social sector initiatives.
After graduating in 1980,again he joind IIT-Mumbai,did his M.TEch there.While he was doing his M.Tech,he dedicated his life to the service the mission of Swami Prabhupada by becoming a full-time missionary member ofISKCON. He joined the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) in mid-1981 and did different services. In late 1982 he was made the president of the Trivandram branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971).
In 1984, Jayapataka Swami directed Madhu Pandit das to meet Shankabrit das (who was in Tirupathi at that time) to formalize the handing over of the management of ISKCON Bangalore society to Madhu Pandit das. Subsequently a meeting was held on July 1, 1984, and all the then office bearers resigned. Those actually serving in ISKCON Bangalore were brought in as members of the society and the following office bearers were elected:
1. Madhu Pandit Das President
2. Chanchalapathi Das Vice President
3. Pranananda Das Treasurer
4. Bhanu Swami Secretary
In September 1987, ISKCON Bangalore was operating from a rented house in the city with a handful of devotees. Under the leadership of the Temple President,Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, ISKCON Bangalore applied for a 7-acre hillock from the Bangalore
Development Authority (BDA). The master plan of the project on the Hare Krishna Hill was conceived by him.The whole construction was carried out by the ISKCON Construction Department. Between 1990 and 1997 a total of 10 million man-hours were put by 600 skilled craftsmen, 32,000 cubic meters of stone, 131,250 tones of cement and 1,900 tones of steel were used.
Madhu Pandit Dasa is also the head of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which is an NGO providing free lunches to millions of Indian school children with a reported endowment of over $500 million USD. Now Akshaya Patra Foundation considered as the world’s largest NGO-run school meal program (Limca Book of Records), it began in 2000 as a small scheme that fed just 1,500 children around Bangalore. In less than 10 years The Akshaya Patra Foundation has become one of India’s best conceived, technology-intensive social sector initiatives.
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