Biografie

From the very beginning in 1981, HG Sundarananda Das and HG Prema Manjari Devi Dasi served as the leading pillars of the Krishna Consciousness movement in Indonesia. As temple presidents of the very first ISKCON temple in Bali, they took personal responsibility for nurturing the community through times of restriction, displacement, and uncertainty (ISKCON was banned in Indonesia from 1984-1998). Over the decades they personally seeded preaching centres across the entire archipelago — in Lombok, Sulawesi, Java (including Jakarta and Surabaya), Kalimantan, and were on the forefront of more than 3 temple projects in Bali. After the disappearance of their beloved spiritual master HH Gour Govinda Swami in 1996, they became indispensable organisers of the extensive preaching tours of HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Swami throughout Indonesia — hosting interfaith and science seminars at leading universities, with Sundarananda Das serving as his personal translator into Bahasa Indonesia. They later served in the same dedicated capacities in assistance of their dear God Brother HG Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu during his far-reaching preaching mission across the islands. It was ultimately at the personal request and instruction of HG Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu that Sundarananda Prabhu accepted the responsibility of becoming an initiating spiritual master in 2024, continuing the mission of Srila Prabhupada in Indonesia and beyond. Since then they are regularly visiting Australia, Malaysia, South Africa and due to family ties also Europe. Since their three children are grown up now, they are dedicating all their time and resources to the preaching mission of Srila Prabhupada.

HG Sundarananda Das

Initiating Spiritual Master – ISKCON Indonesia

• Born: 23 November 1954, Bangli, Bali, Indonesia

• First Initiation: 1981 by HH Bhavananda Goswami (name: Yadunandana Das)

• Re-initiation: 1991 by HH Gour Govinda Swami (name: Sundarananda Das)

• Diksha Guru: Vows accepted on 11 May 2024; currently guiding disciples in Indonesia, Australia, Ukraine, and Switzerland

• Education:

  • Bhakti-shastri Certificate (2020)

  • Bhakti-vaibhava (2022)

  • Spiritual Leadership Course (2023)

  • Guruship Interim Training

• Temple Service:

  • Temple President, ISKCON Bali (1982–1986)

  • Temple President, Sri Sri Radha Rasesvara Temple (1999–2010)

• Organizational Service:

  • Chief Advisor and Co-founder of ISKCON Indonesia (2002–2022)

• Interfaith Service:

  • Member of Hindu Parisada Indonesia (since 2002)

  • Member of Sabha Pandita (Council of Hindu Priests, since 2014)

HG Prema Manjari Devi Dasi

Teacher, Counselor & Preacher

• Born: 17 October 1957, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

• First Initiation: 1981 by HH Bhavananda Swami (name: Purnamasi Devi Dasi)

• Re-initiation: 1991 by HH Gour Govinda Swami (name: Prema Manjari Devi Dasi)

• IDC Facilitator:

  • Conducting the ISKCON Disciple Course throughout Indonesia since 2015

• Counseling Service:

  • Grihastha counselor, specializing in mentoring Matajis since 2009

• Education:

  • Bhakti-shastri Certificate (2020)

  • Bhakti-vaibhava (2022)

  • Bhakti Vedanta studies

• Interfaith Service:

  • Member of Sabha Walaka (Council of Hindu Scholars of Indonesia) since 2010

• Seminar Topics:

  • Suicide Prevention

  • Interfaith Dialogue

  • Grihastha Ashrama

  • Conscious Aging