The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement, includes 500 major centres, temples and rural communities, nearly 100 affiliated vegetarian restaurants, thousands of namahattas or local meeting groups, a wide variety of community projects, and millions of congregational members worldwide. In over 50 years, ISKCON has expanded widely since its founding by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, also known as Srila Prabhupada, in New York City in 1966.
Srila Prabhupada has drawn appreciation from scholars and religious leaders alike for his remarkable achievement in presenting India's Vaishnava spiritual culture in an authentic and relevant manner to contemporary Western and worldwide audiences.
Members of ISKCON practice bhakti-yoga in their homes and ISKCON centres and temples. They also promote bhakti-yoga, or Krishna Consciousness, through festivals, the performing arts, seminars, public chanting, and distribution of authentic spiritual literature. ISKCON members have also opened colleges, eco-villages, hospitals, schools and other institutions as a practical application of the path of devotional yoga. They have also led free food distribution projects.