The abbreviation ISKCON stands for "The International Society for Krishna Consciousness".

ISKCON represents an ancient Vedic religious tradition - Vaishnavism, whose roots go back more than 5000 years. The worldview and ideology of Vaishnavism is based on the Vedic literatures such as Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Caitanya Charitamrta. The Vedas are an universal treasury of knowledge, tested for thousands of years in practice.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada). The organization was created to give everyone the opportunity to get acquainted with the universal principles of God-realization set forth in Vedic literature, and to further develop this cultural movement with the goal of spiritualizing all people, regardless of their nationality, territory of residence and religion.

ISKCON has now evolved into an international confederation. Its centers exist around the world and covers the most diverse aspects of people's activities:

• temples where services are held daily;
• ashrams (monasteries where people live a simple and pure life like monks);
• schools where the subject of study, in addition to the usual academic program, are the concepts of morality and morality, as well as the relationship of the soul and God;
• institutions, including Ayurvedic and astrological;
• publishers printing spiritual literature;
• agricultural communities where people live on subsistence farming.

Today, ISKCON includes more than 602 centers, 65 agricultural communities, 54 schools (gurukuls) and 110 vegetarian restaurants around the world. Over the past three decades, ISKCON has experienced the greatest growth and has gained many followers in Eastern Europe and India

To receive spiritual knowledge and disseminate it, devotees certainly need qualifications. For this purpose, shortly before his departure from this world in 1977, Srila Prabhupada chose 11 people among his students who, after his departure, became initiating gurus. Now in ISKCON there are about a hundred spiritual teachers who pass spiritual knowledge through the chain of disciplic succession and preach in different parts of the world. Not all of them are sannyasis (people who have renounced worldly life), but each and everyone one has dedicated his life to serving the mission of Srila Prabhupada - spreading Krishna Consciousness throughout the world.