Gauranga Das Highlights Skilling Push for Tribal Youth through Culinary School
Mumbai, July 18, 2025 ( TGN )– Govinda’s, ISKCON’s signature pure vegetarian dining experience, opened its new outlet today at ISKCON Chowpatty in the presence of Shri C P Radhakrishnan, the Honorable Governor of Maharashtra; Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange; and senior ISKCON leaders. The event included a press conference that elucidated how ISKCON’s holistic vision of spiritual wellness, sattvik food and rural empowerment through the skilling process.
Govinda’s is a new restaurant to be based on teachings from HH Radhanath Swami with Gauranga Das Prabhu taking a leadership role and opening Govinda’s to provide a sattvik (Vedic) dining experience. “This is not simply a restaurant. Govinda’s partners with the goal to allow us to grow a culture of compassion, purity and well-being. The food we are serving here is not only nourishing for the body, but also, as prasadam, is purifying for the spirit,” Gauranga Das, ISKCON GBC and Director of Govardhan Ecovillage, explained. Gauranga Das highlighted the impending Govardhan School of Culinary Arts, which is being promoted as the first of its kind internationally, in partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation and Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts, which will teach sattvik cooking traditions and provide formal education for tribal and underprivileged youth.
Dhruva Karunakar Shetty, CEO, Govinda’s and Director of Srinathji’s Cuisines Pvt Ltd, stated, “We are thankful to be launching Govinda’s in South Mumbai, blessed by HH Radhanath Swami, and guided by Gauranga Prabhu. With this, we further commit ourselves to providing soulful and delicious cuisine and creating more opportunities through structured skill programs, especially for youth entering the hospitality industry.”
ISKCON emphasized recent major food relief projects which have supplied over 3.8 billion free meals around the world. For instance, during the recent Jagannath Rath Yatra, ISKCON delivered over 4 million meals through the Adani Foundation. The introduction of Govinda’s further strengthens ISKCON’s commitment to promoting sattvik living, coupled with the organization’s focus on empowering tribal youth through its shortly to be launched Culinary School, which corporates have the opportunity to support.
