Overview - Leadership  

Project Director, BB Govinda Swami

His Holiness BB Govinda Swami was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

In the summer of 1971 he joined ISKCON and met his spiritual master, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He became his initiated disciple in October of that year. Since that time he has served the society throughout the world.

His first visit to the countries of the former Soviet Union was in 1992. Traveling widely in the region he established central Asia as his new home in 1997. At present he resides in Almaty, Kazakhstan and is the director of the Palace of the Soul project. He is ISKCON’s governing body officer for central Asia, the Volga region of Russia, countries of the Middle East and Mauritius.

Chief Project Advisor, Kanat Koibagarov

Kanat Koibagarov is the chief advisor for the Palace of the Soul project.

Kanat came to Krishna Consciousness in 1998. Since that time he has actively engaged in advising, assisting, and developing many aspects of the society’s activities. His dedication and kindness has endeared him to all of the devotees in Kazakstan.

Kanat was born in Almaty, graduated from the Kazakstan Polytechnic Institute, and is the director of a successful computer firm. He, and his wife Bota, have two daughters.

Fund Raising Director, Yugal Kishore dasa

Yugal Kishore dasa came to the Krishna consciousness movement in 1995. Being an active member of the society, he has taken up the service of Fund Raising Director for the Palace of the Soul.

Yugal Kishore, Mr. T.V. Krishnan, was born in Mumbai, India. There he attended Don Bosco Convent High School. His graduation and post graduation education was completed in Bangalore with specialisation in marketing management. While attending school he had a dream to take up sales and marketing as a career. His twenty-year professional career includes work in the field of pharmaceuticals, fast foods, and consumer durables, and the automobile industry.

His overseas profession began in Dubai in 1992 when he became a dealer of the Toyota Motor Corporation. During his twelve years in Dubai he rose to the position of exports sales manager for Toyota. His professional trademark rested in actively discovering new markets and selling vehicles to various destinations around the globe.

In March 2004 he placed his professional career on hold. He is now fully dedicated and engaged, around the world, in promotion and coordination of fund raising for the Palace of the Soul project. He is happily married to Kishori devi dasi and they have two daughters, Vaisnavi and Jahnavi.

Temple President, Sri Hari Dasa

Sri Hari came to Krishna Consciousness in 1991.

In 2000 he joined the Palace of the Soul project, initially serving as the director of the cowsheds. Since 2002 he has served as the temple president.

He was born in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. In 1981 he graduated from the Irkutsk Technical Institute and worked in the mining industry of Kazakstan from 1993 until 1999. He is married to Varsana Rani devi dasi and is the father of 2 teenage children, Krishna dasa and Radha.

Director of Food For Life, Vidya devi dasi

Vidya devi dasi, Mrs.Valentina Volkova, first contacted Krishna Consciousness on a tour to India in 1989. Later, upon returning to Kazakstan, she attended the first public lecture given by members of the society in the Academy of Sciences.

She is from Ust Kamengorst, Kazakhstan. She graduated from the Kazakhstan Government University and specialized as a physicist, optician-spectroscopist, and translator.

For many years she served in the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She has written 56 scientific works that were published in the Digest of Scientific Conferences and is a specialist in rare soil elements and has begun writing her PHD thesis on this topic.

She initiated the Food For Life program in 1995. Since that time she has been active in organizing food relief for hundreds and thousands of persons in Kazakhstan.

She is married and has two children. Her husband, Vladimir Vasilyevich Volkov, is one of the top lawyers in Kazakstan and is a member of the parliament.

Director of Amrita Ayurvedic Wellness Institute, Govardhan-dhari dasa,

Govardhan-dhari dasa, Dr. Andrey Yurievich Golovinov, moved from Siberia to Almaty in May 2003. He has taken up the service of developing the Amrita Ayurvedic Wellness Institute at the Palace of the Soul.

He and his family began their practice of Krishna consciousness in 1998. From 1992 until 1998 he attended the Russian State Medical University in Moscow, completing a basic specialty in therapy. During that period, in 1997, he received specialization in the Chinese medicine and traditional pulse diagnostics from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

In 2001 he received specialization on Ayurveda and herbal medicines in the St. Petersburg State Pharmaceutical Academy. From 1998 until 2002 he conducted a medical practice in Omsk, West Siberia, Russia and in November 2002 he opened a successful Ayurvedic clinic in Omsk. He is happily married to Bhavya devi dasi and has two daughters, Satyabhama and Govinda Priya.