Silver Milestone and a Second Foundation (Newspaper)

July 12, 2003

Silver Milestone And A Second Foundation

By Renuka Narayanan (from Indian Express Newspaper)

When Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal lay the foundation stone for the second phase of Juhu ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Hare Krishna Land, on January 14, it'll be registered as another milestone in the Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari Temple's history. Also attended by Sunil Dutt, the Mayor and several MLAs and MPs, the ISKCON temple will usher in its silver jubilee with grand celebrations for four days next week.

''The plans comprise fresh construction of a complex over an area of one lakh square feet, to house exclusive teaching arcades for yoga, stress management, personal counselling and a Vedic Library,'' says Bipin Kotak of the ISKCON committee. And yes there's also the Ford connection! One of the famous followers of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON) was Henry Ford, whose son recently donated $10 crore towards the world's main ISKCON temple complex (there are 400 worldwide), under construction at Mayapur, near Kolkata.

As for the celebrations, they comprise a Shobha Yatra for the three deities (Lord Jagannath, Baldev and Subhadra), special abhishek, mass prasadam distribution at railway stations, daily aartis, Harinam prabhat pheri at Juhu beach and a Maha Harinam Sankirtan for World Peace starting from different points like the Gateway of India, Cotton Exchange, the Oberoi Hotel, Nariman Point and CST station, besides performances by Pandit Jasraj and Purushottam Jalota.

Swami Prabhupada had envisioned the Juhu temple even before he went to the US in 1965 to spread the message. However, it was only in 1978, after Prabhupada's demise, that it was inaugurated. By then ISKCON had already built temples in the US, UK, Australia and France. Silver jubilee celebrations next week, the committee hopes, will put the ISKCON movement into another strident note.