Deconstructing the Bahulaban Barn
The New Vrindaban managers have determined that the Barn at Bahulaban is not repairable and needs to be deconstructed. This is scheduled to begin happening sometime in September 2011.
As this is a historic structure, we want to give the devotees who worked and lived in it a chance to say good bye and have a last look, or even to take a piece of it as a memento. For example, one devotee has asked if he can have a board from the room his son was born in.
As you may or may not know, this was one of the first buildings built in New Vrindaban at Bahulaban and certainly the most ambitious project to be tackled and brought to completion to that point. It served as shelter for both the cows who lived downstairs and the devotee families who lived upstairs.
In the 1970s and 1980s many devotees also worked there caring for the cows and demonstrably showed that Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that cow protection should be the main business of New Vrindaban was taken seriously. We would like to recognize and honor that rich history. Any materials that can be salvaged from the Bahulaban Barn will be used in the construction of a new barn for oxen so it will not perish but be reborn.
We would like to collect memories of the life at the barn and compile them for posterity. Included in this would be stories and an attempt to make lists of all the devotees who lived and worked there. For example, Radhanath Swami was a cowherd boy there and hand milked many cows. Our goal is to create a list of as many residents as we can remember, devotees who cared for the cows, and maybe even a special list of those children who were literally born there.
Anyone interested in helping to compile these lists and historical accounts please contact Madhava Gosh: gourdman@ecov.com.
We plan to hold a special ceremony at the Barn before deconstruction begins, at a time yet to be determined, but not earlier than Labor Day.
