New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Pictures by Jaya Murari

See slideshow here.

By RAHUL MEHTA
Published: October 28, 2011 , New York Times

Alfred, N.Y.

IT was the Taj Mahal of Appalachia, “Heaven on Earth” in “Almost Heaven West Virginia,” a sprawling, opulent affair with lush gardens, a beautiful temple, a Palace of Gold, accommodations for hundreds of devotees, statues of Radha and Krishna, and even, at one point, an elephant.

New Vrindaban — named after a holy town in India — was the largest Hare Krishna commune in America, and was opened to the public in 1979. It was led by Swami Bhaktipada, one of the movement’s earliest and most controversial American disciples, who died Monday. And it was less than two hours from the West Virginia town where I grew up.

My family went there often in those first years, ferrying carloads of Indian friends and relatives who came to see us (and the palace) from all around the United States. My parents and their friends were part of the first wave of Indians to arrive in America after the 1965 Immigration Act loosened restrictions on South Asians. This new immigrant community, just putting down roots, had very few places to worship; there were hardly any Hindu temples in America. For them, New Vrindaban provided an opportunity to pray in a proper mandir instead of at a makeshift altar in someone’s basement.

And it was also breathtakingly beautiful. Situated at the very top of a hill (which some said resembled the foothills of the Himalayas), the palace was replete with stained-glass windows, crystal chandeliers, marble floors and gold-leaf decorations. Even our family members from India, who had all heard of the Palace of Gold, wanted to see it. For many, a trip there was more than a sightseeing excursion: it was a kind of pilgrimage.

But not for me and my brother. We hated those trips. If New Vrindaban was a source of comfort for our parents, it was a source of shame for us. We thought the Hare Krishnas were freaks, fake Indians aping Indian ways. Not that we wanted anything to do with real Indians, either. We wanted to be home watching TV. We would only grudgingly pile into the car for the drive, then sulk as we snaked our way up the Ohio River, through the small towns of rural Appalachia, and into the panhandle.

At the commune, we saw white women wearing the very saris I begged my mother not to wear to my school functions. We saw Americans chanting ecstatically in the same Sanskrit I deliberately garbled and mumbled under my breath during my family’s weekly pujas at home. When my parents tried to send my brother and me to summer camp there, we refused. When they considered renting a cabin by the commune’s lake, we protested. Our classmates spent summers inner tubing on the river. Why couldn’t we do that? Why couldn’t we be more like them?

My parents must have been both proud and confused to see these white Americans modeling themselves after Indians — dressing in traditional Indian clothing, adopting Indian customs and religious practices — even as their own children were flatly rejecting Indian culture and desperately trying to assimilate.

This was long before we knew anything about Swami Bhaktipada’s legal troubles. By 1990, when he was indicted on federal racketeering charges stemming from the murders of two devotees, my family had stopped going to New Vrindaban. The South Asian population in our small town had grown, so perhaps my parents felt less of a need to find community elsewhere. New Vrindaban was no longer new and exciting. The sheen had worn off. The place was falling into disrepair.

But a few months ago, my parents went to New Vrindaban again for the first time in many years. They went because my cousin was visiting from India and she wanted to see it. She is a Hare Krishna devotee. That my cousin, who has lived her whole life in India, belongs to a Hindu movement that started in America is amazing to me. That the Hare Krishna temple in West Virginia was on her list of sacred sites is even more so.

My mom said that the commune was now approaching its former glory. The gardens are once again tended, verdant. There were no elephants, but she said she saw a peacock.

As for me, I no longer feel a distinction between being Indian and being American. I travel to India frequently with my partner, Robert. We like to visit yoga ashrams in the Himalayas and, while there, follow a rigid schedule of meditation and spiritual instruction perhaps not so different from what the Hare Krishnas in New Vrindaban might follow. Of all the activities, I find myself particularly drawn to chanting. In fact, “Hare Krishna, Hare Ram” has become one of my favorites.

It makes me smile now to remember how miserable my brother and I were at New Vrindaban. We might not have even gotten out of the car were it not for one thing: the gold leaf that covered the palace. We’d heard it was real gold. So we would walk around staring at the marble floors, hoping we’d glimpse a glimmer, a flake forgotten somewhere in a corner, something precious we could secret into our pockets and take back home. We weren’t so different from our parents, then, after all. What the temple gave them wasn’t much, a day trip, now and then. But at a time when there was so much about America to make them feel lonely and insignificant, New Vrindaban made them feel rich.

Rahul Mehta is the author of the short story collection “Quarantine.”

Palace Restoration Committee

Minutes, conf call September 9, 2011

Present: Gaura Shakti Dasa , Gopisa Dasa, Malati Devi Dasi, Ramesvara Dasa, Tripad Dasa, Jaya Krsna das

1. Structure: Gopisa checked the access for the dome; there is no visible support. There may be evidence in one of the 3.000 pictures of Kama. Gaura Shakti will handover the pictures to Gopisa for review.

a. Patch – Tripad has brought to Gopisa’s attention that the concrete of the dome on top of the temple room is damaged. The membrane is leaking on top of the main dome.

b. Gopisa is looking for material, which is compatible with the current rubber. The plan is to cover the dome by a new membrane.

c. Recoat the roof, put patches on the domes itself and the roof. Gopisa would engage the LEED consultant for further consultation.

d. The budget is about $20.000. Has to be adjusted based on the material chosen and the labor, if we do it ourselves or by the roofer.

e. Time frame: budget approval next Thursday, order the material, start cleaning the rubber.

2. Story board – JKd to adjust the current version, send it out before the next meeting, discuss the proposal on the next conf call.

3. Front stairs – Gopisa is expecting an email from Gus Kayafas with quotes from the two contractors he recommends for the reparation of the stairs. Gus promised it for the current meeting.

4. Gus made a suggestion for the intermediate gift shop. He would place the gift shop at the place (prefabricated, wired, insolated) where the permanent gift shop would be placed. Gopisa is waiting for the proposal and cost estimate of Gus. We expect the proposal for the next meeting. Gopisa will work also on the initial plan the committee has discussed so far.

5. LEED consultant: Tim will be engaged for INMV and ECOV project and the Palace. Gopisa expects to engage Tim also for the Palace. The hourly rate for the current contract: principal 110 (110 in our initial contract) for other functions: 85, 90, drafting 75, only in the current, to be added to the general contract, secretarial time 55 previously, 40 KBC, to be adjusted in the overall agreement.

6. PRC accepts officially Gopisa’s proposal to engage Tim Crowley as the LEED consultant for the Palace.

7. Ramesvara emphasized that the PRC needs a paper trail for all contacts between Kayafas, the LEED consultant and ISKCON. PRC decided that emails are also accepted as part of the paper trial.

Gopisa is the main contact for the patches and the current work to execute.
Gaura Shakti was officially elected by the original group (original Palace group) as the project manager.

A longer discussion on the formal process of electing a project manager led to following thoughts:

a) The board of directors of INMV currently defines sub committees which are working on different topics and make recommendations to the board. The board is ultimately responsible for the decisions taken.

b) Mother Malati proposes a second approach: The PRC makes a written proposal to the INMV board. The PRC members are present in the meeting for the election of the project manager and participate in the vote.

The PRC proposes that both proposals will be presented to the joint board meeting. Malati will be invited to present the second option to the joint board members (unanimous vote).

Gopisa continues with the service request for the intermediate tasks until an official project manager is elected.

Next conf call: September 23, 2011, 4pm, moved to September 30, 2011, 4pm (conflicts of different meetings).

JKd, September 22, 2011

Activity list:

Gopisa Get information about the support structure of the dome to define the setup of a new dome September 9, 2011
All Feedback on the storyboard, to be adapted by JKd – 75.000 visitors a year September 30, 2011

Tripad Contact Charu Prabhu to get input for the exibits September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Contact BhkatiCharu Swami, Rameswara, Kripamaya, Sankirtana for input for the exhibition September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Article on dandavats September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Write regular articles ongoing
Gaura Shakti Get the 4000 pictures of Rukmavati September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Get feedback from Sudanu September 9, 2011
Gopish Request Kayafas to get quotes for the reparation of the front stairs September 30, 2011
Gopish Propose a temporary gift shop (style, size, estimation for the investment) September 30, 2011

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Dear Brijabasis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Govardhan Puja, Thursday, October 27, 2011

5.00 – 6.00pm Lecture
6.00 – 6.30pm Abhishek
6.30 – 7.00pm Story telling
7.00 – 8.00pm Maha Kirtan & Circumambulating Govardhan Hill
8.00pm Feast

If you like, please bring an offering for Their Lordships by 5pm.

Srila Prabhupada Disappearance Day, Saturday, October 29, 2011

11.00am Remembrances & homages
12.00pm Pushpanjali & Guru Punja
1.30pm Feast

If you like, please bring an offering for Srila Prabhupada by 11am.

Evening program at the Palace of Gold organized by Sacikripa Prabhu starting at 5pm.

Your servant,
Jaya Krsna das
Community President

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Kirtanananda Swami, Former Leader Expelled from Krishna Community, Dies

Moundsville, West Virginia – On Sunday, October 23, 2011, Kirtanananda Swami, a controversial former leader of the New Vrindaban Hare Krishna community passed away. He was expelled from the parent organization, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in 1987, and removed from New Vrindavban leadership in 1994.

“We express our sincere condolences to Kirtanananda’s family and well-wishers,” said Jaya Krsna, President of New Vrindaban. “He was a historical figure in the early days of the New Vrindaban community.”

Born Keith Ham in 1937 in Peekskill, New York, as the son of a Baptist minister, Kirtanananda was one of the first Americans to become a disciple of Hare Krishna movement founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the Krishnas’ brand of monotheistic devotional Hinduism, or Vaishnavism, to the west in 1965.

Kirtanananda was best known for helping to found and being an early leader of New Vrindaban, an expansive Hare Krishna community in rural West Virginia whose ornate Palace of Gold, award winning gardens, large temple and organic farm today draw thousands of visitors and pilgrims each year.

Kirtanananda maintained a relatively low profile in the last few years and made no efforts to reconcile with the New Vrindaban community and ISKCON. He was 74 at the time of his death.

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Shankya prabhu is a Prabhupada disciple who has been the main cook for New Vrindaban for the summer and Festivals season for many years. He has spent in winters in Alachua, Florida at the devotee community. He is now going to move there permanently so this was his last full summer here, though he has promised to return and cook for the New Vrindaban big festivals.

Recently there was a farewell party for him at which time many devotees expressed their appreciation for his good qualities. Here is a transcribed version of one by Sacimata:

I wanted to thank everyone attending tonight to give a New Vrindaban Brijabasi farewell to our all-time favorite cook, Shankya prabhu! Let’s give him a big “Hari Bol”!!!!

I first got to really know Shankya on a trip I took to Vrindaban in 2005 with Malati Prabhu. Each day after the morning program at Krishna-Balaram Mandir, we would board the “Kartik Parikrama” bus lined up across the road with Shankya and Jambajaya. We were eager to hear ecstatic pastimes with Dina Bandhu prabhu. I could see the intense love in Shankya’s heart for Vrindaban and for his dear spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada as he listened to the pastimes.

Especially on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, at the ceremony taking place at Prabhupada’s Samadhi, I could see Shankya’s face filled with emotion. Then I learned all the stories about Prabhupada’s favorite “flower boy.” On that day, I came to realize what a special soul he was.

I know everyone celebrated an appreciation dinner for all the devotees not too long ago but I really wanted to express my personal appreciation for a sweet and humble devotee whose only desire is to continually make Srila Prabhupada happy and to engage as many souls as possible in the ecstasy of devotional service through cooking for Krishna.

So, although I am really sad to see him go, I’m really happy for all the “fun” times we’ve had together in the kitchen cooking, laughing, sometimes singing, and, of course, in serving the devotees, and most of all in serving Srila Prabhupada.

So Shankya prabhu. have just as much fun growing veggies and flowers in the Sunshine State. WE LOVE YOU!

Palace Restoration Committee

Minutes Conference Call August 19, 2011

Present:Gaura Shakti Dasa, Gopisa Dasa, Ramesvara Dasa, Tripad Dasa, Jaya Krsna das, Malati Devi Dasi (partial), Krsna Bhava Devi Dasi (guest for the discussion of the gift shop)

Agenda:

1. Minutes
2. Activity list
3. Roof
4. Design

1. The minutes of the conf call, August 5, 2011, have been ratified.

2. Items on the activity list August 5, 2011

a. Roof – Gopisa presents the letter from Kalkreuth Roofing August 2, 2010, sent to the committee before the meeting. The letter represents an analysis done by Kalkreuth for Kayafas Architects.

i. Proposal accepted by the committee: we do the temporary repair ourselves, put a skin on top of the current layer, make more drainage holes (about 12), estimation for material about $ 3.000, plus labor $3.000. This proposal will be made to the joint boards, timeline: finished mid October 2011.

ii. No investment on the lower roof for the moment due to the fact that PRC plans to reconstruct the lower building.

b. Structure of the current dome – yet to investigate

c. Sudanu – needs some time to think about his engagement at PRC.

d. Front stairs – Gus (Kayafas) will be requested to get quotes for the reparation of the front stairs.

e. Design of the new lower building – PRC decided that there should be no substantial change in the design,elements of the design of Srila Prabhupada’s house should be reused. PRC therefore decides that we do not need any outside designers. Gus from Kayafas architects will be able to do the design for the lower building.

f. Gift shop – Krsna Bhavana sent a letter to PRC with the information that she will not use the current gift shop premises for next year based on the mold and the water entering the facilities. She proposes that the Palace/Temple builds a temporary gift shop at a new place; Krsna Bhava will pay rent and invest in the shelving of the new gift shop.

PRC came to the conclusion that the semi circle with the little structure in front of the current gift shop is the right place for a temporary gift shop. The space is big enough for the setup, the current bathrooms can be used. Gopisa will work on a proposal for next conf call.

Next conf call: September 9, 2011

Activity list:

Gopisa Get information about the support structure of the dome to define the setup of a new dome September 9, 2011

All Feedback on the storyboard, to be adapted by JKd – 50.000-75.000 users a year September 9, 2011

Tripad Contact Charu Prabhu to get input for the exibits September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Contact BhkatiCharu Swami, Rameswara, Kripamaya, Sankirtana for input for the exhibition September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Article on dandavats September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Write regular articles ongoing
Gaura Shakti Get the 4000 pictures of Rukmavati September 15, 2011
Gaura Shakti Get feedback from Sudanu September 9 , 2011
Gopish Request Kayafas to get quotes for the reparation of the front stairs September 9, 2011
Gopish Propose a temporary gift shop (style, size, estimation for the investment) September 9, 2011

August 21, 2011 JKd

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It doesn’t get bigger than this – looks like a prefect motto for the
Janmastami festival. Ever year hundreds of devotees descend to New Vrindavan
to celebrate Janmastami with their near and divine ones. Fasting, feasting,
bhajans, japa and bathing of the lord makes it the festival that has it all.
This year we had more than a couple of thousand visitors over the Janmastami
weekend. Not only that the celebrations spilled over to the Labor Day
weekend, where we celebrated both Janmastami and Radhastami together.

After the celebrations were over there was a lull and actually
speaking it took almost one week for us to recover. Once we got over the
“hangover” it was time to send gifts and sweets to the hundreds of devotees
and patrons who had sent financial contributions to the festival but could
not attend. We realized we had no sweets as all the sweets were “sold out”
on Janmastami. We made about 500 pounds of fresh sweets for shipping. It
took almost 3 days for a crew of 6 to pack the sweets in individual boxes.

The sweets are none other than Krishna and hence they need to
handled with care. We needed to ensure that the sweets do not break up along
the way. We needed to ensure that they were packed properly and sent quickly
so that the sweets are still fresh. Everyone was relishing packing sweets
just thinking how happy the patrons would be to receive the sweets.
Everything was done in a professional manner, everyone contributed their
might and we finished packing 600 boxes with 6 types of sweets in 3 days.

The sweets needed to be put in plastic pouches then carefully placed
into cardboard boxes, then wrapped nicely with tape. We needed to put the
address labels, also the return label and finally the stamp. Rasa Chaitanya
prabhu and myself went to Wheeling post office and carefully delivered it to
the post office so that they can deliver this mercy to our dear devotees and
patrons. Just by eating this sweet one gains the immense blessings as He is
the Supreme Absolute truth giving mercy in the form of the sweet.

Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra Bhagavan ki Jai….

Your Servant,
Gaura Natarajah das

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As the cool weather and shorter days bring the blooming season to an end, I am savoring the last smells and touches of our “real” flowers. There are still marigolds galore and they make beautiful fall garlands. The zinnias are fading, but the dahlias are just now coming into their own. In fact, they are my favorite flower for picking and making garlands for Srila Prabhupada.

Garland making is such a nice meditation, that Krsna has increased my service from helping Gopalasyapriya making Gaur Nitai garlands, to making the small garlands for Damodar’s picture and Deity, Srila Prabhupada’s and soon Gaura Nitai garlands every day.

I will be making the flower purchases, but it doesn’t compare to loading up the car with bags, a bucket of water and spending time breathing the fresh air and filling the bags with all the different varieties of flowers for garlands and vases.

I encourage all the devotees who have a gardening spot to put aside some space for the Deities to engage your plants in Krsna’s service and to expand our supply so that we can have all the garlands and vases from locally grown flowers from May until October.

Your servant,

Jayadevi dasi

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by Krsna Bhava dd

Sweet Surrender,  Mirandy,  Perfect Moment, and  Knock-out series have you heard these names before?  If you have, you must know Betty Hickey the master rosarian at the Palace of Gold, these are her favorite roses.

Betty Hickey will retire this fall from her position as the manager of the Palace Rose Garden. For the past 26 years Betty has cultivated a garden that attracted tourists, qualifies for AARS (All American Rose Selections) accreditation and pleased the devotees.

In 1985 Betty started working on the Palace Rose Garden. In the 20,000 square foot rose garden, Betty and a team of 10 gardeners established  850 plants. There are 100 different varieties of roses which include hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, shrubs, miniatures, and climbers. Half of the roses are AARS winners.

Betty said that in the fall of 1985  Aravinda das, the garden manager,  looked at the blossoming garden, realized its value and then applied for AARS accreditation.  AARS  accreditation is very prestigious and given only to rose gardens that plant the societies selection of roses and meticulously maintain them.  Accredited gardens are awarded  free AARS winner rose plants every year.

In 1987, she became the sole rosarian. Her roses bloom 3x a year, most roses bloom only 2x a year.   Her meticulous care has kept the Palace Gardens accreditation with AARS until the program was discontinued, coincidently it was this year.

Her standard of excellence over the past 26 years has not only been visible in the rose gardens but in all the gardens at the Palace.  When Betty saw the garden crew was down to only 5 part time gardeners,  instead of  planting  the labor intensive annuals as done in previous years, she decided to establish permanent beds with perennials, hedges and  shrubs which were easier to maintain. In the winter, permanent plants  prevented  the beds from being bare.

Although Betty was raised on a farm and grew vegetables she had no previous experience with roses. She learned on the job, through extension services and the Master Gardener program. Now Betty is a member of the Marshal County  Master Gardener Association and is considered an authority on roses.  She is frequently invited to speak publicly on caring for roses.

Last year , 40 members of the Ohio Valley Master Gardeners Association came to the Palace to attend her lectures on rose cultivation.

After retiring she is looking forward to quilting, working with her pumpkin business, and spending more time with her family.  Betty has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Betty is a member of the Sand Hill Methodist Church.

Reflecting on the roses that she grew Betty said, “ Seeing the plants develop and bloom I feel in touch with God and his creation and I  love and will miss my work at the Palace. We love and will miss her.

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