02/26/98 - 1645

Shri Mayapur News No. 6

India (VNN) - Shri Mayapur News. Vol 1, Number 6. February 1998.

adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakash
gauranga nitya-seva haibe vikasa

'One astounding temple will appear, from where Lord Gauranga's
eternal service will be preached all over the world'.

Lord Nityananda in the Navadwip Mahatmya.

========== EDITORIAL. ==========

This month, we conclude the notes from an interview with Jayapataka Swami, focusing on the part the Sri Mayapur Project can play in the development of ISKCON as a whole. Hearing from Jayapataka Maharaj deepened my own vision and understanding of the Project, and I felt a real connection with Srila Prabhupada's plan. I hope a little of this has come across in the notes.

Devotees at this year's festival will see a drilling rig on the site of the new temple. The second site investigation has begun. I've included a brief report from Bruce Martin at our engineers Alan Baxter Associates, which explains what is happening and what we hope to learn.

Recently Pada-Sevanam, chief designer, attended a lecture about St. Paul's cathedral in London. To his surprise, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium was discussed. I've included an article, which was written by Divya Simha das for the Mayapur Journal.

For the next month, I will be in India. I will be visiting various charities in Calcutta with Paramananda das and Divya Simha das of the Human Development Division. I will be attending the SMPDC meetings in Mayapur, and hopefully travelling to the Master Plan offices in Bangalore. I intend to report on these and other issues in the next e.mail newsletter, which will reach you at the beginning of April.

With best wishes Your Servant

Bhagavat Dharma das

========= HOT NEWS. =========

A new 3-D rendering of the temple has been completed at the Washington design offices. An impressive video walkthrough shows the scale and some of the design details of the Temple.

Jayapataka Maharaj has begun using the new ISKCON DVD presentation in his preaching. Using a projector attached to his computer, he has shown this new 'World of Hare Krishna', with a special section on the new Mayapur temple, to audiences throughout his travels. Initial showings have been at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Middle East, Bangalore and at the GBC meetings in Mayapur. The DVD, a new kind of CD-ROM was produced in Denmark by Nitya-Trpta dd. with support from Harikesa Maharaj. It will soon be available to purchase.

The first printed edition of 'Sri Mayapur Project News' was sent to all temples and centres in the ISKCON world. It is intended as a supplement to this e.mail version, and also provides an opportunity for those who are not on COM to see the latest developments. We will send this out twice yearly. If you did not receive a copy and would like to be added to the list, please write to bhagavat.dharma.mg@com.bbt.se Our communications strategy will be further enhanced with help from the Cintamani Web Cartel, soon to be established in the US. We will be working with Varnadi das to develop a first-class Sri Mayapur website.

A new executive architect, Prafull Mhatre will take up his duties at the Radlett Design office on Feb. 28th. He is a highly qualified architect who has been working in LA and living in the devotee community in Watseka Ave. His father is an initiated devotee in Bombay. He has worked on some large projects in India and the USA, including the Universal Studios theme park.

=======================================
THE SRI MAYAPUR PROJECT AND SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT WITHIN ISKCON.
Part 2 of an interview with Jayapataka Swami =======================================

Question.

Some devotees have suggested that social development is the real priority in ISKCON right now, and that Srila Prabhupada would have agreed if he were physically present with us. They point to the need for functional grhasta communities, for first class education for children etc. There is a growing feeling that the time has come to apply Srila Prabhupada's instructions on development of Varnasrama. Some devotees have said that the resources for the Sri Mayapur Project would be better allocated to the construction of Varnasrama colleges, perhaps in America or Europe. What is your comment on this?

Answer.

The Social Development of ISKCON is the main reason for building the Sri Mayapur Township. Srila Prabhupada told us to build a spiritual town. He said that in other places, devotees are forced to live in a hostile environment, and they must adapt to fit in. He wanted to have one large Krishna Conscious development, run according to the teachings of the acharyas. He gave the example of a door to door yoghurt salesman, who struggles around carrying his pots on his back, and tries to interest customers. He contrasted this door-to- door approach with a shopkeeper, who sells on his own terms and on his own premises. The shop has a fixed price, and can dictate what that price is. We can show the world how people can live in a spiritual environment. We will not have to compromise.

The plan as it stands will provide opportunity for thousands of devotees to develop an economic base, and engage in service. Tens of thousands of visitors will come each day. There will be thousands of shops and small businesses. Concessions will be given first to devotees. The preference of the SMPDC is that devotees should run everything. There will also be a Vedic University and Varnasrama college. We can gain accreditation in India as a University, and award degrees. Srila Prabhupada instructed us to do this. Education plays a very large part in the Master Plan.

Certainly, we want to see development in America and Europe, but we feel that particularly at Lord Chaitanya's birthplace, there should be full facility. We feel that the Mayapur Project will enhance the reputation of ISKCON in the world. We must keep our faith in the vision of our spiritual master, and in the previous acharyas that Lord Chaitanya will be the primary religious figure for this world. This big development in Mayapur is predicted. If we don't do it, who will? Srila Prabhupada wanted to do it urgently.

Srila Prabhupada set aside a large part of the BBT funds for this project. This is Srila Prabhupada's offering to his spiritual master and to Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada did not generally want BBT money to go for education or other projects. He always encouraged householders to unite and provide what is necessary to educate their children. A percentage of the book distribution profits goes back into book publishing, and a percentage goes to temple construction. Top of Srila Prabhupada's list, after the completion of the Vrndavan and Bombay projects was the Mayapur temple. After Mayapur is constructed, Srila Prabhupada wants twelve spiritual cities to be built around the world. The Mayapur City is a prototype.

There are going to be many opportunities for employment and service as the temple is being built. We will need nearly 300 engineers. We need people to design and build the Exhibitions, we will need devotees to preach and take visitors around. We are going to need artists and writers. There is unlimited potential.

We are not going to strain the devotees. We are approaching people who would not normally give for our other projects. This Project will take us to a higher level of efficiency and recognition. The Project will attract more attention to ISKCON and we hope we will help to focus energy within ISKCON. 'When the tide rises - all the boats will also rise'. This will help us all to improve.

Personally, as well as my roles as GBC, sanyassi and leader, I see that it is my service to be the host in Sri Mayapur, a caretaker for the home of all the devotees. This is a special blessing on me from Srila Prabhupada. I see that I have to remind devotees around the world about Sri Mayapur, and I have to take care of them when they come home. We have difficulties sometimes. The Indian government makes so many requirements. We definitely need more facility. For Srila Prabhupada's centennial, we had to put up tents to accommodate all the 3,000 devotees who came. We have not been able to keep up with the growth of ISKCON. This is what Srila Prabhupada wanted. When many devotees come together at Mayapur, it strengthens their faith, and they feel part of a much bigger picture.

=================== SITE INVESTIGATION. ===================

A site investigation began in January, on the ground in Mayapur. A team of engineers is testing the properties of the soil. Devotees attending the Mayapur festival will see the drilling rigs on the site. I spoke to Bruce Martin at our consulting engineers, Alan Baxter Associates about this investigation.

Bruce told me that the investigation is being conducted for us by KND-Fugro, a world-wide civil engineering company. They have sent some of their specialist mobile facilities to Mayapur.

Our site sits in the Ganges basin, and much of the topsoil, washed down from the Himalayas, is loose and un-compacted. The engineers will drill down to various depths, to determine the characteristics of the soil, and it's ability to bear loads. They will then carry out some trial ground improvement, by compressing stone columns into ground, a time honoured method. The site investigation will be completed before the monsoon.

Visitors to Mayapur will also see some concrete blocks on the land, placed by the site surveyors, who are also working at the present time, mapping out the land.

============================================
THE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT OF THE MILLENNIUM.
By Divya Simha das.
============================================

"Great meeting last night!" said Pada-Sevanam, my friend, who is chief designer of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, as he passed my desk. "Which one was that?" I called after him. "The St Paul's lecture" he said, "...they mentioned our Temple!".

He passed me a fax sheet from ABA's Ian Stephenson. (ABA - Alan Baxter & Associates are structural engineers for the Mayapur Project). It read; "St Paul's Cathedral - an engineer's view", and gave details of a lecture by Mr. Robert Bowles who was associated with St. Pauls for some 39 years.

The lecture venue was the Artworkers Guild, a prestigious assembly hall in the historic City of London. The lecture was held under the auspices of the S.P.A.B, the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings. The membership of this august body includes conservation architects and English ladies and gentlemen. The talk by Robert Bowles was the first in their schedule of Spring lectures.

Pada had read about the lecture in a magazine and by chance had also been handed a free ticket by a friend. He arrived in casual attire amongst a stream of well-dressed folk. "Very much a British scene" he said, "I took a discrete seat at the back".

"Robert Bowles presented St Paul's from a structural and historical angle, in the context of a comparative study with other famous buildings of the world. He showed slides of famous religious structures." explained Pada, "He spoke about St. Peters and the Pantheon in Rome, Istanbul's Hagia Sophia and the Taj Mahal. He drew comparisons in terms of scale, age, historical context, and the significance within the architectural world of the paradigms that each of these buildings represents."

"Then a slide of the Temple came on to the screen", Pada continued "and Robert said - 'Not many people here will know this structure - it's the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, a building that's being designed by the Hare Krsna movement to be built in India'". He went on, "The lessons learnt from the various short-comings of older masonry structures, such as St Paul's, will be used to guide the construction of this new temple - which has a client-brief to stand for a 1000 years."

Robert Bowles, who hadn't noticed Pada in the audience, described the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium as the most significant religious structure to be built this century. The audience responded very warmly to this and to the fact that the Hare Krsna movement is taking on the important task of using and preserving the masonry tradition. In architectural terms, such attention to quality and longevity is rare, most developers are focused on short-term money-oriented designs required to last two or three decades.

Pada went back to his office and I was left reflecting upon the fact we are not really aware of how seriously the professional world is taking our Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. It is, in fact, major news for the architectural world. The Hare Krsna Temple is being talked about and generating much excitement in such circles, throughout the world.

==================== SERVICE OPPORTUNITY. ====================

(From Priyavrata Das, Manager of the Exhibitions Division.)

I am looking around in ISKCON to find devotees who have experience in different artistic fields - painting, sculpture, video, photography, script writing, graphics illustration, exhibition construction, computer graphics and so on.

We may eventually have some nice service for you in the Mayapur Project, where we are planning to construct a lot of exhibitions and artwork.

If you are interested, please send me a letter with a description of yourself, your education and abilities, professional experience etc. Please give me your full contact details, address, phone, fax, e.mail etc. It would help if you would send some samples of your work (photos, colour photocopies etc). You can also write to me on COM and attach scanned pictures.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your Servant

Priyavrata Das
Mayapur Project Exhibitions
Baunevej 23 3400 Hillerod Denmark

Phone/Fax - (+45) - 4828-6443
e.mail/Com - priyavrata.hks@com.bbt.se


========== COPYRIGHT. ==========

This is an internal newsletter for devotees and supporters of ISKCON. The copyright holder of this newsletter is Mayapur Developments, a company registered in London, UK. Permission for reproduction is hereby given to all publications, e.mail lists and web-sites that have as their primary purpose the promotion of the ISKCON mission of His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, under the direction of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission. Permission for reproduction in all other circumstances should first be sought from the copyright holder. Enquiries may be directed to bhagavat@netcomuk.co.uk, or bhagavat.dharma.mg@com.bbt.se

================= ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. =================

I would like to thank the following devotees who helped with this issue: Jayapataka swami, Akhandadhi das, Divya Simha das, Pada-Sevanam das and Rajaram das.