Blog

By Rasikananda Das (Co-president of the ISKCON Bhubaneswar temple):

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Firstly I’d like to thank all the devotees who have been helping us in respect to Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Maharaja’s samadhi mandir and Srila Prabhupada’s Bhajan Kutir. After a concerted and determined effort, for some years, the situation has finally been resolved.

The Highway authority had previously broken Srila Prabhupada’s Bhajan kutir (Where Srila Prabhupada stayed for two weeks in 1977) and had wanted to put a sewage line close to Gour Govinda Maharaja’s samadhi mandir. This happened in 2012. The devotees in Bhubaneswar were outraged by this and there was also an outcry from devotees from all over the world.

After having many discussions back and forth with the highway authority over many months, finally they agreed to move the sewage line far away from the samadhi. It was quite a battle but finally they agreed and it has been done.

We are very grateful to all those who were involved in convincing the highway authority to change their plans, especially His Grace Sachinandana Prabhu, His Grace Atmaram Prabhu and His Holiness Murali Krsna Swami who all put in many hours of intense discussion over many months in order to convince the necessary authorities to change their plans.

Srila Prabhupada’s bhajan kutir has now also been rebuilt to it’s exact original form and Srila Prabhupada is now again being worshiped in His bhajan kutir. The devotees had a Grand celebration on Srila Prabhupada’s return on Sri Rama Navami, 28th March 2015.

There has also been extensive renovation in the front of the temple placing nice strong tiles over the entire area so that it will remain very clean and there is now virtually no chance of flooding. That has now been completed. Please see the pictures.

The water now runs off the area and away from the temple onto the highway and drains away. The Bhubaneswar guest house is also gradually being renovated room by room and is coming to an international standard. So far 6 rooms have been completed and another 4 are on the way.

The bramachari ashram at the back of the temple is progressing very nicely. The super structure will be completed by April 2015. In fact the last slab was caste last night, 10/4/2015.

So far US $1 million has been spent, mostly coming from His Holiness Murali Krsna Swami. His followers in Russia are on a constant marathon collecting for the Bhubaneswar Temple and by their dedication under his guidance, the ashram is being built.

I also would like to thank all the other devotees who have contributed to the project.

This ashram, when finished, will house 150 bramacharis. It includes 4 sannyas rooms, a conference hall for 150 devotees, a library, prashadam hall for 300 and an office with all facilities. There are also 3 kitchens being built, 1 for the restaurant, 1 for the devotees and a deity kitchen. These will be fully stainless steel so that cleanliness can be maintained.

Our accounting system has been updated and everything is now up to the ISKCON standard. All monies are fully accounted for and all accounts have been consolidated so it is easy to manage. We have 3 professional accountants maintaining the accounts.

The 15 acre farmland is also being developed nicely with Aptakam prabhu and Krsna das. The land is now being cultivated and many crops are now coming up and a regular supply of vegetables are coming to the temple. There is also a good supply of milk coming daily, around 90 litres. The goshala has been renovated and the cows are being taken care of nicely. Still more work has to be done and we will continue to improve the care for cows program.

The Gundicha temple that Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Maharaja wanted is also progressing well under the guidance of Druva Maharaj prabhu. The interior work is going on and the marble work should be completed within 6 weeks. It looks beautiful. I’ll send some pictures in the next update.

As many devotees have asked for news I will try to regularly send out news of what’s happening here.

Your servant,
Rasikananda das