Ujjain-The Solar Powered Temple!
The extraordinary Ujjain temple where compassion is always in the air in all aspects from giving back to the community through feeding 20,000 school children everyday or taking care of every devotee that goes to this temple. Everyone who has ever been there knows exactly what I am talking about. Don't you? Maharaj's compassionate and caring nature reflects in his Ujjain temple. Now Ujjain temple has taken the next step in working with the environment by giving us Krishna's ray of light through a Solar Powered Temple!
One of our god brother's Ajoydtha Pati prabhu (74 years old) who is originally from Mauritius and stays in Ujjain most of the time these days acquired all the Solar Power materials from the supplier. The current equipment we have at the temple provides the entire electricity needs of the temple 24 hours a day except the AC and some high voltage stuff. Everything runs on this system from lights, fans, audio system and all basic stuff. It was installed on the auspicious day of Janmashtami. The weather was very cloudy so in the beginning we didn't get the full charge because of monsoon season but now the entire power is supplied by the solar units! The solar panels are currently located on the temple roof.
The head of finance for our temple- His Grace Mukunda Prabhu says "The Solar Power Plant will save us on our finances". The electric unit charge is increasing everyday so it will be considerable help to the temple. If it works well in the long run and reduces our consumption on electricity, we will do it to all our buildings. One of the added feature of these solar panels is that if there is not enough sunlight, it will get power from the electric grid. So there will be no power failure in the temple with the electricity running seamlessly without breakdowns. The entire cost of this project is 13 lakhs which His Grace Ajoydtha Pati prabhu donated. If any other ISKCON community or temple wants to get this Solar Power Plant then we will be happy to give further details.
Gurudeva is very enthusiastic about this project. We are saving Laxmi - when it is connected to the grid, solar energy can overtake the highest cost electricity at peak demand and can also reduce grid loading, apart from getting rid of the need for local battery power in darkness. By having this solar plant we are not only being environment conscious but also are using a pollution free energy source. It requires less man power as plant requires little maintenance or help after setup. Therefore, seeing all these radiant advantages of the Solar Power plant Gurudev is very happy about this project. Its great to see that with an exceptional devotee like His Grace Ajoydtha Pati prabhu's donation, the Ujjain temple is able to make a small difference to the community by saving energy, keeping the environment pollution free and ultimately reducing our temple costs. We are probably the only ISKCON temple with Solar Power Plant.
In service,
Photos taken by Mukunda Das
Article written by Rasalila Dasi
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