By Ishvara Chandra Das
Śrīla Prabhupāda established the culture of theistic exhibitions in ISKCON with his foundational diorama museum, the First American Transcendental Exhibition (F.A.T.E.), also known as the Diorama Museum of Bhagavad-gītā or the Bhagavad-gītā Museum, which opened in 1977 in the New Dvārakā Dhāma community in Los Angeles. Diorama art depicting the philosophy and narratives of the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta has since become a staple in ISKCON’s visual culture. Examples include dioramas of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes at Govardhana Eco Village, dioramas depicting the life of Śrīla Prabhupāda at his puṣpa samādhi in Māyāpur, and the Śrīla Prabhupāda Museum at the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple in Vṛndāvana.
This ISKCON tradition of theistic exhibition began as F.A.T.E. As the museum approaches its Golden Jubilee in the summer of 2027, a mahā restoration of the F.A.T.E. Diorama Museum of Bhagavad-gītā is underway to preserve this legacy project and inspire the broader Vaiṣṇava community within ISKCON by sharing a vision very close to Prabhupāda’s heart.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/restoring-srila-prabhupadas-f-a-t-e-diorama-museum-in-la/
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