Thursday 27 March 2014

RV Rajamahal on the Hooghly. Welcome to Krishna Land

#expeditioncruising 
 

Hoarding showing final vision of the Hare temple.


Even by Indian standards, this was one of the most bizarre shore excursions.

It was easy to dub the site 'Krsna Land' when confronted by this enormous structure growing from the humble shores of the Hooghly River at Mayapur. Surrounded by satellite buildings, temples, stalls, halls, restaurants, offices and parks, the whole meticulously maintained area takes on a decidedly theme park appearance.


The entrance to 'Krishna Land' showing the
massive temple under construction (R Eime)

Many times larger than the comparatively modest Taj Mahal, Lord Chaitanya's 'exceedingly wonderful' and 'very unique' temple looms imperiously overhead and is being funded 'by money raised all over the world'. At $1500 per square metre, you too can become one of the blessed donors contributing to this 'Temple of the Vedic Planetarium'. Westfield, come take a look, this will make your Parramatta multiplex look like a kebab stall.

Truly a marvel of modern globablised religion on an industrial scale, Swami Prabhupada's International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKON) intend to open this temple in time for the movement's 50th anniversary in 2016.

(I'd love to know the total projected cost of this monstrosity. If anyone knows, please add comment)



No comments:

Post a Comment