The primary concept of the temple was conceived by Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa himself, a qualified civil engineer from IIT (Mumbai) while its exterior was conceived by Jagat Chandra Dasa, a product engineer from IIT (Mumbai). All the devotees of the ISKCON temple were strongly motivated by an intense desire to make this a grand and memorable temple, to be completed and offered to His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Various fund raising schemes were launched to engage the people in this devotional endeavor. Apart from the life membership scheme, sponsors of gopuram, kalashas and vimanas were enrolled.

The Hare Krishna temple is a unique combination of glass and gopuram, blending modern and traditional elements. The whole construction was carried out by the ISKCON Construction Department. Between 1990 and 1997 a total of 10 million man-hours were put in by 600 skilled craftsmen, 32000 cubic meters of stone, 131250 tonnes of cement and 1900 tonnes of steel were used.

The gopurams were made with special technology using Ferro cement. It was for the first time that this technology was being used for temples. The basic structure of the temple is a main frame of steel and wire mesh covered with cement and concrete of around 6 inch that adds to the dynamics of the structure. The rest is stone and mortar. The unique glass clad connections to the four gopurams makes this temple stand out from the rest of the conventional ones. The sea blue 6 mm heat strengthened glass was specially imported from the United States.

The 36 feet high and 18 feet base, intricately designed and gold plated kalasham was placed on top of the temple, about 150 feet high, by a chain pulley. This was a great engineering feat considering the risk of lifting the gold plated kalasham, weighing 1.5 tonnes, over a glass canopy to a height of 150 feet.

The deities in the main sanctum have been placed on a complete piece of stone column of about 90 feet height. This was done to ensure that the main altar and sanctum would last for thousands of years. As you stand at the entrance of the temple the total height from the road level is 200 feet.

The original simple temple design started in 1990, which was estimated to cost Rs10 crore, gave way to a more stunning, unique architectural model that finally costed Rs 32 crores. Today, it represents a fusion between majestic traditional styles and bold new aesthetics. More astonishing is the fact that all these funds were raised from within Karnataka alone.

The Prathistha ceremonies or Deity installation ceremonies was conducted in the month of April 1997. Yajnas were held for continuous 45 days, non-stop. On 31st May 1997, the President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma inaugurated the Sri Radha Krishna Chandra Temple and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Cultural Complex.

Today ISKCON, Bangalore, draws people from all over India and also the world. Daily the temple is visited by 6,000 to 8,000 devotees. On Saturdays, around 12,000 to 15,000 come and on Sundays the number goes up to 20,000. And the amazing fact is that everyone is given Donnas of Prasadam (Kichidi). ISKCON has nine kitchens, where the huge amounts of Prasadam that is required everyday is cooked.

ISKCON also celebrates the birthdays of all its members. Since there are so many members, there is a birthday to celebrate every day and all its 30,000 Life Members are invited for breakfasts and dinners. So, there's a sumptuous breakfast of Kara Pongal, Upma, a sweet and a fried dish. For those who can make it in the evenings, there's dinner of Bisi Bele Baath, Curd Rice, a sweet and a khara. They normally get around 100 guests for breakfast and around 250 guests for dinner.

More on ISKCON Temple

|