page 17

No News

Krishna's Spiritual Disneyland

Every so often we are treated to a bit of light entertainment by the appearance of a rather gay group of bald headed, bright yellow saffron robed Hare Krishnas. With beads, drums, and clanging cymbals, they chant and boom-cha-boom their way down the streets of our city. Attracted by their gregarious enthusiasm and colour we succumb to their pleas for donations. One American federal district judge described some of their fund raisers as "engaged in a widespread and systematic scheme of accosting, deceit, misrepresentation and fraud on the public."

Now they are showing off some of their acquired wealth, and in an unlikely setting. Above Moundsville, in the West Virginia hills -the setting for one of Zane Grey's mountain country western's - four miles up a rutted road from the nearest highway - 60 Hare Krishnas who taught themselves to be artisans by trial and error, built an incredible peacock hued "Palace of Gold". It is the first installment of what the settlement's leader envisages as a "spiritual Disneyland where people can come and be amazed".

Amazed was one word for the 15,000 disciples and tourists attending the "grand opening" recently. The colourful festival marked 'Janmastami', birthday of the Lord Krishna, who is the object of the movement's ceaseless chanted devotions.

The fussily decorated palace consumed 63 tons of imported marble, ten tons of wrought iron, three tons of carved teakwood from India, onyx for inlaying, thousands of square feet of gold and copper leaf, 42 crystal chandeliers, as well as enough stained glass for 80 windows. Claimed cost of the materials: $500,000. The palace was begun in 1973 as a part time residence for His Divine Grace A.C. Bhattivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Indian businessman who, late in life took monastic vows and in 1965 arrived in New York City to launch the Hare Krishna movement. But the swami died three years ago, and the building was turned into a samadh (shrine) in his memory. Two devotional rooms contain life size and unnervingly life like statues of the founder, made of resin.

The palace is set on a 2,000 acre spread that includes a farm and is called 'New Vrindaben' after the town in India where the incarnate Krishna lived five millenniums ago. But life has not always been peaceful amongst the grazing cows, following a bloody shooting incident in 1973, the swami's flock have stockpiled firearms for self defence, a practise that has spread to other communities.

To help draw friendly visitors, the present swami plans to add a vegetarian restaurant and museum this year, and a terrace garden in 1982. Eventually there will be seven temples in the complex of equal grandeur. However Sergeant Thomas Westfall of the county sheriff's department doubts it will ever be, so to speak, a tourists' mecca. "The roads are terrible and you may need a jeep."

My only regret is that such groups have not as yet appeared on our own campuses - in the numbers that have populated American universities - we too could do with a little of their disconcerting colour and simple egotism, to fill the void.