Sridham Mayapur -- An Example to the World

This empowered personality appeared as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Srila Prabhupāda preached vigorously and established temples in most major cities of the world. But for Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada had a special plan.

He wanted to build a spiritual city, a place where people of all nations would live in peace, in full Krishna consciousness, a place which would be an example to the world. Srila Prabhupada's dream is gradually coming true. The Sri Mayapur project has begun to develop into its ultimate goal as the spiritual capital of the world. In just two decades, the project has grown dynamically.

But how did it all start? Jayaprakaswami tells us more. So Srila Prabhupada, as soon as he came to India in 1970, that time he sent devotees out to get the land in Mayapur. First he tried to get land from different other temples, tried to work cooperatively with different institutions, but no one wanted to, at that time, give them any land.

So he decided that he'll purchase the land to fulfill Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's dream. Nityananda Prabhu predicted that here there'll be There will be one wonderful temple which will become manifested. That there will be a spiritual city which will come in the future. This was predicted 500 years ago.

So Srila Prabhupada, he wanted to establish, to manifest this dream of Lord Nityananda and the previous Acharyas. We got the land here. At first it was a small piece of land. Immediately Prabhupada said, let us build the big temple.

So this was Srila Prabhupada's vision. He personally laid the foundation stone, putting the Ananta Sesha into the ground here in Mayapur. He invited all of the Vaiṣṇavas. He said, let us cooperate together and do something wonderful for Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

The first Gaurapurīma festival was held, and devotees came from all over the world to celebrate the birth of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Here they were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, distributing prasād. And this way Śrīla Prabhupāda said, continue this festival. Let the glories of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu expand everywhere throughout the entire world.

Let the people get the highest perfection of life from here, Sri Mayapur, down. Today, more than 750,000 pilgrims visit Sri Mayapur project every year. The Gaur Purnima festival itself attracts more than 250,000 visitors on peak days. The attraction is the Sri Mayapur Chandra Daya Mandir, wherein reside the Lordships Sri Mayapur Chandra, Sri Sri Radha Madhav, as well as Sri Narasimha.

Present, 500 men and children from 21 countries have made Sri Mayapur project their home. An ashram with accommodation for 350 brahmacharis, as well as two housing colonies with facilities for over 60 families are already filled to capacity. Surrounding the temple, four guest houses with over 200 rooms provide accommodation for visiting pilgrims. The fertile fields of Sri Mayapur, coupled with hard labor and devotion to the Lord, ensure the residents of the community a bountiful crop.

Everyone in Mayapur is engaged in serving the Lord, including the zoo elephant. Here it is being washed in preparation for the weekly festival, in which the deities are taken out in holy procession The preaching mood of Lord Chaitanya is well absorbed by the residents of the community. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust prints hundreds of Bhagavad Gitas and other Vedic literature every day. These books are then distributed by the devotees to all, giving them a chance to fulfill the aim of their existence by becoming Krishna conscious.

The area of Sri Mayapur is prone to flooding from the Ganges. During its 20-year history, the devotees have mounted massive relief efforts on several occasions when the water had flooded entire villages. Mayapur project also provides various forms of supplemental nutrition programs for the local people. Its regular Food for Life program has distributed over 7 million free meals to date.

Of the future citizens of Mayapur's spiritual city, study in the Bhaktivedanta Gurukul village. Built entirely using traditional materials, the peaceful atmosphere of the complex enhances the Krishna conscious mood of simple living, high thinking. Here, the students study not only basic academics, but greater emphasis is given on the spiritual development of the children. Bhaktivedyapurna Swami explains.

The students live with the teachers in the Gurukul, and the teachers, they set example to the students by their own behavior, their own lifestyle, in which they learn to live the philosophy, live the values that they are taught within the Gurukul. So Srila Prabhupada envisioned that here in Mayapur, with this great city of the Mayapur project, that we would also need to establish an educational system in which the rest of the world could see and take example from. And by this example, then others could become inspired to take up this Vedic culture and apply it in their own life, and give this culture to others. The rest in the Sri Mayapur project has been substantial.

Plans for the future are even more ambitious. Built for the glorification of the great Acharya, Srila Prabhupada's Pushpa Samadhi Mandir rises over 160 feet into the air. The huge marble-clad dome has been noted as the largest of its kind in Asia. Local artisans are being engaged in making doll exhibits for the museum section.

Thus, a dying tradition is being saved. When completed in 1996, the Samadhi Mandir is bound to become one of the major architectural landmarks of eastern India. The most ambitious plan, however, is the construction of the central temple, designed to be the biggest Vaishnava temple in the world. Harikesh Swamy describes the project.

This temple will be very glorious. Srila Prabhupada has designed the concept of the temple he has called it the temple of Vedic planetarium he wanted that we showed exactly the structure of the universe as it is given in the Vedic literatures which are contradiction to the modern scientific theories and we show how the planets of the universe are rotating above the head of the deities in the temple. We hope to have approximately 10,000 people in this temple at any one time, perhaps more. The engineering is being done by some of the most qualified architects in the world.

So we invite all of you to come to Mayapur and to see the site of this temple and to see it being constructed and to help produce this temple by offering your services in whatever way is possible. Srila Bhaktivinoda had another vision. He foresaw the emergence of a spiritual city in Mayapur. Today, the process has begun, but a lot more has to be done.

Become a part of the project. Help fulfill the dream of the Acharyas. Help build a city which would serve as an example to the world. Thank you.