When you think of Texas certain stereotypes come to mind: cowboys, the old kind or the new football kind.
You think of oil and JR (from the 1980's TV series "Dallas").
And probably the last thing you would ever think of would be the Hare Krishnas.
The Krishnas came to Dallas back in 1972.
Their temple was situated on the wrong side of the tracks in East Dallas but as Srila Prabhuapda said in 1974 in an interview:
Reporter: "Why was Dallas particularly chosen?"
Prabhupada: "Yes, we got a nice house and we accepted it, so it was Krishna's choice."
Since those early days the Krishnas have done a lot of work mending the fences in the neighborhood and outside the neigborhood the Krishnas have made some influential friends.
"They've raised the land values, the neighborhood is safer for the people who live around the temple, its more beautiful, its got a lot of open park area that everyone shares.
And I really enjoyed that."
"I think it's very interesting that y'all have acquired so much property in East Dallas, because it's a true Dallas trait, to block up property so you can control your own life, and I think it's good, it's very interesting."
The presence of the Hare Krishna's in Dallas have caused some remarkable changes.
Dallas has come a long way from the stereotypes of cowboys and rednecks and nowhere is this greater tolerance and awareness more evident than at Kalachandijs, the Hare Krishna restaurant in Dallas, named after the temple deities.
There's an old saying that the way to a man's heart is through is stomach and in September of 1982 the Krishna's started their restaurant.
It didn't seem that Kalachandijs had the formula for sure-fire success in a poor neighborhood, not exactly famous for gourmet restaurants with a menu that excludes meat, fish and eggs and it even prohibits alcholic beverages of any kind.
But surprisingly, from the very beginning Kalachandji's was a runaway success winning unamious aclaim as one of the ten best resaturants in Dallas.
The Porsches and Mercedes parked outside are proof of an up-scale cliental.
Dallas professionals and business people, who sometiems have to wait as much as an hour for a table.
In the 1980's television was a big impact on society and ISKCON television produced many television programs on Krishna consciousness and the preaching activities all over the world.
"Deep in the Heart of Texas" is one of ISKCON Television's productions and is now restored and presented in 1080p HD in its original format.
