New Vrindaban: Past and Present

A Photo Tour of a Hare Krishna Community in West Virginia

This is the main temple at New Vrindaban, located just behind the palace lodge. It was built in 1981 as a place for the worship and care of the deities. The outer rooms on the first floor and the rooms in upstairs portion of the temple were originally used as living quarters for married devotees. Each married couple had one private room and shared a communal bathroom.

The current main temple structure at New Vrindaban was meant to be a temporary building in lieu of a more permanent structure. At the time of the temple's construction the community was raising, on average, 1.3 million dollars per year and little thought was given to self-sufficiency. A more permanent temple made of brick or stone was planned for the hill just behind the Palace of Gold. The new temple may become a reality, but is not currently in the works.

This playroom occupies part of the space formerly used as residences for married devotees. Space next to this room has been converted into an office. Both rooms are located off the main temple room.

This room, used for children's religion classes, is also located off the main temple room. It was formerly a residence for married devotees.

The temple also houses a gift shop where devotees and visitors can buy miniature statues of the deities, paintings, postcards, clothing, and items used by the Hare Krishnas during their worship.

These are the front steps to the palace entrance. The palace was originally designed to be a second home for the founder of ISKCON, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, but after his death it was converted into a memorial. Construction of the palace began in about 1974 and ended in 1979.

Shown here is one of many sculptures surrounding the palace. The materials used in the construction of the palace are diverse, with marble from 17 different countries and crystal from Austria and Czechoslovakia.

This is a view from atop the palace overlooking the West Virginian landscape.

Seen here is the front entryway to the palace. All of the palace's design work was done by Krishna devotees who had no prior architectural or construction experience.

A picture taken from the side of the palace shows the gold leaf covered dome on top. The total cost for the palace was about 400,000 dollars. The gold work alone cost approximately 16,000 dollars.

A gazebo that is on the corner of the palace. The palace has been called "The Palace of Gold," referring to the 80 ounces of gold that covers it.

Shown here is the front walkway leading to the palace entrance. The wall was built for protection after a shooting incident.

This view of the palace gazebo shows one of the many fountains that line the roof and terrace.

There are fourteen cabins such as this on the New Vrindaban property. Two cabins serve as housing for community devotees, while the other twelve are part of New Vrindaban's retreat center for Hare Krishna pilgrims. Available March through November, people visiting the community may rent the retreat cabins for the weekend, week, or month and have easy access to the temple and Palace of Gold.

The palace lodge, traditionally known as the Dharmshalla, is the other main component of New Vrindaban's retreat center. It is a place for pilgrims to rest on their journey from one holy place to another. Many visitors to the community choose to rent rooms in the palace lodge because it is located directly across from the temple.

The palace lodge contains 38 guest rooms, ranging in size from four to eight beds. Modest accommodations include linens and air conditioning, with unattached, individual bathrooms located near the guest rooms.

The lower level of the palace lodge serves various functions for the community. It houses the lobby for the lodge, as well as Govinda's Snack Bar and a thrift store, which generate revenue for the community. There is also a large, versatile meeting room downstairs where weddings and conferences are held.

Located near the temple, these apartments are owned by New Vrindaban and house many of the devotees.

This barn is across the street from Bahulaban, the abandoned temple at New Vrindaban. The community once comprised approximately 3,000 acres at the height of its membership. Now holding less than 1,400 acres, the community has sold parcels of land to members who can then build private homes close to the community. Members have also started businesses on these lots - one, a jewelry shop and another, a vegetarian jerky company - and hired devotees.

This building was used for living quarters and housed a manufacturing facility. The second floor housed individuals and families in single rooms. The top floor housed shops for stained glass, chandelier making, sewing and various other crafts, while the ground floor contained the casting and molding shop. These workshops were used to make the various components of the palace.

Built in 1974 as a second barn, this building is near the cattle grazing fields. Krishnas practice a system of grazing called rotational grazing, which involves methodically moving cattle to different grazing fields.

This silo stands next to the second barn. Next to the silo there is an apple orchard, which needs heaving pruning and other care to return it to top production. It does still bear, however, and is still used by devotees.

This building is called the Oakdale Schoolhouse. It was the one-room schoolhouse for the pioneer farm families in the area. The Hare Krishnas added the porch-like structure onto the front in the early 1980's for use as a sculpture studio. Also, the original bell used when the building operated as a schoolhouse still hangs in the cupola.

Another view of the Oakdale Schoolhouse shows the long addition at the back. The addition was used as a molding shop and metal foundry during the construction of the palace at New Vrindaban.

A group of community residents have organized themselves into a neighborhood association and plan to renovate the Oakdale Schoolhouse for use as a community center that will be used for light entertainment.

This is the original temple, which was the center of the community in the 1970's. It was a divisional farmhouse with two extensions. When it was in use, there was an average attendance of 40 to 50 people per service. It is named Bahulaban after one of the 12 sacred forests of Vrindaban, India.

The deities were placed on the center altar. Women worshiped on the right side and the men on the left of the temple room. The floor is made of marble. Near the altar was the dais asan, which is a seat for the guru or spiritual master to use while giving class. This is significant because A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came in 1972, 1974, and 1976 and sat in the dais asan at this temple.

This is the entryway into the temple additions.

On one of the walls of the extension there used to be a stained glass window, but it was destroyed when a motorcycle gang smashed the window in a search for a missing girl.

This is the entryway to the old temple, originally a farmhouse owned by the Caufield family. Descendents of the Caufield family that lived in this house still live in homes nearby. The house was built in the early 1900s and was purchased by the Krishna community in 1970.

The once brightly painted and beautifully decorated room inside the original temple is no longer used. Currently there are no plans to restore the building due to lack of funding.

Originally, when the Caufields owned the property, this building was a milk processing center. The Krishna community used the building as a temporary kitchen.

This large, pink building originally housed the first residences for married people. As the community grew, up to four families would live together in one room with a common bathroom and kitchen.

This building, the original headquarters for the community, is now without heat and electricity. It was built in 1971 and town meetings were held here. The building is now home to a single man and approximately thirty kittens.

A bumper sticker on a door at Bahulaban is a faded reminder of the community's heyday.

This is the Goshalla, which in Sanskrit means, "shelter for cows." It is a small barn, close to the guesthouse and temple, that houses a small number of cows.

This building is the repair shop for New Vrindaban. At one time it served as the winter home for Malani, a young elephant owned by the community.

This is another view of the Goshalla with the green-sided Agricultural Center in the foreground. The center houses town meetings between members of the Hare Krishna and surrounding communities. It also contains a common kitchen, two guest rooms, a computer room, and a small farm library of the original Mother Earth News. It is important to note that A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada stayed in this building during his visit to the community in 1974.

An extension of New Vrindaban's organic agricultural effort, this is known as the educational garden.

This is The Garden of Seven Gates, so named for its seven entrances on the hillside overlooking the community. This garden is the result of a single visitor's donation to the community that was made after taking a tour of the educational garden. This garden supplements the educational garden with winter crops such as Swiss chard, beets, and kale to stabilize the food supply of the community.

This is a view looking down from the top of the garden. The barn at the base of the hill was built as a temporary structure to house equipment during construction of the temple and now serves as storage for the community. The small structure seen upon the hill in the distance, beyond the barn, is the home of one of the community's sannyasis, or holy men who have renounced the material world. The sannyasi lives apart from the rest of the community, devoting his time to working with draft animals.

This garden is an important part of New Vrindaban's vision for the community's future.