|
(¯`·._(¯`·._(¯`·._Home_.·´¯)_.·´¯)_.·´¯) (¯`·._(¯`·._World Address List [][] Talk To Us Q&A [][] Navigation Center_.·´¯)_.·´¯) (¯`·._Related Organizations [][] The World of Hare Krishna [][] Research Resources_.·´¯) |
|
The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium
History of the design
Srila Prabhupada appreciated the design. A model about 3 feet high was completed and displayed in the open on a main pathway. Srila Prabhupada was eager to start construction on the temple, although its estimated cost would be about $75,000,000, a then unthinkable sum. ISKCON had few resources to undertake such a huge project and owned but a fraction of the land required to build the temple. Still, Srila Prabhupada was so enthusiastic and determined to start the construction in his lifetime that he laid the cornerstone in the middle of the fields on the appearance day of Lord Caitanya in 1977 and instructed us to immediately start excavating for the foundation. This was truly inconceivable. We didn't own the land, we didn't have any money (all available funds were going to the completion of the Bombay temple) and, most important, we didn't have a clue what the interior of the temple would look like or what the foundation would be. But since it was Srila Prabhupada's order, we seriously considered what to do. Soon we realized that it was a hopeless situation and gave up in frustration. In retrospect, it seems that Srila Prabhupada knew he didn't have much longer to live and soon would have to leave the planet. He knew that unless he began the project, his young disciples would be left helpless and unable to execute his plans. And he was right. Although his disciples could not fulfill his order immediately, because they were sincere and dedicated to his instructions, they tried to move toward the point where the construction of the temple would be possible. One may not be able to execute the order of the spiritual master immediately, but if one dedicates his life, wealth, mind, energy, and intelligence to eventually fulfilling the spiritual master's order, one can satisfy him, and thus the Lord. We saw that although Srila Prabhupada was asked in 1921 by his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, to preach the message of Lord Caitanya in English throughout the world, Srila Prabhupada could not fulfill that order until 1965. Therefore, following the axiom, "Better late than never," the disciples of Srila Prabhupada started, in a humble way, to find the means by which this order could be fulfilled. To all concerned, it quickly became apparent that the first design was not going to work, that a new one had to be drafted, and that a team was required to do the work. Therefore at the meetings of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of ISKCON during the 1979 festival, one and a half years after the departure of Srila Prabhupada from this world, Jayapataka Swami, the GBC representative for Mayapur, proposed that a new committee be established. The Sri Mayapur Project Development Committee (SMPDC) was then started. Its goal was to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's order and develop the Mayapur project. Over the next 8 years, three significant attempts at creating a workable design were submitted to the GBC for approval. The first, in 1982, was a design by Saurabha das, now Surabhirabhipalayantam das Swami, which was rejected due to its seemingly inappropriate form. In 1984, a professional architect named Suryakant Patel, from Baroda, India, was commissioned to create a design according to specifications given by the SMPDC. Although his design won the approval of many committee members, it was felt to be too similar to other temples in India. So in 1985 he was asked to start work on another design, in the same vernacular but with a different and original form. He completed the new design in 1987 and presented a massive model at the 1988 Mayapur meeting of the GBC of ISKCON. The scale and look of the model impressed everyone, but significant doubts remained in the minds of the GBC members. First, the calculated price of the building was $75,000,000. Although this was the original budget in 1977, everyone thought that the figure was unreachable. The revised budget for the building was $30,000,000, which ISKCON could raise through donations given over a 20-year period by its book publishing outlet, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. The second consideration, which was to become a deciding factor in all the designs to follow, was that the building should be able to stand for 1000 years. Although cement and steel structures were being widely built around the world, and although one can design unusual and original shapes with such materials, the actual life of such structures is only 80-125 years at most. Because the steel used to reinforce the concrete forms oxidizes, the concrete cracks and sometimes "explodes" and the seriously weakened structure disintegrates. Therefore the GBC body, thinking that such endeavor and expense should not so quickly be wasted, decided that the structure must be made of durable materials such as stone or long-lasting cements without steel reinforcement. Such considerations caused Suryakant Patel to drop out of the project. He said that he could not design structures out of any other materials but cement and steel. The GBC body gave a new mandate for the acceptable qualities of the design, construction materials, and building process. The designers went back to the drawing board to come up with new ideas. Thus the SMPDC, struggling 10 years after the departure of Srila Prabhupada, was back to square one. In 1991, the GBC decided to bring in another professional architect, A.K. Menon, from Delhi. Instead of one main sikhara (dome) with all the Deities and the planetarium underneath, he was directed by the GBC body to create three sikharas, each housing a different Deity. Since he was familiar with brick and masonry work, he could design domes in front of the sikharas that were 50 meters in diameter, sufficient to allow 10,000 people darshan, or viewing of the Deities, at once. He worked with a highly-skilled and respected engineer, Mr. Chaudhary, also from Delhi. They planned to secure the dome with removable cables, which would protect it from cracking and collapsing under the tensile forces that tend to push it out from the walls underneath. It seemed that we finally had a design we could have faith in. It would last 1000 years and was within the budget. But during the contractual discussion with Mr. Menon, serious problems arose. The advisors of the SMPDC, a group of dedicated Life Members of ISKCON who were professional contractors used to dealing with architects in their businesses, held a series of negotiations with the proposed architect. They concluded that Mr. Menon was far too expensive, and cheaper architects could be found. Then they and Mr. Menon mutually decided that he would drop out of the project. While this was going on, many devotees from ISKCON presented their versions of the temple. Matsya Avatar das, a professional designer from Italy, Bharata das, Mayapur's terracotta expert, and Padasevanam das, a young devotee designer from Australia, presented significant designs. In the 1992 meeting, the GBC considered these different designs. Although some designs were interesting, the GBC decided that none of them were feasible and that professionals would again have to be brought in. It was then decided that Padasevanam das would become the "in-house" ISKCON designer to represent the interests of the GBC to outside architects. Our Life Members and Satadhanya das, the legal secretary of the Mayapur Project, started a search around Calcutta for qualified architects. Khanvinde, the revered architect of ISKCON's Delhi project, was asked if he knew anyone in Calcutta who could design ISKCON's temple in Mayapur. He recommended Dulal Mukherjee, who was contacted and invited to Mayapur for a meeting. From a proposed floor plan and basic external design for a temple by Padasevanam das, Mr. Mukherjee started his drawings and suggestions for the "look and feel" of the temple. Although Mr. Mukherjee was one of the most expert architects the SMPDC had employed, he wanted to make the temple much larger than we could afford to build, and it was felt he was going in a direction unacceptable to the committee. He too was rejected, and the search continued. Satadhanya das and Vijay Thakkar, an active Life Member of ISKCON and professional construction contractor, contacted through a Calcutta government master planner one architect who had recently returned from the United States, Asit Narayana Sen Gupta, from Madras. Padasevanam das spent one year working with him on design schemes. Finally they came up with a temple design having three sikharas. Although that design was well formed and seemed to be just what we were looking for, Vijay Thakkar, ISKCON's main advisor, thought that the financial concerns and guarantees for ISKCON were not addressed in the proposed contract with Mr. Sen Gupta. Investigations showed a possibility that the work would not be completed, and therefore other options were considered. One option was to approach Mr. Khanvan De, the grand old master architect from Delhi. The devotionally-minded Khanvan De had been designing the Glory of India temple project in Delhi for ISKCON without charge. He was personally spending his time out of love for the project and respect for Lord Krishna, the ultimate enjoyer of the work he was doing. Seeing his devotional nature, and wanting such an architect for Mayapur, Harikesa Swami, an SMPDC member, contacted Gopal Krishna Maharaja, the GBC member in charge of the Delhi project, and asked him to try to get Khanvan De to work for Mayapur as well. After some preliminary meetings in Delhi with Khanvan De, he came to Mayapur for an eventful meeting with the Development Committee. Many different ideas were tossed around at that meeting, since the plan of the temple was not yet fixed in the mind of Mr. De. He liked the three-sikhara model of the temple, but he was not sure whether to have one dome connected in three lines to the different sikharas or three domes. While the discussion was going on, the SMPDC members realized that it would be better to return to Srila Prabhupada's original idea -- one main sikhara over all the Deities. The planetarium and exhibitions on the floors above the Deities in four domes surrounding the sikhara was drawn on the board, and all the members immediately recognized the idea as the solution to all our problems. It made sense and seemed to be the right direction to follow. But due to traffic flow considerations and design constraints, Khanvan De thought that this idea was not practical, and he did not want to pursue it further. Yet the SMPDC was convinced that they had the solution, although it looked as though they might not be able to continue with Mr. De. This was the cause of much lamentation, as he had seemed to be the perfect person to continue with the design. The SMPDC had no other alternative to turn to, and they were starting to get worried. At this time, Krishna, the Supreme Controller, inspired Padasevanam das to begin a design based on a singular sikhara surrounded by four domes. Working privately in his room, Padasevanam das made a drawing of his idea and presented it to the SMPDC some months later. Although at first some doubted that this was the design the SMPDC was looking for, soon all members of the committee agreed that this was the best design they had seen so far, and it raised a glimmer of hope. During the summer and fall of 1993, Padasevanam das worked on his design at a furious pace. He managed to complete enough detailed conceptual drawings to convince the SMPDC that this was the awaited design, and they then had detailed perspectives drawn. After the completion of the detailed drawings, a model of the temple was commissioned, and a Ukrainian devotee, Jambavati devi dasi, built the model. The goal was to present the model, floor plans, and elevation drawings to the GBC body at their next annual meeting in March of 1994. Still, a problem remained. Who would be the architect of the building? Professionals were needed to confirm the structure and draft a detailed design practical for the construction and durability of the building. The SMPDC, considering the problem, concluded that they were disappointed with the services of most of the best architects in India. It became obvious that the scale of this building required the services of more experienced Western firms, who knew how to deal with the size, complexity and 1000-year life span of the building. No one had done anything on this scale in India in recent years. Architects were required who could create the infrastructure necessary to manifest this building. Thus ISKCON would have to spend a considerable amount of money on the design and recognize this as a necessary austerity for the undertaking of such an enormous project. The members of the SMPDC, with Padasevanam das, went to Boston to meet with Bill LeMesseur, a top-quality professional engineer and the chief of the Cambridge Seven architectural firm, as well as a well-wisher of ISKCON who had visited Mayapur many years before. In that meeting, the SMPDC described its design and desires, and everything seemed favorable for creating a working relationship with this group. Several books of Krishna consciousness were left with the architects, so that they could get a feel for the philosophy behind the movement. The architects studied the books of Srila Prabhupada for one week. However, they decided that building a temple that was not only a structure but a statement about a cosmography they could not comprehend was too much for their limited staff, and they dropped out of the picture. Meanwhile in Miami, Abhiram das, an SMPDC member, and Padasevanam das met with El-Wakil, world-renowned for creating large masonry domes for Islamic structures in the Middle East. He suggested that he could help, but that Keith Critchlow Associates (KCA) in London, where El-Wakil was based, could do much of the design work with Padasevanam das. So off to London they went to meet with Keith. In London, they found a receptive ear in Keith Critchlow, a designer exclusively concerned with spiritual structures. Although having mainly worked in the Islamic tradition, KCA were just starting to branch out into the Vedic tradition as well. They were eager to take on an exciting and beautiful project that would have a lasting impact on the culture of the world. KCA suggested that they could work on the design with Padasevanam das, and TRIAD Architects and Planners could draft the architectural drawings and manage the project throughout the construction stage. TRIAD was contacted, and they gave an estimate of the costs involved. Armed with this knowledge, the devotees returned to Mayapur in time for the GBC meetings of March 1994. It was a time of anxiety for Harikesa Swami, now Project Director of Mayapur, and Padasevanam das, now the father of the design. How would the GBC react? The new design was totally different from the previous designs and specifications that the GBC had given a few years before. And ISKCON would have to spend a few million dollars just designing the temple and coming to the point where construction could begin. Abhiram das, a professional developer and ISKCON devotee, was called in to make the formal presentation to the GBC body. After much preparation and many strategy meetings, an outline of his presentation was developed that should, by all material calculations, win over the minds of the GBC men. The date of the presentation was soon set. Padasevanam das, in anxiety over the results, called one of his astrologer friends in Delhi and asked him to chart out the best times during the day of the presentation to accomplish the goal of approval. The answer came that one had to finish the presentation before 11 a.m., otherwise it could turn out badly. The Chairman of the GBC was contacted, and the time of the Mayapur presentation was fixed at 10 a.m. The room was set up before the GBC body entered. The model was placed in the middle of the floor, covered with a white cloth. Colored floor plans and elevations of the design were hung on the exhibition board and covered. Abhiram das began his presentation, carefully describing the importance of the temple and its significance over the next 1000 years. He described that the temple was already spiritually present on the site; it only had to be manifested by ISKCON. The previous acaryas had seen it and Srila Prabhupada wanted it. Thus there was nothing else for us to do but to make it happen. After the introduction was completed, the GBC members started to get impatient, waiting for some indication of what the design looked like. When the cover was removed from the model, an uproar arose in the meeting. Dozens of GBC members rushed from their tables and surrounded the model. Everyone immediately appreciated that this was the design we had been waiting for since 1977. Although we had been waiting for 17 years for this moment, the long wait seemed insignificant as we gazed upon this marvelous model, which seemed to fit all the requirements of the "astounding temple" that Lord Nityananda predicted 500 years before. After a brief description of the features of the temple and its conception, the excited GBC members returned to their seats. Abhirama das and Harikesa Swami presented the next order of business: the authorization for the SMPDC to pursue the architecture and engineering of the temple in the West, specifically in London, at a cost much greater than previously considered. It became clear to all present that such a massive-scale design required a team of expert professionals and that India was not the place to do it. Amongst the top ten architects in India, ISKCON had already gone through five of them and had gotten nowhere. Everyone agreed that the work had to be done in London, and the meeting ended with everyone voicing their appreciation of the work done by Padasevanam das and the other team members. The presentation closed at 11 a.m. Interestingly enough, the business after 11 a.m. was difficult to complete, and the day ended terribly. The astrologer was right! At present, 1996, the design is being developed in the offices of the Mayapur Project in Radlett, a town a little outside of London. After trying to design the temple with TRIAD and KCA for some time, it was determined that it would be much more effective to have our own men in charge of the design process. Therefore Raja Ram das (Hannes Raudner), a professional devotee architect from Austria, presently based in the USA, joined the team as Project Manager. His role is to manage the development of the design and also to coordinate the work of the London engineering firm of Alan Baxter Associates and the Calcutta engineering firm of Stup Engineers. His 25 years of architectural experience have been very helpful to the project. Padasevanam das is heading the project as Chief Architect and other devotees who were formerly working in Mayapur have now moved to Radlett to assist in the design process. The completed design should be ready in 1998 and construction on the temple foundation and site preparation could begin as early as 1999-2000, if the finances permit. |
| © 1997 BBTI, Inc. | Feedback @ |
|
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare |
|