PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO VRINDAVAN

SHESH ANANT NAG STHAPNA RITUAL PERFORMED FOR WORLD'S TALLEST SRI KRISHNA TEMPLE

 

 

 

Vrindavan November 16 (IANS)

 

Work on the construction of world's tallest Sri Krishna temple began today at the sprawling 65 acres of land in the heart of Vrindavan, with the president Pranab Mukherjee performing the "Shesh Anant Nag Sthpna" puja. A two-kg idol of Shesh Nag was laid in the foundation of the sky-scraper Sri Krishna temple which will be 700 feet tall when complete after five years.

UP governor Ram Naik, UP's minister of prisons Balram Yadav, Oscar Fernandes, local MP Hema Malini, donors and chief functionaries of the ISKCON the sponsor of the project, were present in addition to a large number of saints, sadhus and businessmen.

Madhu Pandit Das ji, chairman of the temple project said this is a project that will help shape India's future and bring spirituality back in our lives. "The temple is being built at the exact location where Sri Krishna with his family had shifted from Gokul to Vrindavan."

Governor Naik said for UP this will be another milestone and another reason in addition to the Taj Mahal, to visit Braj region. More pilgrims and more tourists will help the local economy, he hoped. Naik said he was hopeful the project will be completed before time unlike government projects which usually over-run time and over-run costs.

President Mukherjee said "this concrete edifice will be a living and dynamic centre of culture promotion and for the dissemination of the philosophical message enshrined in the Srimad Bhagwat Gita whose message was very relevant today. Gita could reconnect and be our link with the past. The president hoped this centre would help rejuvenate spirituality and the timeless message of Sri Krishna. He said he was glad that the state and the central governments were promoting this hub of religious tourism. The present project adds a new dimension which could have a spin-off benefits to the local society.

Praising the founder of ISKCON, Srila Prabhu pad, president Mukherjee said due to his efforts the Sri Krishna consciousness has spread all over and the quintessence message of love, harmony and compassion, that form the core of the 5000 year old Indian civilisation has been widely disseminated. Referring to the 500th year of Chaitnya Mahaprabhu's visit to Vrindavan, Mukherjee said Chaitnya led the cultural renaissance in the 15th century through his efforts to popularise the principles of ancient texts. This temple project will seek to promote those ideas.

President Mukherjee also visited the famous Sri Bankey Bihari temple.