[Translation from Hindi] By currentcrime.com – August 22, 2019: Bengaluru (EMS): By 2022 ISKCON will build seven massive Krishna temples in INDIA. With an outlay of 2,100 crore rupees (US $292.2 million) for building, these temples will have unique merits apart from any others. Among them, the cost of the Vrindavan and Bengaluru temples is about 1,500 crore rupees. The special character of these two temples will be that not only will there be darshan of the Lord but they will also be able to experience Krishna’s lila and Vaikuntha as described in the Puranas.
The Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir being built in Vrindavan at a cost of 800 crore will be the world’s tallest religious site. Its height will be about 210 meeters (700 feet). A Krishna-lila theme park being built on Vaikuntha Hill, Bengaluru, will be about 450 feet above the temple. It will be the tallest temple in South India. It will have about 46 stories. On the top floor will be a Radha-Krishna temple, and it is being built on the pattern of the Tirupati temple. It will have seven gates and also have the largest kitchen in the world. It will be constructed on about 3 acres and will cost about 750 crore.
Click here for the original article in Hindi.
These are not ISKCON temples, they are ritviks masquerading as ISKCON.
Yes, but because they have been able thus far to successfully fight legal challenges to their use of the name ISKCON, we are including them under ISKCON news. In the eyes of the Indian state, they are also ISKCON.
Yes, they are ritviks. That doesn’t mean this site endorses ritvikism (we are against it), but it’s important to feature news about them in order to start a discussion.
My own point of view is that when it comes to translating mainstream news articles, we want to keep our own spin out of the translation as far as possible. Sticking warning labels all over it degrades our trustworthiness as translators.
Also, it encourages others to respond (you responded, right?), for or against, which is the kind of duscussion we want.
And finally, I would like to point out that the conflict between “ISKCON” Bangalore and ISKCON proper is an existential one. With the kind of money Madhu Pandit is raising and spending on large temple projects (ISKCON isn’t even coming close), Madhu Pandit’s brand of ISKCON could eventually spread far beyond ISKCON, hence relegating ISKCON to a marginal presence in India. If you care about that kind of thing happening, then this news has value, and this forum provides a means to not only learn about such things but provides a means to respond to them.
So, as always, I look forward to seeing your comments and articles.
Your servant,
I was just worrying that many devotees who do not know the specifics of this ritvik case would assume that it’s our ISKCON that has so much money to throw around, at least in India. There are many things to discuss here – how appropriate a skyscraper temple would be in Vrindavan, for example. Or how does Madhu Pandit finance all these projects. Or how skillfully he promotes them in the media and on the internet and whether we should learn from him or never employ his subterfuge tactics as a matter of principle. Or whether any of these projects will ever take shape – they have been advertised for many years with no sign of progress on his promotional sites. He rather creates an impression of firm belief that they will be completed in three years time. Maybe even before our very visible TOVP, which is a ridiculous proposition.
On the subject of avoiding confusion – I understand in Russia they solved the problem of possible terrorist propaganda in a simple way – every mention of organizations such as ISIS or Al Qaeda must come with a disclaimer “prohibited in Russian Federation”. This way their monitoring agencies don’t need to parse whether the overall tone of the article is supportive and meant to deceive the general population. The disclaimer should be there clearly visible for every reader.
Madhu Pandit’s case has been going on for a long time and there might be generations of new devotees who never hear of him and wouldn’t recognize him as a ritvik even after looking at his promotional materials. The relevant GBC resolution is almost 25 years old and I suspect most of the devotees who joined since don’t really understand what it was all about.
Your servant,
Sitalatma das
I agree with your suggestion on making some editorial label or “for your information” for future articles. Ys, KKdas
But this website serves the devotees, not the Indian state! Why confuse the devotees?
I was just worrying that many devotees who do not know the specifics of this ritvik case would assume that it’s our ISKCON that has so much money to throw around, at least in India. There are many things to discuss here – how appropriate a skyscraper temple would be in Vrindavan, for example. Or how does Madhu Pandit finance all these projects. Or how skillfully he promotes them in the media and on the internet and whether we should learn from him or never employ his subterfuge tactics as a matter of principle. Or whether any of these projects will ever take shape – they have been advertised for many years with no sign of progress on his promotional sites. He rather creates an impression of firm belief that they will be completed in three years time. Maybe even before our very visible TOVP, which is a ridiculous proposition.
On the subject of avoiding confusion – I understand in Russia they solved the problem of possible terrorist propaganda in a simple way – every mention of organizations such as ISIS or Al Qaeda must come with a disclaimer “prohibited in Russian Federation”. This way their monitoring agencies don’t need to parse whether the overall tone of the article is supportive and meant to deceive the general population. The disclaimer should be there clearly visible for every reader.
Madhu Pandit’s case has been going on for a long time and there might be generations of new devotees who never hear of him and wouldn’t recognize him as a ritvik even after looking at his promotional materials. The relevant GBC resolution is almost 25 years old and I suspect most of the devotees who joined since don’t really understand what it was all about.
Your servant,
Sitalatma das
I agree with your suggestion on making some editorial label or “for your information” for future articles. Ys, KKdas
But this website serves the devotees, not the Indian state! Why confuse the devotees?
These are not ISKCON temples, they are ritviks masquerading as ISKCON.
Yes, but because they have been able thus far to successfully fight legal challenges to their use of the name ISKCON, we are including them under ISKCON news. In the eyes of the Indian state, they are also ISKCON.
Yes, they are ritviks. That doesn’t mean this site endorses ritvikism (we are against it), but it’s important to feature news about them in order to start a discussion.
My own point of view is that when it comes to translating mainstream news articles, we want to keep our own spin out of the translation as far as possible. Sticking warning labels all over it degrades our trustworthiness as translators.
Also, it encourages others to respond (you responded, right?), for or against, which is the kind of duscussion we want.
And finally, I would like to point out that the conflict between “ISKCON” Bangalore and ISKCON proper is an existential one. With the kind of money Madhu Pandit is raising and spending on large temple projects (ISKCON isn’t even coming close), Madhu Pandit’s brand of ISKCON could eventually spread far beyond ISKCON, hence relegating ISKCON to a marginal presence in India. If you care about that kind of thing happening, then this news has value, and this forum provides a means to not only learn about such things but provides a means to respond to them.
So, as always, I look forward to seeing your comments and articles.
Your servant,