Although desirous of having a magnificent temple on the land which Madhuha dasa had donated and where one day beautiful deities could be installed, the devotees in Prabhupada Village met at one family’s house for programs for the first six years. In 1997-98, after much planning, the temple blueprints were drawn up by Vatsal dasa and others and ground was broken in 1998.
Mukunda dasa, who lived in the community with his family, was a contractor expert in polysteel (block) construction. The building was framed-in using these polysteel blocks, which were extremely durable and easy to work with – so easy in fact, that the children helped to build the temple as if they were putting legos together! The polysteel was then filled with concrete. A local manufacturer of faux stones volunteered to custom make and donate the stones for the exterior of the temple.
In the beginning – and although a challenge – both the residents and generous donors helped to build the temple. Although work on the temple slowed down after some years, it has again picked up and a lot of the interior work has been done. The surrounding gardens are continually blooming, adding more beauty to the project.
Temple of the Holy Name is a member of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and this site, iskconpv.org, is the official website for the temple. On May 8, 2016, beautiful 4 1/2′ Gaura-Nitai Deities (Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurasundara) were installed in the temple. Please come for a visit! Hare Krsna.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
The primary objective and purpose of the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY NAME is to advance, propagate, and disseminate the universal science of Krishna Consciousness as taught by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna Himself, appeared on Earth (1486-1534) to reveal to us the simple and sublime methods of reviving our dormant relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as taught in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Lord Chaitanya also introduced the Yuga Dharma or the most effective means of making spiritual advancement in the present age, which is known as sankirtana, or the congregational chanting of the Lord’s Holy Name. Srila Prabhupada therefore wanted us to systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values and achieve real unity and peace in the world. We do this by bringing people to the temple to discuss the revealed scriptures, to engage in chanting the Holy Name, to worship the Deity form of Krishna, and to engage in different types of devotional activities meant for the pleasure of Lord Sri Krishna. The temple is also quite naturally the epicenter of profuse distribution of prasadam (delicious, sanctified foodstuffs) which has been prepared and offered to the Lord with love and devotion as well as the distribution of transcendental literatures, which are the basis of our teachings.
Because the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY NAME is situated in a rural community, we also have the profound opportunity to teach a simpler, more natural way of life by growing our own food, protecting and demonstrating the usefulness of the cows and bulls (oxen), as well as other important aspects of Vedic culture.