Message from Adridharana Dasa, Temple President ISKCON Calcutta:

We have been inundated with requests from many devotees to be kept up to date with all the many exciting changes and developments that are now taking place in ISKCON. Thus we intend to send out regular updates to devotees all around the world. Welcome to the first of these updates. This newsletter is being sent to over 2000 devotees, and that number is growing daily. If you know of any other devotees who would like to be kept informed of all that is going on in ISKCON, please send us their e-mail address. Thank you, and best wishes for Sri Krishna Janmastami, and Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja.    

1. Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja Celebration.  
2. Manhattan Skyscraper Temple Project Update.
3. Ratha Yatra Report
4. GBC Court Case update.    

Adridharan das, temple president of Calcutta, Madhu Pandit Dasa, temple president of Bangalore, as well as other temple presidents and sannyasis are flying in for Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa-Puja celebration to be held in London, on Sunday, 5th September, at the United Reform Church, Station Road, Radlett. This hall is only minutes by car from Bhaktivedanta Manor, and is also just a few hundred yards from Radlett train station. The program will be from 2 to 7 pm.

Madhu Pandit prabhu is bringing a special video projector to present a multi-media show on the Bangalore temple, which is the biggest in ISKCON, and receives up to 100,000 visitors every week, and where the temple store alone sells thousands of Srila Prabhupada's books every week. For further information on this program, please contact Chris Murphy on 0795 7355402 (uk), or by e-mail at mahajale@cwcom.net.   

You may have heard that at our meeting in New York, we launched a project to restore Srila Prabhupada's skyscraper temple in the heart of New York.

This 13th storey temple, which used to be located on West 55th in Manhattan's mid-town, was unfortunately sold due to mismanagement, and has now been converted into apartments. We are registering a non-profit corporation called "The Radha Govinda Temple and International Cultural Center", and have already had many pledges of donations towards the $1 million down-payment. We have already seen a number of buildings from Central Park all the way to the downtown area in Wall Street. The temple will be devoted exclusively to daily book distribution and harinam, and we already have devotees who will join the men's and ladies book distribution party. The temple will also house a large restaurant and adjoining guest house. As an interim measure we intend to open by October a storefront in Manhattan, which will serve as an office for the project, and which will house up to 10 sankirtan devotees who will be working full-time at acquiring the temple. For more information on this project, please write to me at the following address Adri@cwcom.net    

We held the largest Ratha Yatra festival in many years here in Calcutta.

Srila Prabhupada stated that the Ratha Yatra festival in Calcutta should be the largest in the world. Thanks to his divine mercy this has come to pass, with over 1.5 million people seeing the deities this year. This festival is now the largest in the world, bigger than even the Ratha Yatra held in Jagannatha Puri.

Also at the nightly pandal program, we set a new record, with over 100,000 people coming each night to see the stage show and deities in a huge temporary temple, the size of the Juhu temple in Bombay, erected especially for the purpose. On the stage we had Srila Prabhupada's murti, with a huge sign in both English and Bengali, that stated:

"Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya and Spiritual Master for ISKCON."  

As you may know a court case against the GBC and all the initiating gurus has been filed in the Calcutta high court, where the GBC is registered.

Firstly I think it is important to dispel a number of myths about this case:

Myth 1 "We are suing ISKCON"

FACT: The case is against the GBC and named individuals only, not ISKCON.

The GBC in their wisdom, decided in 1993, to register themselves separately and officially distinct from ISKCON. Thus taking action against them and isolating them from ISKCON, has been facilitated by them. We are only challenging the mismangement of the leaders, not Srila Prabhupada's institution.

Myth 2 "We are like the Gaudiya Matha, fighting over properties, and trying to elect an acarya."

FACT: The case is primarily about a GBC resolution, which the GBC as the managers of the society, have disobeyed. No properties or money are involved, and no acaryas are being elected. Indeed the case simply seeks to restore the acarya, Srila Prabhupada. The GBC resolution in question, states that only directives from Srila Prabhupada can be followed, and does not allow for the abandonment of these instructions without counter-instructions from Srila Prabhupada:  

Myth 3 "These matters can be resolved internally, and there is no need to go outside for justice"

FACT: A number of temple presidents were asked to present their concerns at the GBC meetings in Mayapur this year. However after we had presented our case, the GBC responded by simply expelling us. Thus we were left with no recourse but to bring them to task using the full force of the law, a law incidentally the GBC concurred with, by registering themselves officially in Calcutta.

The case was filed in March, but is coming up for hearing again today, the 30th August. This is because the GBC have continually asked for adjournments, due to a number of problems they face. As well as the fact that they have no case, there has been worldwide pressure from devotees that they remove Satyadhanya Das, the convicted child-abuser, as their official attorney. The affidavit-in-reply that has been supplied by the GBC, names only Satyadhanya as theIr official power of attorney. Even Bir Krishna Goswami, the GBC chairman has agreed that he must be removed.

Unfortunately no such action has yet been taken. All this pressure will now explode once the news that yet another child abuse case against Satyadhanya has been discovered by the ISKCON office of Child protection. However this is top secret, and the authorities have been told to 'sit on it' lest their court case in Calcutta gets further damaged.

We will send you further news as soon as we get it.

We intend to send these updates out regularly. As previously mentioned please send us e-mails of others who you think may wish to receive them.