ISKCON Arcana Journal -1-

The ISKCON Deity Worship Journal

Reportage

New Vraja Dh€ma

by Caitanya Candra D€sa

New Vraja Dh€ma is situated in the South west side of Hungary, close to the Balaton lake tourist resort. It is a beautiful 120 hectare tract of land comprising valleys, arable farmland and forests.

Their Lordships reside in a large purpose built temple (1000m²) where they were installed this Janm€˜am…, Centennial year 1996. At the moment there are around 30 men and 30 women resident here. New Vraja Dh€ma is known as ‘KŠa Valley’ by locals and on Hungarian road maps. It is the varŠ€rama project of the Hungarian y€tr€. The Temple is the centre of the village, and houses are being erected by householders around it. At the moment there are around 15 houses and other buildings including barns and storage areas. There is also a secret arrangement for the safety of Their Lordships should They be threatened.

All residents must chant 16 rounds, follow the 4 regulative principles and attend the full morning program every day. They are also required to sign a contract declaring that they will, in times of need, provide and take care of Their Lordships, be that by direct service or financially. The p™j€r…s are also required to sign a contract of continuous service to Their Lordships for at least five years. It is compulsory for all BrahmaŠas to attend the full morning program every day, and before any service to Their Lordships to have chanted at least 8 rounds that day .Any devotee who misses the morning program on a day when they have service is asked to step aside while another devotee fills in. If a devotee for any reason fails to turn up for their service, he is automatically excused service for the next three months. Needless to say it is quite a tight program!

®r… ®r… R€dh€ ®y€masundara

Their Lordships are served by the whole community of devotees. The resident devotees farm the land either full- or part-time. Others have small pieces of land in the Deity garden where they produce fruits and vegetables for the Lords’ offerings. There are 11 cows and 9 bulls, and the p™j€r…s are supplied with around 60 litres of milk daily for cooking. There are also 30 families of bees that supply honey for Their Lordships. Regular financial income is provided by a group of devotees who are members of the Friends Of Their Lordships club. These devotees, from all over the country, contribute a fixed monthly amount to help support the temple seva. There is a quarterly festival inviting them all to the temple and they are all regularly sent mah€-pras€da by post.

Because the location of the temple is far from the nearest power source, there is no connection to the national grid. For lighting on the Lords altar we use brass South Indian style hanging and standing lamps burning rape seed oil. (We have tried a few other oils without satisfactory results; this seems the best of what is available locally.) There is also a solar charged battery powered system producing 240 volts, which we use to power lights in the Their Lordships’ kitchen and back rooms, and also an arrangement of lights on the altar which are used for dressing and Greeting the Deities.

The daily seva and temple functions are standard ISKCON, maŠgala-€rt… 4:30, Deity greeting 7:00. Two devotees perform the morning p™j€. One dresses ®r… ®r… R€dh€ ®y€masundara, and the other Govardhana Lal and Gaura Natar€ja. Here Lord Caitanya is worshipped as the worshipper. He is worshipped after Govardhan Lala, and is bathed in His caran€mta. Another daily function of the p™j€r…s is to cook for the temple devotees. The main kitchen has the same rules as the Deity kitchen and p™j€r…s cook and offer to Their Lordships all devotee pras€dam. All preparations are Indian style - you'll find no pizzas or pasta here!

There are several nice features for the Lords’ pleasure during festival times and throughout the summer. Their Lordships altar is moved from the temple room to an outdoor plinth on the front balcony overlooking the village square and valley. The altar has a middle section on rails where Their Lordships stand. Normally this section is held in place on the main altar by a brake. When the Their Lordships go out, rail sections are aligned in front of the moveable altar, which is then moved from the temple room, through the courtyard and on to the balcony, by placing rail sections and a turntable in front of it. When the moving altar reaches the front of the Balcony it is then lowered to the ground by a gear operated platform so the devotees in the square can take darana. This has to be seen to be believed!! Unfortunately we have no pictures yet.

Also at festival times, Their Lordships are attended by cho˜a ®r… ®r… R€dh€ ®y€masundara, who stand 25 cm high in brass. At least once a month Their Lordships are invited to visit devotees houses as guests. On those days a They receive full puja and stand on the main altar in the temple for afternoon dhoop arti before going out to visit Their hosts. On leaving the temple they circumambulate the building three times on Their palanquin and then proceed to Their destination. If Their hosts live some distance from the temple then They sometimes go by bullock cart. At the house of Their hosts, they receive garlands, a raja bhoga feast and arti. If the hosts are not Brahmins then they arrange for someone to come and cook for Their Lordships. The hosts also invite other devotees to come, and after kirtan and darana they all take Prasadam before Their Lordships return home. On certain other festival days, Their Lordships give darana standing in a lotus shaped island in the temple courtyard pond. When the temple and pond are fully completed there will be a boat festival arranged for Their pleasure.

The whole theme of KŠa Valley is the pleasure of Their Lordships, and this mood is very prevalent on the farm. All devotees are conscious that their service, whatever it may be, is for ®r… ®r… R€dh€ ®y€masundara. During the summer, coachloads of people come to see and support the community, where they can benefit by darana of The Lord, take pras€dam buy handicrafts in Their Lordships gift shop. Many time during the season when fruits, flowers and vegetables are ready to pick, devotees come from ®r… ®r… Dayal Nitai, Vijaya Gaura‰ga’s temple in Budapest, to pick produce for Them. The idea is that all produce for Their Lordships should be produced here on the farm.

The p™j€r…s here at New Vraja Dh€ma would like to offer their obeisances to all readers and ask for the blessings of all devotees - that the pleasure of our ®r… ®r… R€dh€ ®y€masundara be ever increasing without interruption. We would also like to thank ®r…la Prabhup€da for giving us the opportunity to know and worship ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu and ®r… ®r… R€dh€ KŠa, our GBC and spiritual master H.H. ®ivar€ma Sv€m…, who has offered this entire project is to ®r…la Prabhup€da on His centennial year, and the many other visiting and resident devotees who have played a part inspirationally, financially and physically: H.G. Balabhadra Prabhu, H.H. Indradyumna Sv€m…, H.H. B.B. Govinda Sv€m…, H.H. Bhakti Vidya P™rŠa Sv€m…, H.G. KŠa-ketra Prabhu, just to name but a few.

Caitanya Candra D€sa Adhik€r…
New Vraja Dh€ma p™j€r…

We would also like to thank ®r…la Prabhup€da for giving us the opportunity to know and worship ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu and ®r… ®r… R€dh€ KŠa, our GBC and spiritual master H.H. ®ivar€ma Sv€m…, who has offered this entire project is to ®r…la Prabhup€da on His centennial year, and the many other visiting and resident devotees who have played a part inspirationally, financially and physically: H.G. Balabhadra Prabhu, H.H. Indradyumna Sv€m…, H.H. B.B. Govinda Sv€m…, H.H. Bhakti Vidya P™rŠa Sv€m…, H.G. KŠa-ketra Prabhu, just to name but a few.