Blog

It was a strange sight: In the middle of a vacant lot strewn with rubble and the metal bars that had once supported the temple structure were the beautiful Radha-Krsna Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari, dressed in Their green and silver outfits and garlanded with flowers. They stood on Their carved teakwood altar amid the fragrant scent of burning incense and the warm glow of ghee lamps. Only two or three small pieces of the roof over Them had been removed; otherwise, They and Their Deity room remained intact. And the picture of Lord Nrsimhadeva over the altar doors, though slightly tilted to the side, was still there too, as if He was looking down upon us and assuring us that He had been there to protect the Deities.

The year was 1973, and that field a piece of what had been jungle in Juhu was supposed to be in the process of being transferred to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. The seller, Mr. Nair, had taken a sizable deposit and was delaying the transfer under some pretext as he had done twice before with the same land. Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada had brought Deities of Radha and Krsna onto the property, which he named Hare Krishna Land, and built a temporary shed as a temple to house them. Srila Prabhupada told Nair, “If you want to keep the land, then return our money. Otherwise, keep the money and give us the land.” But the landlord wanted to keep both the money and the land against all principles of law and justice.

One morning, on May 18, 1973, two large trucks from the Bombay Municipal Corporation drove onto Hare Krishna Land and fifty municipal workers carrying crowbars, chisels, and sledgehammers descended on the temple. Following close behind was a truck from the police department, from which numerous constables emerged. I rushed forward to meet the municipal officer in charge and asked him what was happening. He said that the structure was unauthorized and that they had come to demolish it. I replied that the temple was authorized and that I had a letter from the municipal commissioner to prove it. He seemed uninterested, however, and even after I showed him the letter and other documents in my file, he ordered the demolition to begin. So I approached the policemen. “We are here only to see that there is no trouble,” they said nonchalantly.

Some workers put a ladder up against the temple, and one of them started climbing up with a sledgehammer to break the roof. I threw the ladder down. Immediately three policemen grabbed me by the arms and neck and put me into the truck. Other devotees too rushed forward to stop the demolition squad, and one by one each was apprehended. Finally, the last one left was Maithili dasi, the head pujari. Having locked the doors to the Deity chamber, she stood there, ready to knock down anyone who came near. A policeman seized her, and she punched him. Several policemen ganged up on her and hit her with their clubs, grabbed her hair, and dragged her into the truck, where we all sat helplessly, witnessing the brutality and singing prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva. Neighbors, tenants, passersby no one lifted a finger to help us.

We were taken to the Santa Cruz police station and locked up in a room. They did not allow us any phone calls. Only several long hours later were we released from custody and able to return to the site.

The following day, headlines and pictures appeared on the front page of several newspapers. One caption read, “Illegal temple demolished.” The seller's main agent, the local municipal corporator had arranged for hostile reports about us to appear everywhere. I rushed to the office of the Bombay Municipal Commissioner but was told that he was too busy to see me.

We informed Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta. He suggested we take advantage of the incident to get our life members more involved in our activities. Prabhupada himself sent an open letter to our friends, members, and sympathizers, which we published in our local journal, the Hare Krishna Monthly. After summarizing the history of the Hare Krishna Movement, its philosophy, and its difficulties in Juhu, Srila Prabhupada concluded:

“We have many sympathizers and life members of our society, and I wish that they may come forward to help us in this precarious position and save the situation. Our cause is so noble, scientific, and pure that everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, should come forward and save us from this position. I hope that my appeal to the people of Bombay will not go in vain.”

Following Prabhupada's direction, we arranged a meeting of all our life members in Bombay. Our good friend Sadajiwatlal, a staunch Hindu and supporter of ISKCON, helped us with the preparations. Only about twelve to fifteen members attended, but Sadajiwatlal gave a powerful keynote speech, and I read Prabhupada's letter.

Thoughtful Hindus were concerned that if one temple were destroyed without any reaction or response leading to restitution and proper retribution, other temples would be vulnerable and could similarly be destroyed in the future. Sadajiwatlal put his whole heart into helping us with the temple campaign and enlisted the entire range of his friends and associates in the effort. Mr. Vinod Gupta, a member of the pro-Hindu Jan Sangh political party, published a leaflet proclaiming ISKCON to be a bona fide Hindu organization. And Sri Sarkar Singh, of the Hindu Mahasabha, threatened to go on a fast if the temple was not reconstructed soon.

We approached leaders of the Shiv Sena in the municipal corporation for help. Vamanrao Mahadik, the chairman of the Standing Committee, the most powerful committee in the Bombay Municipal Corporation, was incensed by the demolition, which he called illegal, and promised to raise the issue in the committee. On May 21, after a unanimous resolution was passed in our favor, he wrote to the municipal commissioner that the temple should be rebuilt at municipal cost and permitted to remain until the court decided the land dispute.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mhatre, the municipal councilor friend of Mrs. Nair who had instigated the demolition of the temple, approached the charity commissioner and raised various questions about our charitable status. Even more alarming, he approached the Foreigners Registration Office to have us kicked out of India. Soon notices came from the office of the charity commissioner as well as from the Foreigners Registration Office.

For fifteen hours every day the devotees, along with Save the Temple committee members, were making phone calls, writing letters, issuing circulars, contacting newspapers, and meeting influential citizens and government officials. But the main task was to work on getting permission to rebuild the temple. So Sadajiwatlal and I went to see the most important councilors in the municipal corporation, one by one, to convince them that the permission should be given. Then, as I also had to deal with other affairs, Sadajiwatlal, with Yadubara dasa and Visakha dasi, continued approaching the councilors, explaining the facts and counteracting the false propaganda Mr. Mhatre was making against us in the municipality. All of the hundred and forty councilors became convinced that we could not possibly be what Mr. Mhatre was saying we were. Our efforts propelled a great wave of sympathy in our favor, as people gradually came to understand who we actually were.

As I was busy with other activities, Harikesa dasa volunteered to publish the next issue of the Hare Krishna Monthly. Harikesa was brilliant, and with Acyutananda Swami's help he brought out a sensational issue entitled “Special Demolition Issue” a photo of the demolished temple wrapped around the front and back covers, and the heading “Religiosity in Shambles.” Articles also appeared in other publications, such as the journal of the Maharashtra Gopalan Samiti, forcefully condemning the municipality's action. And from Calcutta, our friend Tarun Kanti Ghosh, who was minister of commerce, industries, and tourism in the government of West Bengal, sent a letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra:

“The members of the Society had purchased a land near Juhu, Bombay, and constructed a temple. A few days back some miscreants demolished the temple and started a campaign branding them as 'Hippies' and 'C.I.A.  agents.' This, as far as I know, is furthest from the truth. In fact, this Hare Krishna Society is purely a religious movement and deserves all sorts of help.”

A few days after the demolition, Srila Prabhupada had expressed his opinion of the whole incident in a letter to Mrs. Nirmala Singhal:

“The demolition of our temple by the municipality has strengthened our position. The municipal standing committee has condemned the hasty action of the municipality and has agreed to reconstruct the shed at their cost. Not only that, the temporary construction will continue to stay until the court decision is there as to who is the proprietor of the land. Under the circumstances we should immediately reconstruct the Deity shed. Barbed wire fencing should be immediately done to cover the naked land and if possible, immediately in front of the Deity shed, a temporary pandal should be constructed with our materials. If this is done, then I can go to Bombay and begin Bhagavata Parayana, to continue until the court decision is there. This is my desire.”

As Srila Prabhupada had predicted, our position was strengthened and a great wave of sympathy rose in our favor. The apparent calamity served as an impetus for us to meet more and more new people and present Krsna consciousness, to organize and mobilize our devotees and allies far beyond what we could have done under ordinary circumstances. Srila Prabhupada often quoted the saying “Failure is the pillar of success.” He said that especially in spiritual life, failure is not a discouragement. We just have to try, and try again. And by his and Krsna's mercy, we were successful. Soon we rebuilt the semi-permanent temple and eventually a beautiful marble temple and cultural complex for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari.

At the time of the demolition, we felt that everything was lost, but with Srila Prabhupada's intelligent direction and spiritual potency, we eventually gained everything that we that he wanted: not only permission to retain the small semi-permanent temple but also the permits, funds, resources, manpower, and whatever else we required to build the temple, guesthouse, restaurant, auditorium, and exhibits for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari and for the benefit of the people of Bombay, India, and the world.

Hare Krsna.