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Bhaktivedanta Manor
51°39′56″N 0°20′11″W / 51.66556°N 0.33639°W
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England, in the village of Letchmore Heath near Watford. The Manor is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known as the Hare Krishna movement. It is ISKCON's largest property in the United Kingdom, and one of the most frequently visited Radha Krishna temples in Europe. The house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.
Previously known as Piggott's Manor, the property was donated to the Hare Krishna movement in February 1973 by former Beatle George Harrison, after the Radha Krishna Temple in central London had become inadequate to house the growing number of devotees. The donation included 17 acres of land, following which the estate was extended through the acquisition of neighbouring properties. Harrison had a close relationship with ISKCON's founder-acharya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and visited him at the Manor on several occasions.
Beginning in 1981, ISKCON was engaged in a campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor from closure as a public temple, as the popularity of the site led to increased traffic through Aldenham. After a series of court hearings and appeals, the Department of the Environment granted permission for the building of a road bypassing the village in 1996. With the improved access, the Manor hosts up to 60,000 visitors for annual religious festivals such as Janmashtami.
By 1972, three years after its founding, ISKCON's Radha Krishna Temple at Bury Place, in central London, was proving too small to accommodate the growing number of devotees there. The popularity of the movement had much to do with former Beatle George Harrison, who helped establish the temple, in addition to endorsing Krishna Conscious principles in his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. One of the first British devotees, Dhananjaya Das, recalls Prabhupada suggesting that he ask Harrison if he would care to help with their predicament, to which the musician replied: "I would be very much honoured."
Harrison began looking for a new premises but then left the search to Dhananjaya and others, aware that property owners were immediately raising their asking price due to the involvement of a celebrity musician. Dhananjaya came upon Piggott's Manor in the Hertfordshire village of Aldenham, north-west of London; he recalls that the owner had been considering using the house and 17 acres of grounds as a nursing home. Harrison purchased the property in February 1973 and donated it to ISKCON's London chapter.
The devotees endured financial hardship during their early years at the Manor, due to the substantial costs involved in maintaining the large property. A habitual international traveller, Prabhupada visited Bhaktivedanta Manor in the summer of 1973 and was delighted with the new UK base. During their meeting there in August, he told Harrison: "You have given us this shelter, and Krishna will give you shelter – at his lotus feet." Prabhupada later referred to Harrison as ISKCON's "archangel" for this and other gifts to the movement; in November 1977, while on his deathbed in the Vrindavan temple, the acharya removed a ring from his hand and instructed devotees to deliver it to Harrison. Prabhupada's final trip outside India, over August and September 1977, was a visit to the UK centres at Bury Place and Aldenham. While staying at the Manor, he became too sick to undertake a planned tour of the United States, and instead returned to Bombay before being transported to Vrindavan.
Harrison said he envisaged that the Manor would be a "guide to Krishna consciousness" and "a place where people could get a taste of the splendor of devotional service to the Supreme Lord". Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2013, "The George Harrison Memorial Garden" was officially opened to the public. His widow, Olivia Harrison, together with celebrity gardener Monty Don and author Peter Owen-Jones, attended a private ceremony to unveil the garden on 25 May that year. A road on the property, which was earlier an unnamed track across a park, is now named Dharam Marg, which is Hindi for "the way of truth".
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Bhaktivedanta Manor
51°39′56″N 0°20′11″W / 51.66556°N 0.33639°W
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England, in the village of Letchmore Heath near Watford. The Manor is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known as the Hare Krishna movement. It is ISKCON's largest property in the United Kingdom, and one of the most frequently visited Radha Krishna temples in Europe. The house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.
Previously known as Piggott's Manor, the property was donated to the Hare Krishna movement in February 1973 by former Beatle George Harrison, after the Radha Krishna Temple in central London had become inadequate to house the growing number of devotees. The donation included 17 acres of land, following which the estate was extended through the acquisition of neighbouring properties. Harrison had a close relationship with ISKCON's founder-acharya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and visited him at the Manor on several occasions.
Beginning in 1981, ISKCON was engaged in a campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor from closure as a public temple, as the popularity of the site led to increased traffic through Aldenham. After a series of court hearings and appeals, the Department of the Environment granted permission for the building of a road bypassing the village in 1996. With the improved access, the Manor hosts up to 60,000 visitors for annual religious festivals such as Janmashtami.
By 1972, three years after its founding, ISKCON's Radha Krishna Temple at Bury Place, in central London, was proving too small to accommodate the growing number of devotees there. The popularity of the movement had much to do with former Beatle George Harrison, who helped establish the temple, in addition to endorsing Krishna Conscious principles in his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. One of the first British devotees, Dhananjaya Das, recalls Prabhupada suggesting that he ask Harrison if he would care to help with their predicament, to which the musician replied: "I would be very much honoured."
Harrison began looking for a new premises but then left the search to Dhananjaya and others, aware that property owners were immediately raising their asking price due to the involvement of a celebrity musician. Dhananjaya came upon Piggott's Manor in the Hertfordshire village of Aldenham, north-west of London; he recalls that the owner had been considering using the house and 17 acres of grounds as a nursing home. Harrison purchased the property in February 1973 and donated it to ISKCON's London chapter.
The devotees endured financial hardship during their early years at the Manor, due to the substantial costs involved in maintaining the large property. A habitual international traveller, Prabhupada visited Bhaktivedanta Manor in the summer of 1973 and was delighted with the new UK base. During their meeting there in August, he told Harrison: "You have given us this shelter, and Krishna will give you shelter – at his lotus feet." Prabhupada later referred to Harrison as ISKCON's "archangel" for this and other gifts to the movement; in November 1977, while on his deathbed in the Vrindavan temple, the acharya removed a ring from his hand and instructed devotees to deliver it to Harrison. Prabhupada's final trip outside India, over August and September 1977, was a visit to the UK centres at Bury Place and Aldenham. While staying at the Manor, he became too sick to undertake a planned tour of the United States, and instead returned to Bombay before being transported to Vrindavan.
Harrison said he envisaged that the Manor would be a "guide to Krishna consciousness" and "a place where people could get a taste of the splendor of devotional service to the Supreme Lord". Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2013, "The George Harrison Memorial Garden" was officially opened to the public. His widow, Olivia Harrison, together with celebrity gardener Monty Don and author Peter Owen-Jones, attended a private ceremony to unveil the garden on 25 May that year. A road on the property, which was earlier an unnamed track across a park, is now named Dharam Marg, which is Hindi for "the way of truth".