Part Six: Pindamonhangaba, Brazil

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Nova Gokula means "New Gokula". The original Gokula is a sacred town in northern India that was intimately connected with the pastimes of Lord Krishna fifty centuries before. This farming community was established in 1978 to commemorate these pastimes and to be the headquarters for a farm based upon the ethos "simple living and high thinking". The central focus of the farm is the beautiful temple, built in the style of a classic Indian structure.

Atop the temple building is a large spire topped with the traditional golden Chakra, an emblem of Lord Vishnu. Inside the temple structure adjoining a vast marble hall is a separate altar area with intrically-carved thrones in the style of ancient Indian temples of yore, housing the beautiful temple Deities. A large kitchen supplies the temple's cookery needs, and all around the building runs a wide cool verandah.

Adjoining the temple building is a memorial shrine called a Pushpa Samadhi. This is a construction built to celebrate and memorialise the founder-acarya of the Hare Krishna Movement (formally known as The International Society for Krishna Consciousness). This structure is also traditional in style, and houses the lifelike murti or form of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, affectionately known as Srila Prabhupada. 

We were feeling a little hungry and noticed a very unusual building near the main temple structure. Avyakta explained that this tiny one-room oddity was a miniature cafe where one could daily purchase maha-prasadam, or the sacred food prepared and sanctified in the temple. The special feature of this construction was it's unique three-dimensional outer design based around the facial form of the equally famous Deity of Jagannatha, celebrated in the Indian seaside town of Jagannatha Puri in Orissa State, and all around the world in the famous Rathayatra Festivals. Needless to say I didn't need much prompting to drop by. 

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