/ Published in Festivals, Construction, Fundraising

Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Offering from Ambarisa and the TOVP Team, August 24, 2019

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet for all eternity.

mukam karoti vachalam
pangum langhayate girim
yat-kripa tam aham vande
shri-gurum dina-taranam

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, the deliverer of the fallen souls. His mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains.”

Prabhupada, by your unreserved mercy we would like to take this opportunity to glorify you on your most divine appearance day and also present you with an offering updating you about your most important project in ISKCON, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium at your World Headquarters and Place of Worship in Sridham Mayapur.

Since the day you ordered Ambarisa to finance this project in 1975, you have undoubtedly imbedded in our hearts a tiny particle of the vision you had for this temple and its long-term effects on the course of history for thousands of years to come. What to speak of, we cannot even begin to imagine the spiritual effect it will have on the lives of untold numbers of pilgrims who visit:

“I have named this temple Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, the Rising Moon of Mayapur. Now make it rise, bigger and bigger until it becomes the full moon. And this moonshine will be spread all over the world. All over India they will come to see. From all over the world they will come.”

So important is this project to you and our acharyas that you even said to us,

“If you all build this temple, Bhaktivinoda Thakur will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”

It has become very obvious to us that we are not building this temple, you are. We have become YOUR hands, YOUR feet, YOUR intelligence, YOUR words, YOUR instruments carrying forward your mercy and Mahaprabhu’s blessings to the fallen conditioned souls of Kali-yuga. And we are confident that in a few more short years we, as your entire ISKCON society, will be able to collectively offer you the completed Temple of the Vedic Planetarium during Gaur Purnima 2022 for your great pleasure and satisfaction. This will truly be the temple built by the hands of every devotee, and Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Sri Nrsimha will at last be moved into Their new home where They can be worshiped for generations of Vaishnavas for years to come.

We would like to now present you with an update of our construction progress and fundraising since your 2018 Vyasa Puja celebration:

TOVP Progress Report

Cushman & Wakefield Come on Board

Of major and critical importance to our progress and a solid strategy to complete the temple by 2022 was Ambarisa prabhu’s decision last August to hire a world-class PMC (Project Management Consultancy) to oversee the remaining phases and elements of construction, Cushman & Wakefield. With their assistance we have come up with a complete action plan of detailed timelines, efficient budgeting, and other effective managerial strategies to ensure our goal is achieved. Most notably they are currently overseeing the completion of the Pujari Floor with the aim of finishing the work by Gaur Purnima 2020. This will be another milestone accomplishment for us as we prepare to install the Deities in Their new home. Below are some highlights from their most recent August Report about the Pujari Floor progress, as well as some details of other temple area work from both Cushman & Wakefield and the TOVP Team.

Cushman & Wakefield Reports

The following highlights cover a wide range of construction, MEPF (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-prevention), HVAC (air-conditioning), and other work now being implemented on the pujari floor and in other areas of the temple.

Pujari Floor

  • Fire Alarm System – 95% complete
  • Public Address System – 95% complete
  • Internal Hydrant System – 86% complete
  • Fire Sprinkler System – 86% complete
  • Water Curtain System – 86% complete

Temple Floor

  • Fire Alarm System – 80% complete
  • Public Address System – 80% complete
  • Internal Hydrant System – 85% complete
  • Fire Sprinkler System – 75% complete
  • Water Curtain System – 75% complete

Museum Floor

  • Fire Alarm System – 50% complete
  • Public Address System – 51% complete
  • Fire Sprinkler System – 10 % complete

General

  • Electrical System
  • Wiring – 34% complete
  • Cable Trays – 99% complete
  • Cabling – 12% complete
  • Raceway – 90% complete
  • PVC Conducting – 87% complete
  • MS Conduiting – 27% complete
  • HVAC (air conditioning) System – 65% complete
  • PHE (public health engineering) System – 95% complete

 

TOVP Team Reports

Temple

  • Main temple kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – 95% complete
  • Nrsimhadeva temple kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – completed
  • Planetarium kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – completed
  • Main Temple Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 30% complete
  • Nrsimhadeva Temple Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 75% complete
  • Planetarium Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 80% complete
  • Main Temple staircase towers finishing work – 60 % complete
  • Nrsimhadeva and Planetarium staircase towers finishing work – 75 % complete
  • Nrsimhadeva Temple façade, marble, sandstone & GRC work – 80 % complete
  • Planetarium side facade marble, sandstone & GRC work – 65% complete
  • Main Temple front and back – work is in progress

Art Department

  • Many deva murtis such as Garuda, Lakshmidevi and Jaya and Vijaya are now complete and ready for installation.
  • The Guru-parampara murtis are well underway.
  • Beautiful wall relief panels continue to be produced by our artists.

Planetarium

  • We will soon begin the finishing work on the planetarium wing of the temple and have met with a design consultant from Alcove in this regard.

 

Fundraising Department Report

We visited the following temples with our TOVP Tour since your last Vyasa Puja celebration and raised well over $5 million in pledges from all the wonderful and enthusiastic devotees. The receptions were ecstatic and Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimha’s Satari were received with excellence and devotion. We were accompanied by Bhakti Caru Maharaja and Bhakti Purushottama Maharaja on many of these programs. All the ISKCON leadership has been extremely supportive and helpful in this regard and we are grateful for their cooperation.

  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • Taipei
  • Los Angeles
  • New York
  • New Orleans
  • Vizag
  • Rajahmundry
  • Guntur
  • Vijayawada
  • Nellore
  • Tirupati
  • Sylhet
  • Chittagong
  • Dacca
  • Chennai
    • We attended Lokanath Maharaja’s 70 Anniversary Vyasa Puja celebration in Pandharpur and with his inspiration 70 TOVP Bricks and 3 Kirtanam Pillars of Devotion were sponsored.
    • The #Giving Tuesday Online Fundraiser in the U.S. raised $25,000 in one day and was matched by Ambarisa prabhu for a total of $50,000.
    • The #Giving TOVP 10 Day Worldwide Online Fundraiser from Akshaya Tritiya till Nrsimha Caturdasi collected over $425,000, $125,000 of which was given by Ambarisa prabhu to match the first $125,000.
    • We launched two new fundraising campaigns which are meeting with success:
  • Daily Victory Flag Tradition and Monthly Flag Festival
  • Pillars of Devotion

We sincerely hope you are pleased with our service and continue to bless and empower us with your mercy. Your mercy is all we are made of.

Your servants,
Ambarisa das and the TOVP Team

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