As an Indian and an affiliate of the Hindu religion, I have visited many temples and mandirs that allow all sorts of people to explore the vast religion that is Hinduism. But the mandir that we visited together was a little different than the rest. The Kalachandji Mandir had a main focus to one religious figure, Krishna, whereas the other mandirs I have visited focus on multiple religious figures and the Hindu religion as a whole. It was a nice change to what I thought all mandirs were like.
What was surprising to me was that the mandir used to be a church and the main prayer hall used to be a basketball court. If our professor and tour guide had not told us this, no one in my class would have possibly guessed it; the devotees that operate the mandir put a lot of time and dedication into taking great care of this mandir. As we walked into the mandir, we were greeted by our tour guide and placed our shoes into a separate room (as shoes are not allowed in the prayer hall). Our tour guide then led us into the prayer hall and began telling us the stories about Krishna and Prabhupad’s legacy. He explained that Prabhupad, the leader of the Hare Krishna movement, left India and came to the United States in the 1960’s to spread the worship of Lord Krishna. Prabhupad was the one who had brought the idea of worshipping Krishna and starting ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). He published several major works about the Hare Krishna movement including Bhagavad Gita As It Is, a philosophical and theological framework for devotion to Krishna. Our tour guide told us stories of Krishna such as how he would steal yogurt from the women while they were making it and how Krishna would move to different dimensions to rescue his friends. These stories came from the many beautiful paintings hanging around the prayer hall and the statues around the room and in the front of the hall. The statues in the front are decorated with many different colors and extravagant accessories. The devotees take great care in dressing the statues and making them look beautiful. Towards the end of the tour, people from all different backgrounds started to enter the prayer hall and began a traditional prayer/song to show respect to Krishna and offered food to him. It was strange to me at first seeing people from different ethnic backgrounds taking part in these songs but it showed me that the Hare Krishna movement had reached and enlightened more people than I could possible imagine.
If you’re ever in the area I highly recommend visiting the Kalachandji Mandir. It’s only a short 10 minute drive from Southern Methodist University. Additionally there is a delicious vegetarian restaurant conveniently located inside the mandir. The devotees who operate the restaurant really put a lot of time and love (along with an uncountable amount of spices) into the food. You never know, you may learn something new. I know I did.
