Last Thursday, we visited the Radha Kalachandji Temple in Dallas which is part of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). This is the premier temple of the Hare Krishna community within the DFW area as well as the greater Texas community. The Hare Krishna is a branch of Hinduism, so they celebrate many Vedic ideas. The temple actually used to be a church until it was converted into a temple, to spread the sacred teachings of the Krishna. As relayed in the article by Thomas J. Hopkins in The Hare Krishna Movement, the founder of the ISKCON was a man named Bhaktivedanta Swami. He immigrated from India to the New York City in 1965, at the age of 71. It was his mission to reintroduce the ancient Indian religion into the United States. To do so, he translated hundreds of Sanskrit texts into English so the average America could understand the divine teachings of the Krishna. Bhaktivedanta Swami succeeded in his mission of spreading the Krishna, as today there are over 100 different centers and temples within the ISKCON.

When we entered the Radha Kalachandji Temple, we immediately went to a small room to remove our shoes, out of respect for the temple. We met our guide there, dressed in a shirt, scarf, and a flowing dress that most closely resemble the bottom half of a toga. His hair was shaved except for a small pony tail and his forehead was adorned with a gold painted piece that came together to form what resembled an arrow right at his brow. From there we entered the temple, which had been transformed from a basketball court to its current form. The worshipping space had a triangular ceiling with large wooden archways that connected the entire room. Great detail went into the wooden structure as there were carvings of lions across the space. Below these, there lay multiple painting of Krishna in different acts. As learned from our guide, the paintings illustrate the different types of relationships with Krishna. These paintings were so intricately detailed that it would take hours to understand each small meaning. However, although these paintings were extremely interesting, the most interesting part of the trip was the last part, when our guide sang the Hare Krishna chant with another man for us.

Bhaktivedanta Swami made the Hare Krishna chant the staple of the Hare Krishna movement. It is a relatively simple chant that only uses a drum, a bell, and three words. This chant is repeated over and over again by the religion’s devotees. It is a call and response chant, and our guide involved us with the chant. He calls out each line, Hare Krsna, to which we responded. The chant is only 8 lines long, but it gets repeated over and over again celebrating the religion and the divine. It was an extremely catchy chant and is meant to be danced to!