New Vrindaban

{{Infobox settlement

|name = ISKCON New Vrindaban

|official_name =

|settlement_type = Unincorporated area

|nickname =

|motto =

|image_skyline = PalaceofGoldsideview2007.jpg

|imagesize =

|image_caption = The Palace of Gold

|image_flag =

|image_seal =

|pushpin_map = West Virginia#USA

|pushpin_label_position = bottom

|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of West Virginia

|pushpin_mapsize =

|image_map =

|map_caption = Location within Marshall county

|image_map1 =

|mapsize1 =

|map_caption1 =

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = West Virginia

|subdivision_type2 = County

|subdivision_name2 = Marshall

|government_footnotes =

|government_type =

|leader_title =

|leader_name =

|leader_title1 =

|leader_name1 =

|established_title =

|established_date =

|unit_pref = Imperial

|area_footnotes =

|area_magnitude =

|area_total_km2 = 4.8

|area_land_km2 = 4.7

|area_water_km2 = 0.1

|population_as_of = 2010

|population_footnotes =

|population_total = 352

|population_density_km2 = auto

|timezone = Eastern (EST)

|utc_offset = -5

|timezone_DST = EDT

|utc_offset_DST = -4

|elevation_footnotes =

|elevation_ft = 1175

|coordinates = {{coord|39|57|53|N|80|36|23|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}

|postal_code_type = ZIP codes

|postal_code = 26041

|area_code = 304/681

|blank_name = FIPS code

|blank_info =

|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID

|blank1_info = 1717344 {{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=2011-06-07|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}

|website =

|footnotes =

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Prabhupada's Palace of Gold

| embed = yes

| nrhp_type =

| location =Near Moundsville, West Virginia

| built = 1973-1985

| builder =

| added = August 28, 2019

| area = {{convert|50.1|acre}}

| refnum = 100002852{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

| nocat = yes

}}

New Vrindaban is an unincorporated area and an ISKCON (Hare Krishna) intentional community located in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, near Moundsville.[http://www.newvrindaban.com/about-us/newvrindaban.html "About us: New Vrindaban"] official website. Retrieved 27 March 2009. The town consists of {{convert|1204|acre|km2}} (0.1 km² of which is water),Marshall County, WV Courthouse, County Assessor Records, Populated Places Statistics and several building complexes, homes, apartment buildings, and businesses including the Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra Temple (RVC Temple) and Prabhupada's Palace of Gold. New Vrindaban was founded in 1968 under the direct guidance of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON, by his disciple Kirtanananda Swami. It is named for the Indian city of Vrindavan.

It is one of many "rural communities" set up by ISKCON followers across the world.{{Cite web |date=2011-09-15 |title=Farm and Rural Communities - ISKCON Centers |url=https://centers.iskcondesiretree.com/farm-and-rural-communities/ |access-date=2025-02-19 |language=en-US}}

Geography

File:NewVrindaban-Lewis-Wetzel.png resting place in McCreary Cemetery]]

Image:NewVrindaban-Oxen-Road.png

According to the 2010 US Census, the six census blocks that make up New Vrindaban had a population of 352 and had the West Virginia status of unincorporated town. It is bordered on the north and northwest by Big Wheeling Creek, on the East by Stull Run, and on the southwest by the village of Limestone. The town's water and sewage utilities are provided by the New Vrindaban Public Service District, and following the Marshall County Commission's road naming project all streets in New Vrindaban have been fully named. In addition to ISKCON, the town is the location of McCreary Cemetery, resting place of West Virginia pioneer Lewis Wetzel; various locally owned businesses; and other ISKCON-affiliated organizations. The chief components in New Vrindaban's economy are tourism, agriculture, and cottage industries as well as income from fracking on the community's land.{{cite web |last1=Uhle |first1=Amanda |title=He Said I Was a Fracking Heiress. I Went to West Virginia to Find Out. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/28/fracking-economy-appalachia-00060086 |website=Politico |date=28 May 2023 |access-date=30 May 2023}}

The religious organization ISKCON New Vrindaban is the largest holder of land in New Vrindaban with 38% of the land. The nonprofit organization ECO-Vrindaban, Inc. holds 14%, and all other organizations and individuals own 48% of the land encompassing New Vrindaban. In addition to the previously mentioned organizations, as of 2010 jewellery manufacturer Lone Ones Inc., organic commercial bakery World's Best Cookie, Vaishnava Performing Arts Inc., and Vedic Heritage Trust Inc. had facilities in New Vrindaban.Marshall County, WV Courthouse, County Assessor Records, 2010 Webster District Tax Map 1 and 2 Parcel Data

History

File:KrishnaTemple1997.jpg

The community was founded in 1968 by Kirtanananda Swami and Hayagriva Das, two early disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.{{cite web |last1=Dasa |first1=Hayagriva |date=1986 |title=The Hare Krishna Explosion |url=http://www.krishnapath.org/eBooks/The-Hare-Krishna-Explosion.pdf |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819123137/http://www.krishnapath.org/eBooks/The-Hare-Krishna-Explosion.pdf |archive-date=August 19, 2019 |access-date=January 23, 2016 |publisher=Palace Press}} New Vrindaban developed under the guidance of Kirtanananda Swami (honored as "Srila Bhaktipada" after March 1979), and by the mid-1970s the live-in population had grown to over 100.{{cite web |url=http://www.pluralism.org/affiliates/emery/Rise_Fall_Rebuilding.pdf |last1=Brugger |first1=Rachael |last2=Cappello |first2=Cydney |title=The Rise, Fall, and Rebuilding of New Vrindaban |publisher=Ohio University Global Leadership Center |access-date=11 December 2013 |archive-date=30 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430110140/http://www.pluralism.org/affiliates/emery/Rise_Fall_Rebuilding.pdf |url-status=dead }} By the 1980s the population was more than 500.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/swami-bhaktipada-ex-hare-krishna-leader-dies-at-74.html |title=Swami Bhaktipada, Ex-Hare Krishna Leader, Dies at 74 |last1=Fox |first1=Margalit |date=24 October 2011 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 23, 2016}}

According to ISKCON News, on July 4, 1983 Vedavyasa Priya Swami installed the statue of Sri Nathji at the RVC Temple.26 July 2008 Sri Nathji: The Transcendental Cowherd Boy Goes West {{Cite web |url=http://news.iskcon.com/node/1165/2008-07-26/sri_nathji_transcendental_cowherd_boy_goes_west |title=Sri Nathji: The Transcendental Cowherd Boy Goes West | ISKCON News |access-date=2008-09-18 |archive-date=2012-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213134029/http://news.iskcon.com/node/1165/2008-07-26/sri_nathji_transcendental_cowherd_boy_goes_west |url-status=dead }} ISKCON News, Retrieved on 18 September 2008 Conversely, according to Gargarishi Das, the deity was not installed by Vedavyasa Priya, but was installed instead by Kirtanananda Swami.Gargarishi Das, “Radha-Vrindaban Chandra Festival,” Brijabasi Spirit, vol. X, no. IV (c. August 1983), 17.{{Verify source|date=April 2010}}

In October, 1986, a census report showed 377 adults living at the community.This is confirmed by the New Vrindaban offering in the 1986 Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-puja book—"Sri Vyasa-puja 1986: The Most Blessed Event, August 28, 1986, The Appearance Day of Our Beloved Spiritual Master His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness"—which listed the names of each resident of the community. Disciples of Srila Prabhupada: 104 men, 66 women; Granddisciples: 99 men, 91 women; Varnasrama College: 17; Children 212. This was probably the year of greatest population for the community.

On March 16, 1987, during their annual meeting at Mayapur, India, the ISKCON Governing Body Commission expelled Kirtanananda from the society for "moral and theological deviations."

{{Cite web |title=GBC Resolution 1987 ISKCON - Governing Body Commission |url=http://vyasapuja.net/iskcongbc/resolutions/gbc/iskcon-gbc-resolution-1987 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522081815/http://vyasapuja.net/iskcongbc/resolutions/gbc/iskcon-gbc-resolution-1987 |archive-date=2012-05-22}}, dead link March 2010 The community of New Vrindaban was expelled from ISKCON a year later.{{cite web |last1=Pulliam |first1=Sarah |date=18 July 2008 |title=A lower-key kind of Krishna |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/faith_and_values/2008/07/18/krishna.ART_ART_07-18-08_A1_D6APHC3.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202164045/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/faith_and_values/2008/07/18/krishna.ART_ART_07-18-08_A1_D6APHC3.html |archive-date=2 February 2017 |access-date=January 23, 2016 |publisher=Columbus Dispatch |page=1–A |quote=Instead of communes, today's Hare Krishnas have embraced congregations and welcome those with only a casual interest in the movement.}} After Kirtanananda Swami left New Vrindaban, and new leadership stabilized, the community was readmitted to ISKCON in 1998.{{cite web |url=http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_448949.html |title=Hare Krishnas are rebuilding their temple |last1=Houser |first1=Mark |date=30 April 2006 |publisher=The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |access-date=January 23, 2016}}{{cite book |author=Rochford |first=E. Burke Jr. |title=Violence and New Religious Movements |title-link=Violence and New Religious Movements |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-973563-1 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |page=286 |language=en |chapter=Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Violence, Charisma, and the Transformation of New Vrindaban}}

Culture

New Vrindaban is named for the Indian city of Vrindavan.

= Cuisine =

New Vrindaban is strictly vegetarian and believes that meat consumption creates negative karma. Alcoholic beverages and illegal substances (such as drugs) are prohibited in the main holy sites around the Temple of Understanding Circle Drive.Welcome sign at entrance to Temple of Understanding Circle Drive

= Popular culture =

A structure known as the Palace of the Winding Path, based on the Palace of Gold, is featured in the 2018 video game Fallout 76, though in-game it was never associated with the Hare Krishna movement either before or after the atomic war.{{cite web |date=14 November 2018 |title=Insider's Guide to Real-World WV Locations in Fallout 76 |url=https://wvtourism.com/insiders-guide-to-real-world-wv-locations-in-fallout-76/ |access-date=August 9, 2024 |publisher=West Virginia Tourism}}

Prabhupada's Palace of Gold

File:Palaceanddevotees 1982.jpg

Originally intended in 1972 to be a residence for A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON),{{cite book |title=Prabhupada's Palace of Gold: A Labor of Love |author=New Vrindaban Community |date=1986 |publisher=Palace Press, Moundsville, West Virginia }} the plans evolved after Prabhupada's death in November 1977 for an ornate palace of marble, gold and carved teakwood, which was dedicated as a memorial shrine on September 2, 1979. Kirtanananda Swami, the leader of the New Vrindaban community, and Bhagavatananda Das, the community's principal architect and sculptor, were the two primary forces behind its design and construction.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/can-hare-krishnas-at-palace-of-gold-in-wva-rebuild-its-tarnished-community/2013/01/04/38dbf6a8-ebc8-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html|title=Can Hare Krishnas at Palace of Gold in W.Va. rebuild its tarnished community?|last=McCarthy|first=Ellen|date=January 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web |last=Smullen |first=Madhava |date=January 2014 |title=Restoration Work Underway at Srila Prabhupada's Palace of Gold |url=https://iskconnews.org/restoration-work-underway-at-srila-prabhupadas-palace-of-gold,4241 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203071021/https://iskconnews.org/restoration-work-underway-at-srila-prabhupadas-palace-of-gold,4241/ |archive-date=2020-12-03 |access-date=2018-10-01 |website=ISKCON News}}{{cite web |last1=McClain |first1=Paula |last2=Smith |first2=Jeffrey S. |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Pabhupada's Palace of Gold |url=https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Prabhupada-palace-of-gold.pdf |website=West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=16 October 2024 |date=July 2019}}

It reportedly cost $600,000 in materials, and the labor was donated by the devotees.{{cite web |url=http://www.brijabasispirit.com/2014/01/19/prabhupadas-palace-of-gold-back-to-godhead-article-july-1981/ |title=In the Hills of West Virginia |last1=Dasa |first1=Yogesvara |date=July 1981 |website=New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit, The ISKCON New Vrindaban Blog |access-date=January 23, 2016 |quote=Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold – Back To Godhead Article – July 1981.}} The unpaid workers were often untrained and learned on the job."In the process of building the Palace our devotees have become expert in so many arts and crafts; many which we never before thought possible. The labor on the Palace—truly a labor of love—has been done completely by the devotees of New Vrindaban, without any remuneration except for the highest; that is, developing one's spiritual consciousness, knowing that one's efforts are being devoted solely for the pleasure of Krishna and the spiritual master." Damodar Pandit Das, "Scenes from Prabhupada's Palace," Brijabasi Spirit, vol. 4, no. 7 (October 1977), 8.{{Verify source|date=April 2010}} Kirtanananda Swami explained, "In the beginning, we didn't even know how to lay blocks. As our Krishna consciousness developed, our building skills developed, then our creativity developed, and the scope of the project developed."Kirtanananda Swami, cited by Edward Schumacher, "West Virginia Marvels at Indian Palace," The New York Times (Monday, September 3, 1979).{{verification needed|date=January 2016}}

Prabhupada's Palace of Gold opened in 1979.Edward Schumacher, "West Virginia Marvels at Indian Palace," The New York Times (Monday, September 3, 1979).{{Cite news |last=Darling |first=Lynn |author-link=Lynn Darling |date=1979-09-03 |title=Krishna Land |page=D1 |work=The Washington Post }}"Children of Krishna: Seeking heaven in West Virginia," The Courier-Journal Magazine (Sunday, February 10, 1980). CBS PM Magazine reported, "the magnificence of the Palace of Gold would be hard to exaggerate." Life magazine called the Palace "a place where tourists can come and be amazed."Hillary Johnson, "Children of a Harsh Bliss: In a West Virginia Commune, an Extraordinary Look at Life and Love Among the Krishnas," Life (April 1980). The New York Times proclaimed "Welcome to Heaven." The Washington Post called the palace "Almost Heaven." The Courier-Journal of Louisville stated, "It's hard to believe that Prabhupada's Palace is in West Virginia. In fact, it's hard to believe it's on this planet."

Beginning in the early 1990s, a lack of sufficient financial resources caused palace maintenance to be neglected; nevertheless, as of 2008, 50,000 tourists and Hindu pilgrims reportedly continued to visit each year. Since mid-2011, an ambitious five-year, $4.27-million restoration effort has been underway to restore and renew the palace.{{cite web |author= |date= |title=Palace History |url=http://www.palaceofgold.com/history.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315143947/http://www.palaceofgold.com/history.html |archive-date=March 15, 2018 |access-date=January 23, 2016 |website=Palace of Gold at New Vrindaban}}

Gallery 1997–2007

File:NewVrindaban-Nandagram-School-New.png| Nandagram School (New Building) Stull Run Road, New Vrindaban, WV, US

File:NewVrindaban-McCreary-Cemetery.png| McCreary Cemetery, New Vrindaban, WV, US

File:NewVrindabanCommunity1997.jpg|Picture of New Vrindaban Community sign in July 1997.

File:KrishnaTemple1997.jpg|Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Chandra Temple in July 1997.

File:Prabhupada's Palace of Gold at New Vrindaban.jpg|Prabhupada's Palace of Gold in June 2007.

File:PalaceofGoldsideview2007.jpg|A side view of Prabhupada's Palace of Gold in June 2007.

File:SriSriGauraNitai2007.jpg|Statues of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda (Sri Sri Gaura Nitai) in June 2007.

File:RadhaVrinChandraTemple2007.jpg|Entrance of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Chandra Temple in June 2007.

File:RoseGarden2007.jpg|The rose garden in June 2007.

File:PrabhuphadGold1997.jpg|Statue of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in July 1997.

References

All information is sourced from the following article unless stated otherwise

Rochford, Burke E. Jr. and Kendra Bailey [http://nr.ucpress.edu/content/9/3/6 Almost Heaven: Leadership, Decline and the Transformation of New Vrindaban] in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions Vol. 9 nr. 3 February 2006 {{subscription required}}