Historic Opening: Krishnas Celebrate New Temple
http://www.sltrib.com/06242001/utah/108322.htm
BY IRENE HSIAO THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
SPANISH FORK — The 500 pairs of shoes old sneakers, new high heels, worn sandals — piled at the entrance represented the range of people and religions at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple opening Saturday morning.
Barefooted adults and children glided across the white marble floors inside the temple to start the fire ceremony. Others padded across the Oriental rugs in their socks and sat cross-legged, observing the beginning of the daylong celebration that opened the first Indian-style Krishna temple in the United States.
While Utah seems an unlikely place for the Krishna faith to survive, temple officials predicted 3,000 people would show up by the end of the day. After the initial ceremony, visitors watched Indian folk dancing, listened to traditional Indian music and tasted vegetarian dishes.
Anuttama Dasa, the director of North American communications for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), came from Washington, D.C., and said the temple opening signifies the tolerance of different types of religions.
"It just demonstrates that America is a religiously pluralistic society," he said. "That says a lot about the people of Utah in particular."
The Hare Krishnas worship the god Krishna and practice their devotion through chanting, called bhakti-yoga. They also follow the Hindu scriptures Bhagavad-Gita or "Song of God." There are 50 Krishna temples in North America and about 350 around the world, Dasa said.
While pushing his 9-month-old daughter Maya around the temple in a stroller, Srikanth Jammulapati said he is not surprised that a temple opened in Spanish Fork. The Salt Lake City biologist, who is Hindu, said he has seen temples in even more remote places in his native India that have attracted thousands of followers. "The beauty of religion itself is it's there and somehow people are drawn to it," he said.
During the fire ceremony of purification, about 25 mostly Indian participants sat around a fire tossing grain into the flames while the priest poured ghee, or clarified butter, with a silver spoon into the fire.
The maroon, sea green, red and yellow saris some of the women wore punctuated the crowd of jeans, white T-shirts, and the men's white and tan traditional Indian outfits.
Participants later feasted on about 20 dishes, including mixed curries with cheese, pita pizza and Bhasmati rice with nuts and vegetables.
Mike Steed, a computer programmer from Orem, had driven past the grounds over the past year and watched the temple get built. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints member was impressed with the building and watched part of the opening ceremony.
"Temples are important to LDS people, they're equally important to everyone else," he said. "We're happy that they've opened this up for everyone."
About 500 people belong to the Spanish Fork temple. A foundation of the LDS church donated $25,000 to the temple construction fund.
