771105 - Conversation B - Vrndavana
Girirāja: The construction is going on. And this man Mr. Lord, from England, he's getting more active. And...
Prabhupāda: England?
Girirāja: He's about fifty-year-old gentleman who was the manager of a big club in London. So he had been associating with the devotees in London, and they suggested he come to India and help manage our restaurant and guesthouse. So he was the aide-de-camp of the viceroy of India when he was a young man.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Remember, I told you about him, Śrīla Prabhupāda?
Girirāja: So he knows a little Hindi. He has a very distinguished...
Prabhupāda: Which viceroy?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Which viceroy?
Girirāja: The last viceroy, Mountbatten. And he's very diplomatic in dealing with people. And when he meets with the Indians, they immediately respect him, just like in the old days. So I think he'll be a very good personality to have in the restaurant and guesthouse. People will be happy to meet him. He's tall, he has a nice British accent, and he's following our regulative principles. He's a devotee.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I met him at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Śrīla Prabhupāda, when we were there. He came a couple of times, very nice gentleman. He's working without any salary. Simply he asked for a room, and he wants to devote his life.
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Real gentleman. He's more British than any Britisher I've ever met.
Prabhupāda: Forty years?
Girirāja: Well, he's about, I think, sixty years old now. And when he was a young man of twenty he was the aide-de-camp of the viceroy. And I think he was also the secretary to the governor of Punjab when it was under the British.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He met with Gandhi and all of these other leaders.
Girirāja: Then, just after I left... I mean, before that, I spoke to Gopāla Kṛṣṇa, and he was arranging for Mahāṁśa Swami and Mr. Pullareddy to meet the President of India to invite him to be the chief guest, because Mr. Pullareddy of Hyderabad knows the present President. And then, so far as the publicity for the opening, we felt that we should actually fix up the chief guest first, because if some big person like the President comes, then that will be an important part of the wording of the invitation and the other publicity.
Prabhupāda: So finishing?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Construction?
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Girirāja: Well, the building was not finished. I think that... I mean the inside of the temple and the theater and the restaurant and lobby of the guesthouse and many of the guestrooms will be ready, but the marble work on the domes was very behind schedule. So when I was there only about ten or fifteen percent of the marble on the three big domes was up, and the... Of course, the three domes at the entrance were almost ready. So the three main domes could be finished by the time of the opening, but there will be marble work that has to go on after the opening.
Prabhupāda: It will never be finished. When the date is being fixed?
Girirāja: Well, we fixed it for January lst and begin the ceremonies on December 29th, which is Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī's Disappearance Day. And... The ceremonies begin a few days before the actual installation of the Deities. So those ceremonies, or yajñas, those will begin on Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta's Disappearance Day, which is December 29th, in about six or seven weeks. And then, a few days later, on January lst, which is the English New Year's Day and Sunday, that will be the actual installation ceremony, and thousands of people will be coming. And we also discussed that there should be very opulent prasāda distribution, and, you know, different arrangements for receiving the people and kīrtana and darśana and festival activities.
Prabhupāda: Still work is going on.
Girirāja: Yes. Actually on the date that we were planning to open on Dussehra, nothing was actually ready—even the things that we were sure would be ready. But I feel even if some things are not ready this time, most of the things will be. But there has to be some final date, otherwise it will never end.
Prabhupāda: Brāhmaṇas?
Girirāja: Well, before Yaśodānandana Swami left, he had written the brāhmaṇas that the new date was going to be January lst, and I spoke to Yaśodānandana Swami's assistant, Smara-hari, and he was not sure whether the brāhmaṇas had confirmed this. So he was going to write them today and ask them to confirm that January lst was all right. But he received a letter from Yaśodānandana Swami saying that Yaśodānandana Swami would be coming December 26th. So he's definitely planning to be there in time. And at the time that we postponed the last opening, the brāhmaṇas said that whenever we want to have the opening, they are always ready to come. So it seems that they should be able to come on December 28th or 29th to begin the ceremonies.
Prabhupāda: The brāhmaṇas must be fixed first of all.
Girirāja: Yes. So he said he would write today, and this evening I'll confirm it that he wrote and sent that letter, and then, within a week, we should actually get the confirmation. Otherwise they are very eager to do this, and the only thing would be the date. So this afternoon we're planning to execute the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust and also the amendment to your will. So Viśvambhara Prabhu and I are supposed to go to Mathurā now to meet the registrar and some other people. So is it all right if I go now? (break) (end)