Radha-Govinda Temple to come up in Las Vegas

BY: YUDHVIR RANA

Oct 12, 2012 — LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA (TIMES OF INDIA) — Las Vegas - the gambling haven - will soon get a dash of spirituality. The first International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Sri Sri Radha-Govinda Temple is set to come up at a cost of $2 million in the US city.

"The shrine will be built with Vedic architecture and have idols of Radha and Govinda. The idols will be installed after the construction is completed," said temple project manager Nimai Hemphill on Friday.

The temple - a spiritual oasis - would serve the greater Las Vegas area which has a population of more than two million and also to 37 million people who visit the city each year, he added. Hemphill said the foundation laying ceremony would be held on October 14, which would include bhumi puja, kirtan and fire yajna, marking the beginning of the auspicious project.

Aiming to spread Krishna consciousness throughout the 'Sin City', the temple - which lies two miles away from the Las Vegas Strip - would be part of a larger complex named Govinda's Sanctuary.

Hemphill said Radha Jivana, owner of Sacred Threads, a clothing company based in Florida, was inspired to purchase the $240,000 property that could be a hub of Krishna devotees in Las Vegas. "When the property was purchased in July, engineers and contractors estimated the cost for the new temple project to be $2 million," he said. Hemphill, who is also the owner of Hemphill Consulting based in Utah, is managing the construction project for Govinda's Sanctuary. Hemphill was born into the Hare Krishna movement, for his parents were disciples of the founder of ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Temple president Surapala said the sanctuary would serve as a "centre for spiritual education striving to preserve the values and traditions of the Vedic culture".

Read the complete story here.

Related article:

In part six of the Sampradaya Sun series, 'Corporate ISKCON', we featured Radha Jivana's company, Sacred Threads. Cluster Report #6 mapped the relationship between the Sacred Threads directors and various other devotee run projects. Connected to Sacred Threads by way of shared co-directors are, among others, Tamohara dasa, Ambarish das and Kirtiraj das.