CHENNAI: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Chennai will be inaugurating the Centre for Spiritual Art and Culture on the East Coast Road at Sholinganallur on April 26. According to Amarendra Gaura Das, ISKCON project coordinator, the centre has a temple built on 45,000 sq ft of land. Worth `10 crore, the temple is on five levels. There is an auditorium for cultural and spiritual programmes on the ground floor, a 7,000 sq ft temple hall on the first floor and a prasadam hall in the basement. In the temple hall, there are three carved teakwood altars which house the deities from Jaipur and Odisha. The temple has been built according to Vedic scriptures and is inspired by Pallava architecture. The entrance to the temple is marked by a representation of the universe or the bhumandala on the marble floor. “The temple also represents the universe in the form of a man whose soul is the deity. The feet of the man are considered the main entrances and the head is the garbha-griha. The seventh chakra that represents spiritual realisation is seen at the centre of the temple, where the devotee will have darshana of the deities,” says Amarendra.Ranga Krishna Das, congregation leader at ISKCON, said, “The main purpose of the temple is to transform our material self-centred identity into a spiritual identity of unconditional love. To graphically represent this transformation, we have a magnificent chandelier that projects various colours on the walls and ceiling. Though the light appears white it can be refracted or transformed into other colours. Similarly the devotee experiences a transformation of heart when he sees the Lord. The chandelier has 500 Himalayan quartz crystals that intensify the spiritual energy in the temple.”Sridhar Sham Das, leader, ISKCON temple construction, said, “The temple will be open from 7.15 am to 8 pm. The temple was built solely on donations received from people in Chennai. We will celebrate the inauguration for six days starting April 26.”
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