Hare Krishna temple in rural Utah a labor of love, mutual respect
02/15/2002
SPANISH FORK, Utah – For television viewers around the world, there's no
sight more associated with Utah than the spires of the Salt Lake Temple,
spiritual headquarters of the Mormon faith.
But an hour south, atop a hill and down a country road, sits an
altogether different temple. The onion domes, the epic murals and the
marble Hindu deities make this Hare Krishna temple look like it belongs
in Calcutta, not rural Utah.
The connection between the two isn't just geographic. Mormons helped
build the Hare Krishna temple, too.
"If you're fortunate enough to associate with saintly people, no matter
their religion, you're enriched by that," said Caru Das, the Hare
Krishna temple's leader. "The Mormons have just been wonderful people to
get to know."
Hundreds of Mormons have spent thousands of volunteer hours helping
build the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, and a foundation associated with
the church helped fund it. It's a perhaps unexpected interfaith effort,
but one that leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
fits perfectly with their philosophy.
"We have for a long time tried to be on good terms with all the churches
where our people are located," said H. David Burton, the faith's
presiding bishop. "We like to outreach to our colleagues. We rather
pride ourselves in it."
The Spanish Fork Hare Krishna community started in 1982, when Caru Das,
then a leader in a Los Angeles temple, raised funds to buy a small AM
radio station here. The station soon began broadcasting Krishna
philosophy to the surrounding area, which is almost completely Mormon.
At first, much of the community wasn't sure what to make of their new
neighbors.
"When we first bought the station, I went to the city manager of Spanish
Fork to tell him we didn't have any intention of rocking the boat," Das
said. "We're not going to be going to the supermarket in our robes and
shaved heads and try to convert people. We're gonna wear jeans like
everyone else. He just sat there: 'Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.' He was very
noncommittal."
But over time, the locals got used to hearing the broadcasts. Das and
his wife, Vaibhavi Devi, opened a llama farm that became a popular
attraction for school groups. They started holding festivals that would
draw thousands from the area, the vast majority of them Mormon. "After
six or seven years of not even getting a speeding ticket, the
reservations were gradually put aside," Das said. "We're pretty much
integral to the community now."
For years, Das and Devi had dreamed of building a major temple. In the
mid 1990s, they started raising funds for one, which they imagined would
cost up to $1 million to build: 17 ornamented domes, black teakwood
doors and marble floors.
When Stanley Green, president of the local LDS stake, first heard about
the Hare Krishnas' need for funds, he went for a visit. "I found them to
be wonderful people who, in their wildest dreams, could never afford to
build what they wanted to," he said. "Their congregation was just too
small." There are only about 2,000 Hindus in Utah.
Dr. Green's successful visit was a major factor in the church's
philanthropic foundation giving $25,000 to the temple project in 1999.
In many ways, Mormons and Hare Krishnas make a good match. Both faiths
proscribe drugs, alcohol, gambling, promiscuity, caffeine, tea and
cigarettes. "We're pretty white bread in our own way," Das said. "They
don't have any moral quibbles with us." (They do disagree on
vegetarianism, although Das points to some writings of LDS founder
Joseph Smith that limit meat consumption.)
But beyond the financial contribution, the church rallied its members to
volunteer to help build the Hare Krishna temple. Hundreds showed up on
weekend after weekend, waterproofing decks, scraping paint, cutting down
thistles in the amphitheater.
"We just asked what we could do," said Eric Weight, a Mormon who works
in construction. "I'd actually never met them before I went down there.
You find out they're not that much different than we are. They're
children of the Heavenly Father, too."
"They probably gave us 3,000 hours of volunteer time," Das said. "In
monetary terms, that's enormous, and of course there were benefits far
beyond money."
Barriers of suspicion, already weakened by the two decades Hare Krishnas
had been in Spanish Fork, came tumbling down. Neither side has shown
most interest in converting the other, although both have reputations
for aggressive proselytizing. About half of the attendants at most Hare
Krishna services are curious Mormons, Das said. A number of Mormons even
adopted some of the temple llamas, Dr. Green said.
"We've learned from them, and I hope they've learned from us," he said.