Plain land |
In September 1987, ISKCON Bangalore was operating from a rented house in the city with a handful of devotees. Under the leadership of the temple president, Madhu Pandit Dasa, ISKCON Bangalore applied for a 7acre hillock from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
|
| The BDA had described it as “karaab land” (waste land) as it was a huge piece of monolithic rock and could not be converted into sites. The BDA sanctioned the land at a cost of Rs. 11 lakhs to be paid in 90 days. With practically no resources in hand, the team of devotees managed to collect the sum partly with the help of some donors and partly through loan. On Lord Balarama’s appearance day of September 1988,
| 
Plain land with shed |
| the Deities of Krishna Balarama moved to a temporary shed on this land. |
| |
Primary concept | The master plan of the project on the Hare Krishna Hill was conceived by Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, who is a qualified civil engineer from IIT (Mumbai). The initial concept as it stood from outside was conceived by Jagat Chandra Dasa who is a product engineer from IIT (Mumbai). The unique combination of glass and gopuram, blended modern and traditional elements. Considering the |
| nature of the sloping rocky hillock, this unique concept was further developed architecturally into the present design as it stands by Madhu Pandit Dasa and Bhakti Lata Devi. The entire team of devotees of ISKCON Bangalore were strongly motivated by an intense desire to make this a grand and memorable temple, to be completed and offered to His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Various fund raising schemes were launched to engage the people in this devotional endeavor. Apart from the life membership scheme, sponsors of gopuram, kalashas and vimanas were enrolled. |
| |
Initial construction pics.
| The whole construction was carried out by the ISKCON Construction Department. Between 1990 and 1997 a total of 10 million man-hours were put by 600 skilled craftsmen, 32000 cubic meters of stone, 131250 tones of cement and 1900 tones of steel were used. |
| The architecture is a combination of traditional Karnataka and modern styles to give the aesthetic style as well as the best of latest scientific technology. | 
Fullview from the road |
| |
Garbhagriha
| The Deities in the main sanctum sanctorum are standing on complete piece of stone column of about 90 feet height. This will ensure that the main altar and sanctum sanctorum will last for thousands of years. As you stand at the entrance of the temple the total height from the road level is 200 feet.
|
| |
| | Continued |
