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Krishna Temple Sparks Tensions in Britain
LETCHMORE HEATH, England (AP) -- ``All Things Must Pass,'' George
Harrison proclaimed in the 1970s, and donated a manor in this
English village to the Hare Krishna movement to promote the
religion that inspired his music.
But instead of passing, 22 years of tension between the Krishnas
and some of their neighbors came to a head this week, when a
hearing opened on whether the manor grounds can be used for
worship.
The two-week hearing culminates a year of rioting, bigotry and
charges that Britain cannot accommodate other cultures.
Some neighbors of Bhaktivedanta Manor say the problem is merely
one of planning, charging that thousands of worshipers regularly
congest the village's narrow roads.
``If they get permission for public worship ... we will have
absolutely no control over the numbers there,'' Philip Marsh,
chairman of the Letchmore Heath village trust told The Independent
newspaper.
But Sita Rama Das, one of the manor's priests, said the problem
goes beyond planning.
``If it's only a planning problem, we've come up with a planning
solution,'' he said, referring to the Krishnas' purchase of land
for a bypass road.
Posters at the temple speak of ``persecution of the Hindu
religion,'' and India has threatened trade sanctions against
Britain unless the issue is resolved. Last March, when the regional
council banned further worship, 5,000 Hindus demonstrated in
London. Police arrested 10 people when the protest became rowdy.
Some critics say the problem isn't the number of worshipers, but
their religion.
``The first thing the Krishnas say is, `Well, what about the pub
traffic?' (But) the pub is an English way of life,'' Leslie
Winters, a former council member from the Conservative Party told
The Observer newspaper. The Krishna religion, he said, ``leaves
something to be desired.''
Not all their neighbors object: 25 of the 45 households closest
to the temple signed a petition of support. An application to the
regional council to consider the bypass road a solution ended in a
hung council -- leading to this week's hearing by Environment
Ministry inspectors.
The temple was founded in 1973 by Swami Prabhupada, the
Indian-born religious leader behind the flowering of the Hare
Krishna branch of Hinduism throughout the West in the 1960s. It has
since become the largest Hindu learning center in the West.
Swami Prabhupada died in 1977, and the temple has become a
shrine: his bedroom, bathroom and study are maintained intact on
the upper floors. Lifelike wax versions of the Swami dot the
household, mutely looking on as saffron-robed followers meditate or
chat in large rooms suffused with incense.
The temple ignores the local law against worship, saying that
even locking its gates would not keep worshipers out.
On weekdays, the area is peaceful. Non-villagers visiting the
local Three Horseshoes pub -- not 50 yards from the manor -- are
unaware of the Hindu temple around the corner.
The 100-year old mock-Tudor manor is set well apart from
Letchmore Heath, a well-off village 15 miles northeast of London.
The temple controls 17 acres of prime land -- rolling knolls, hills
overhung with sycamore trees, and a small lake.
On weekends, as many as 2,000 worshipers come to the temple. On
festival days, the number can reach 6,000, and during the annual
two-day Janmashtami festival celebrating Krishna's birth -- 25,000
worshipers arrive.
Harrison won't comment on the dispute. He has distanced himself
from Eastern ways over the years, and now lives a life more like
that of the Krishnas' country squire neighbors.
The Krishnas hope Environment Minister John Gummer will show
them the same sensitivity he showed London's Jews. Last October, he
overruled local protests against the construction of an ``eruv,''
or symbolic Sabbath boundary around a section of the city.
``It's a similar situation,'' Sita Rama Das said. ``If they
stick strictly to planning, it should go our way.''
