By Haylee Maduray
The Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple will be standing for nearly 40 years come October 2025. It is a building of monumental significance in the Chatsworth community and was founded by Srila Prabhupada. The temple consists of 3 domes covered in white and gold which rises over an octagonal mirrored roof and is 12 storeys high. The building itself holds religious symbolism in the way the windows of the central dome are structured to form a large Vaishnava tilak, which is usually adorned upon the foreheads of the Hare Krishna Devotees. The building is a work of art, shaped distinctly like a lotus flower, it attracts architectural enthusiasts as well as religious devotees.
Over the weekend the Hare Krishna Temple and its devotees celebrated the holy festival of Narasimha Chaturdasi. The day featured worship and prayer, a drama perfomed by the Westville Nama-hatta devotional community (ISKCON Durban) sharing the meaning behind the festival, a fire ceremony (Yajna), and featured a speaker from London, Svayam Bhagavan Keshava Swami, who expressed that people should uplift the world with their speech. Keshava Swami said: “The head should be like an ice factory and the mouth should be like the sweet factory.”
The teachings of the Hare Krishna Temple and its devotees are ones of love and care amongst themselves and others around them. Rohini Naidu a 27-year-old Hare Krishna Devotee said: “Loving God should be a very expressive, very happy thing. You shouldn’t be restrained. You should share the love.”
Smita Krishna Das a temple leader said: “This temple is an oasis in the middle of a very, very busy place, where people are very absorbed in their businesses and lives, so it provides a place for those who want to simply understand the deeper truths of life and attain peace. And this is where they will find it.”
28-year-old Gitanjali Devi Dasi said: “I was raised in the Vaishnava tradition, therefore the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple is my home and those that live and serve there are like family to me.” The spirit of family is all around this monumental temple, where people live and learn, pray and worship, work and share joy with one another. An attendee of the festival, Wade Gounden said: “For me Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple is like a home away from home. It’s one of my favourite places in the world for both its beauty and essence, like it was made using magic. A place that removes the troubles from my mind and relaxes my nervous system allowing me to feel at peace.”
A resident of the temple and devotee, Gaura Bhumi Devi Dasi, an amazing writer and storyteller who participated in the fire ceremony said: “It was a moment that carried a lot of gratitude, even as residents of the temple you know, there’s a lot that goes on, on a daily basis. Sometimes you also get caught up in the daily grind of everything and so these kinds of moments and festivals, their also a time for me to redirect my energy, to refocus my consciousness, to just remember what it is I’m actually doing and the purpose of my existence.”
The Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple is a home for many people, those that reside within and those that live out however one thing remains common; the value of family, a sense of belonging and the feelings of warmth and welcome to all.
Gitanjali Devi Dasi said: “The Founder of ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) spoke about creating a community of love and devotion, in which like-minded individuals can come together for the purposes of glorifying God and be a helping hand in each other’s spiritual journey. Therefore every ISKCON centre in the world are branches of an extended family tree.”
