European Heritage Days at the Temple.

At which the devotees discover that Sri Sri Radha-Madhava live in the best house in N. Ireland.

"European Heritage Open Days celebrates Northern Ireland ’s impressive architecture and culture by offering free access to properties that are normally closed to the public or normally charge for admission. Every year for two days in September, buildings of every age, style and use throw open their doors. They range from castles to thatched cottages, churches to Hare Krishna Temples. It is a once in a year chance to discover and enjoy tours, events, activities which enliven our built environment." - from EOHD Website.

Japa-yajna reveals what took place on the weekend of 9th and 10th September . . .

I have to admit, when I was first told of the European Heritage Day, I was not particularly impressed.

"Bang goes another of my weekends, and my wife won't be pleased at having to take care of our kids on her own."

But because my good friend Gauranga was so enthusiastic, I decided to plug in and help. As the weekend approached, my wife (Shantasya) and even my kids started to get interested in catering for the event. Shantasya cooked trays of her delicious cookies (these have become legendary, anyone who as tasted them fully understands why I now weigh 16 stone!) And even my children pitched in with the cooking. They also got very excited about the prospect of visiting other sites and buildings in the Belfast area. Well, I thought, if they are so looking forward to it, perhaps I won’t be sitting alone with Gauranga and several trays of cookies. Maybe, some people will want to visit.

When I arrived on Saturday evening, at the scheduled opening time, people were already waiting for us. We started to show them around and before we were a few minutes into the tour several other groups had joined us. This continued without a pause for the rest of the evening and all the next day. While taking the first group around, one lady asked me some detailed questions about the history of the building and its previous residents. I was just about to launch into a hodgepodge of information which I have picked up over the last eighteen years, when something stopped me.

"Before I say anything, does anyone here know anything that could enlighten us?"

Then an older gentleman, who was carrying a large folder, enthusiastically started to explain all sorts of facts about the building. He opened up his folder that was filled with photographs of the building from the 50s and 60s. It transpired that he had lived in the building for many years between Miss Jury (the architects daughter) and Dr. Donnelly’s family (who owned the building before Krishna moved in) . I was glad I hadn’t tried to wing it and pretend I was more knowledgeable than I am!

Over the next two days I spent a good proportion of my time listening rather than speaking. One gentleman, who was particularly interested in the building, a Professor of Medicine at Queens University, kept asking about specific features of the building that I had forgotten to show him.

"How did he know about these features", I inquired?

"Oh, they are mentioned in the many books that have been written on the great houses of Ireland."

Now, I was aware how important this house is; barristers, who I have consulted for legal work for the charity, had gone into raptures when I told them that our temple is 'Brooklands'. However, by the end of the weekend, I was left in no doubt: The general consensus is that Brooklands is one of the ten most important houses in Ireland, certainly the best example of an Art Nouveau (some say Arts and Crafts) House, in the North of Ireland.

As for the spiritual aspect of the event. The main purpose of ISKCON is not merely to show people around beautiful old houses. On our tour we included a visit to the temple room. It was satisfying to see over one hundred people, drawn predominantly from the top echelons of society, coming in to receive darshana of their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhava, beautifully enhanced by Their altar, whose Celtic design delighted our heritage-loving visitors . This was quite fascinating as I began to see the fulfilment of the raison d’etre of Brooklands. For years, many of us have have pondered why we are here in this old building, which we have struggled to maintain, situated rather off the beaten track. We concluded that this building is an excellent way to reach out to this particular class of people. By visiting out of interest in the architecture and features of the house, they may naturally begin to enquire about the wonderful philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita.