Radha-Madhava's Birthday.

(photo courtesy of Yamuna dasi of Austria - click to enlarge)

I had planned to post about this on Tuesday the 10th April, which was the twenty-fourth anniversary of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava's installation. But Krishna had other plans! But as we are celebrating Their birthday on Sunday, there is still time.

A very nice devotee from Riga, Latvia wrote through the blog, asking if we could tell something of how Radha-Madhava come to be in Belfast, so we'll tell the story here and in the post below.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava were installed in Dublin in 1983 in what then became the first Radha-Krishna temple in the whole of Ireland - ever! Radha-Madhava are brass deities, about thirty-six inches tall, wrought in Vrindavana - the original birth-place of Krishna. Deities are made according to special rituals and scriptural descriptions, by expert murti-makers. Often this is a family concern passed down through many generations and those who made Radha-Madhava are a renowned family in Vrindavana. They liked the design of these deities so much that they made themselves a pair from the same mould, for their own worship.

Establishing a temple with worshipable deities is not a light undertaking. There must be a responsible team of brahmana pujaris to perform the worship, which includes many services and several cooked offerings of dainty dishes for the Lord throughout the day. The Lord is bathed and dressed early every morning, and in the evening changes into night clothes and there are high standards of purity for the pujaris who perform these activities. There must also be dress-makers to make new outfits and a large congregation to come and see Him, and provide for His worship.

But when a community is fortunate enough to centre around Radha-Krishna deities, They provide a powerful focus for worship, service and meditation on God. Everyone can perform some service to please Them, by just bringing a flower, or singing for Their pleasure and in this way develop a strong relationship with Krishna through that particular form.

Radha-Madhava's Installation.

Shaunaka Rishi Das, the (21 year old) temple-president of Dublin at this time, remembers how Radha-Madhava's installation came about.

SRD: "The Deities had been brought from India over a month before and had been standing in my office covered in cloth. One day, I suddenly got a phone-call from our leader Prithu das in India, he said that His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaja would be visiting Ireland at the end of the week, and we would install the Deities then. This was completely unexpected! We had less than a week to prepare for this momentous event and were immediately plunged into intense activity, to get everything together in time. There was so much to do: There were no clothes for the deities to wear, so we brought expert seamstress Bhakti-lata dasi over from England and a team of sewers worked day and night. There were also curtains and backdrops to be made. The deities were unpainted and Saksi-Gopala carefully and painstakingly painted Their features, hands and feet. He and Aniruddha also did carpentry work, preparing the altar where the Deities would reside. We had quickly to send out invitations to guests and the media, order a marquis, scrub the temple from top to bottom, prepare a menu and shop for a huge feast and many other things."

The installation ceremoney took place in a big marquis in the grounds of the temple. Installing a deity means that Radha and Krishna are personally invited to enter the deity form, so that They are actually present before the worshipper. It's not a statue that we are seeing and serving, but God Himself, who has kindly come there to enable us to develop our intimate relationship with Him.

A large crowd gathered to witness the event. His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaja performed the ceremony gravely and with devotion, to the accompaniment of enthusiastic kirtan. Nitai-sachinandana remembers:

"I had spent several hours shining up the brass paraphernalia for the occasion - brass pots to hold milk, honey, water and other ingredients, lamps, bells and trays. It had been glorious weather for the previous few days, but on the day of the installation it poured with rain. My strongest memory is of seeing Radha-Madhava being carried into the marquis with umbrellas held above Them. They looked very beautiful; Saksi-gopal had painted Them exquisitely and it was hard to take your eyes off Them!

After the ceremony, Radha-Madhava were brought from the marquis to Their altar in the temple, where they were dressed in a rich-looking red velvet outfit and adorned with flower garlands. When the curtains opened, Satsvarupa Maharaja offered Them Their first arti and there was a really ecstatic kirtan. Everyone was swept up by the chanting and the atmosphere was spiritually charged. Everyone remarked on it, even people who had only come to a temple for the first time. It was tremendous." The occasion wound up with a sumptuous prasadam feast - the first cooked offering to Their Lordships.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava presided over the Dublin Temple for over a year, until circumstances became difficult for the devotees in Ireland and arrangements were made for Them to move to Belfast. Here They stayed temporarily in Wellington Park, until we found a suitable place for Them. In 1985, They came here to Their temple, "Brooklands" in Dunmurry on the outskirts of Belfast, where They are the joy of the Vaishnava community in Belfast. All glories to Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha-Madhava!

The pictures here are sketches by Padma-malini from photos of the actual event. They show Satsvarupa Maharaja installing Radha-Madhava.

Gaura-Purnima Photo Gallery.

For those who couldn't make it to the temple on Gaura-Purnima - don't despair! Here are some pictures of our Lordships at the festival. If you click on the pictures, they expand and you can see them in greater detail.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava in Their new outfit, designed and made by Shyama. It is a sort of midnight purple, with hand-sewn beadwork and a gorgeous shimmering backdrop. Bhagavata dressed the Deities that morning. Huge orchids in Radharani's hand and at Krishna's left ear!

This one shows the lovely hand-carved altar and the flower decorations. Sandra, Nina, Tsvety and Kathleen made the garlands and flower arrangements.

Sri Nityananda and Sri Chaitanya wear fragrant hyacinth garlands made by Shelina.

Head-pujara (temple-priest) Susakha performs the bathing ceremony to our tiny Gaura-Nitai deities.

Gaura-Nitai enjoying Their bath.

Milk, honey, yogurt, sugar-water and ghee are Their favourite bathing liquids.

Guests enter into the devotional mood.

An Interlude.

Here's a nice thing: A slideshow of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava with photos taken at different festivals. And music to compliment it - Madhu-mangala das (aka Maurice Foley) sings a song of his own composition, accompanied by himself on mandolin and Clara on fiddle. Once we work out how to do slideshows and put sound up on these Chronicles, won't we have fun!

The slideshow is on the ISKCON.com website, run by our able Lal-Krishna das, and the picture above is one of a series of Names of Krishna which change every time you visit the site. It is our own Madhava-ji, of course. Click here to see the slideshow: Radha-Madhava Picture Gallery.

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Their Resplendent Lordships - Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.

At the Temple on Tuesday

The Birthday Boy.

Sri Nityananda enjoying His birthday celebrations.