As I am a second
year Religious Studies student (nearly third year!!), the opportunity came up for me to visit the
Bhaktivedanta Manor near Watford. It is described on the website as the “Home
of the Hare Krishna Movement” and George Harrison, from the Beatles, was the
one who donated the Manor to the movement. I was really excited about visiting
this Hindu place of worship.
After the coach journey we arrived at the
Manor, to be met by two Hindu Hare Krishna Monks dressed in Orange Robes. We
were welcomed by them and taken to a room upstairs; on the way up I couldn’t
help notice the beautiful pieces of artwork all over the walls. Religious art
can be really gorgeous, but also really strange too! We had a small talk about
the Hindu beliefs, specifically the Hare Krishna ones and we were also invited
to join in with some chanting which was interesting! I always love to see the
different ways of worshipping in different religions and this was something
unique to everything I have previously experienced.
We then went downstairs to the main temple
room – we were able to see things such as the Darshan, which is decorated daily
and can take ages – I think they even said up to 3 hours. It was so beautiful, you can see the picture below. People were still
finishing worship so we got to experience the chanting again on a bigger scale
and it was cool to see people giving gifts as well.
Such beautiful colours!
Other parts of our tour included
looking round the George Harrison memorial garden which was stunning, the
Bhagavad Gita walk around the lake (this is the Hindu sacred text and there
were quotes scattered on the walk which was pretty), yoga (no matter how many
times I try I just can’t get on with it!!) and there was also a cow farm there.
Cows are extremely sacred in Hinduism and there were so many cows there, it was
so cool! I even got to feed one. Finally, we grabbed lunch at the café there
and I probably had the best samosa I have ever had. It’s making my mouth water
even thinking about it…
I had a
fantastic day the Bhaktivedanta Manor! I really hope I can go again in the
future, they were celebrating Holi festival there the next day and I’d
absolutely love to go...maybe next year!
Have you ever
been to the Manor? Or another Hindu place of worship?
It's nice to go places and see their history and to enjoy just being a part of it for a day or two. Such a long time to spend decorating, but it looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely! I'm excited to go back. I couldn't believe it, they do it every day for roughly 3 hours which was amazing! xx
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