In our last issue in QNN we reported on the temple project in San Diego run by GBC member Badrinarayana Das (please see “BTP story: GBC takes action”, BTP 20, p15). We noted that following a BTP exposé on this temple project in issues 10 and 11, where we highlighted that neither was the temple in the name of ISKCON nor were most of the temple trustees ISKCON devotees, the GBC took action to rectify these two matters, insisting that the temple must be an ISKCON corporation and all the trustees must be ISKCON initiated devotees. As part of our exposé we had also highlighted that the temple was to house the following demigod shrines:
“Shrine for Ganesh; Shrine for Shiva, Murties of Shri Parvati (Amba), Linga, Nandi Murti.”
Following our exposé, the temple has also now back-pedalled on these plans as well, as evidenced by the following e-mail from the head of ISKCON Resolve (an ISKCON body set up to hear complaints) Braja Bihari Das:
“My understanding is that they are *now* not collecting for building temples for demigods.”
To re-emphasise this point, he states that the temple project has a new website: http://www.sandiego-newproject.org, which has “no mention of the demigods.”
And that the previous temple website in which Badrinarayana had announced the aforementioned plans for demigod shrines “is old and not used. I think they will delete it as well.”
(All excerpts from an e-mail sent by Braja Bihari Das on 28/6/08, 8.02am)
This was also confirmed by one of the leaders of the San Diego temple Dharmasetu Das, who stated:
“There are no plans for demigod worship.”
(Dharmasetu Das, e-mail, 12/6/08, 12:51pm)
