Caru Das and Vaibhavi Devi Dasi, co-presidents of the two ISKCON temples in Utah, were recently the special guests of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders at a dinner and Christmas concert in Salt Lake City.

The pioneering pair have spent decades cultivating meaningful and cooperative relationships with their LDS neighbors.  Their service, founding two temples in the predominantly LDS state and hosting the largest color festival outside of India, has inspired devotees worldwide. Vaibhavi and Caru were the guests of Blain and Monica Bambrough.  Monica and her husband serve as outreach and interfaith representatives for the LDS Church in Utah County.  She and a large group of Latter-day Saints recently spent a day of service at the Spanish Fork Radha Krishna Temple.

During the dinner and program, Caru and Vaibhavi also met one of the Church’s twelve apostles, D. Todd Christofferson.  Latter-day Saints model their leadership, in part, on the New Testament, with twelve apostles in the highest quorum of leadership.

Following the dinner for dignitaries (where Caru and Vaibhavi were served a vegetarian meal), they joined thousands of others in the LDS Church’s stunning conference center for their annual Christmas concert celebrating the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. The 1.4 million-square-foot edifice is the world’s largest theater-style auditorium, capable of seating over 21,000 guests. The music and spoken word program included Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award-winning artists. 

“Regardless of one’s faith, the annual Christmas concert with the Tabernacle Choir, orchestra, and visiting luminaries has to be one of the most uplifting events on the planet,” said Caru. “I’ve heard that all of the performers are unpaid. The tickets were free but nevertheless very hard to obtain.” He continued, “Even though the concert spanned three evenings, every one of the 21,000 seats were filled each night. We are very grateful to Monica and Blaine for graciously going out of their way to get us tickets and then introducing us to some upper level members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

To follow their ongoing service and upcoming events in Spanish Fork and the Salt Lake City temples, please visit their website. You can also follow Caru Das on Facebook, where he teaches a live-streamed Srimad Bhagavatam class. Watch for an upcoming article on their latest project with Krishna Radio.

Photo credits: Caru Das.