Correspondence with Bon Maharaja 

January 21, 1966

He received Bon Maharaja’s reply.  Two weeks before, Prabhupada had written to his godbrother, the Director of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy in Vrindavana, that he had found a place for a temple in New York and that he wanted to install deities of Radha and Krishna.  In his reply, Bon Maharaja quoted price estimates for fourteen-inch brass deities of Radha-Krishna, but he also warned that to begin deity worship would be a heavy responsibility.  Srila Prabhupada responded: 

I think that after the temple has started, some men, even from America, may be available, as I have seen they have at the Ramakrishna Mission, as well as in so many Yoga societies.  So I am trying to open a temple here because Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati) wanted it.

Prabhupada also requested Bon Maharaja’s assistance in getting the Government to sanction release of the money he felt Padampat Singhania would donate.  He mentioned that he had carried on an extensive personal correspondence with the Vice-President of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan, who was also know to Bon Maharaja.

Tell him that it is not an ordinary temple of worship, but an international institution for God consciousness based on the Srimad-Bhagavatam.