Stowe Lake courtesy of Daderot, Wikimedia Commons

Tucked away in San Francisco’s expansive Golden Gate Park is a lovely lake with an island called Stow Lake. It was a favorite spot for Srila Prabhupada to circumambulate during his daily morning walks. “One of the great pleasures for devotees in San Francisco was taking these early morning walks with Srila Prabhupada,” said Malati Devi Dasi. “The main place where that occurred was Stow Lake.”

To provide a spiritual touchpoint for devotees visiting Stow Lake, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to fund the installation of a commemorative plaque in honor of Srila Prabhupada there. The campaign has received the endorsement of several early San Francisco pioneers like Shyamasundar Das, Malati Devi Dasi, and Gurudas. The initiative started in November 2022 and is halfway to achieving its goal.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which manages over 220 parks, playgrounds, and open spaces throughout San Francisco, has a paid program that would install a commemorative plaque about Srila Prabhupada on a bench in Stow Lake for ten years. The funds generated from these plaque placements help the department protect and maintain the park.

Having a dedicated place to reflect on Prahupada’s pastimes in Stow Lake is a lovely way to honor our Founder-Ācārya and preserve his memory. “This can be a special place to reflect upon his wonderful presence in our lives, even in the present,” Malati added.

With your help and kind donations, you can play a part in realizing this vision. To learn more about the GoFundMe program and to donate, please visit here.

Prabhupada Parikrama

In addition, a Srila Prabhupada San Francisco Parikrama has been beautifully curated by Dhanistha Devi Dasi of the Berkeley temple. A commemorative plaque at Stow Lake would be a beautiful addition to that pilgrimage experience.  For more information about the “Hare Krishna! San Francisco Srila Prabhupada Pilgrimage,” please visit here.

For audio/photos of Srila Prabhupada and his disciples in 1967 at Golden Gate Park, please visit YouTube here.