Three thousand people flocked to attend the opening of the long-awaited Sri-Sri Radha Govinda Mandir in Las Vegas on April 28^thand 29^th– proving Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction that his mission would spread to every town and village… even “Sin City,” Nevada, USA.

About 400 ISKCON devotees, including twenty-five Prabhupada disciples, came from all over the world, excited to be part of this historical occasion and see the $1.9 million temple. Attending with them were thousands of local Americans, Indians, and yoga practitioners.

The two-day festival began on the evening of Friday the 27^th, with an ecstatic Harinama Sankirtana party of 200 devotees chanting the Lord’s names down the Las Vegas strip for three hours.

On Saturday the 28^th, Lord Nrsimhadeva’s appearance day, around 150 second generation devotees organized and participated in a twelve-hour kirtan from 10am till 10pm. 

Second generation devotees led a 12-hour kirtan on Nrsimha Chaturdasi

On Sunday, the main opening day, Srila Prabhupada disciples including GBC Badrinarayana Swami, Vaisesika Das, and Veda-Vyasapriya Swami cut the ceremonial ribbon, and led a maha-guru-puja to install Srila Prabhupada’s murti in the 3,000 square-foot marble temple room.

With the temple room packed to capacity and people overflowing out into the hallways, they then gave a series of inspirational speeches.

All talked about how monumental it was that with such a gorgeous new temple, Krishna consciousness had now infiltrated even this most famous stronghold of maya.

Badrinarayana Swami and Vedavyasapriya Swami worship the Deities

“I feel a tremendous amount of spiritual energy in this temple, and I’m sure a lot of preaching will go on from here,” said Vaisesika Das, predicting that by the first anniversary of the center, “People all over Las Vegas will be dancing in the streets.”

Others commented that as one of the very few purpose-built new ISKCON temples in America since Srila Prabhupada’s time, it was a major achievement. And with about forty million tourists coming to Las Vegas each year, it would have an impact in spreading Krishna consciousness not just locally, but worldwide.

The final speech by Radha Jivan Das, the driving force and fundraiser for the project, was especially rousing.

Radha Jivan recounted how an article in Back to Godhead magazine, about Polish devotee couple Surapala Das and Krishna Mayi Dasi, had inspired him. The couple were the first to run a Hare Krishna center from their home in Vegas, in 2002.

Gathering for abhisekha

Seeing their efforts, Radha Jivan, a businessman from Alachua, Florida, purchased the current property for $300,000 in 2012. He then oversaw further fundraising, and mentored a small group of a dozen relatively new devotees, as they navigated through all the challenges of constructing the new temple.

Radha Jivan ended his speech with another fundraising effort, requesting everyone in attendance to help the new temple find its feet in its first year, until it became self-sustaining. Many, including local Las Vegans, donated, with $150,000 in pledges raised on the spot.

An abhisekha or bathing ceremony, fifty-six dish offering, and Bharatanatyam dance performance followed, with the festivities ending in a sumptuous feast.

Sri Sri Radha Govinda at ISKCON of Las Vegas

Looking forward, Las Vegas now has an 8,000 square-foot ISKCON temple, on a one-and-a-half-acre lot just fifteen minutes from the strip. The building combines modern architecture and Indian-style domes, and includes a large temple room, ashrams and guest rooms, a gift shop, and a facility for Sunday schools, yoga classes and seminars.

There is also parking for fifty cars, and about 3,600 square feet of playing space outside for children, with a playground soon to be installed.

Finally, the property is home to a Govinda’s restaurant set to open in the next two to three weeks. According to Radha Jivan, it will be the first ISKCON restaurant in the West to serve an all-you-can eat buffet for just $5.

The temple combines modern architecture with domes and chakras

“At that price, we expect to attract two to three hundred people every day to take prasadam,” he says. “That could bring us $1,500 to $2,000 a day. So we’ll be distributing Krishna prasadam at a very affordable price, while still making a little profit for the temple.”

Other outreach will include weekly Sunday feast programs, morning and evening aratis, and a bhakti-yoga club at the University of Las Vegas.

“Investing $300,000 in a city I knew nothing about could have been my biggest mistake ever,” says Radha Jivan. “But with Krishna and Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, and the hard work of our small grihasta community, we managed to establish a $2 million facility for Prabhupada’s mission in just six years against all odds. I feel that this temple is a miracle of the Lord’s, and I am confident that it has a bright future ahead.”

Harinama on the Las Vegas Strip