In Tht Eeginning
At the same time, a young Mdydpur resident was making her own notes. Rasarani, the daughter oI Hari-Sauri and Sitala Prabhus, has inherited her mother's apprecia- tion flor deity worship (Sitala Devi was the heacl pujari in New Delhi; over the years she has had many sets of deities made, and has extensive deity worship expe- rience), and her father's eye for transcendental detail ("Hari-Sauri's Transcendental Diary" Volumes 1-7). The following section is a collection of the reports I wrote for the conference and the Mdydpur websites (www.mayapur.com and www.mayapur.inJo), and RAsaranl's own diary entries. Although RAsarani was only eleven years old at the time, her writing captures the mood and atmosphere o[ the occasion with a maturity far beyoncl her years. Her insights are incredible in their detail: sometimes astounding, often funny, but always captivating. As Antardvipa had written, everyone in Mayapur was involved to some extent- marquises were being constructed;bazaars were popping up all arouncl the com- pouncl; colorful, festive lighting blinked into life at sunset; thousands of pilgrims were pouring into Mdydpur daily from all around the worlcl-in fact, the temple ancl all the surrounding areas were the sites o[ constant building, construction, delivery trucks, workmen, the rustle of acres of fabric from the sewing room, the colorful and scenrecl spectacle of the garland ladies amidst the mountains of flow- ers arriving daily. Decorations hung from every corner of the ternple; television screens and sound systems were erected at all corners of the community to cover events happening every rnonlent o[ the day.
New life had come to Mdyipur, and the air was electric with anticipation
l3
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online