on in December, He broke free of His ropes-not once, but three times. On the third occasion, Ravi pul both hands out to stop the deity from falling: quire a remarkable feat, considering the deity weighs in at around 2.5 tonnes. Somehow, Ravi's hands did the job, and Lord Nityananda was saved. Ravi's left hand, howev- er, was trapped underneath the deity's own left hand-the same hand that reached out o[ the packaging and beckoned the devotees while still on the truck-ancl required twenty-four stitches. He also broke a finger on his right hand. Regardless, he showed up for work the next day. There's no question about the dedication o[ these special souls who carne together to see this work completed. In the days leading up to the installation ceremony, work continued behind the closed doors o[ the altar that now housed the deities, where flor the lirst time since being cast They had touched the ground. Radhakrishna and Bharata Maharaja Dasa spent days adding the final touches to the deity forms of Sri Paflca-ratrva. For Radhakrishna, this job carried a poignant edge: it was the first he had ever done without the guidance of his father. Radhakrishna said, "When we began ro work, always our father woulcl guide us. After flinishing a job, we would ask our father's approval. This time, our father was not here, so we wanted to make this job better than anything we had done in his presence, so that we knew he would be pleasecl, wherever he rnay be."
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