The main building, the colossal Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, was to be no less than three hundred feet high and costing perhaps tens of millions of dollars. Prabhupada’s description astounded the architects as well as the devotees; it sounded grander than the United States Capitol or St. Peter’s Cathedral. The temple’s central dome would house a three-dimen- sional model of the universe. The design, however, would be based on the Vedic description and would de- pict not only the material universe but also the spiritual universe. Entering the main hall, a person would look up and see the planets situated just as Srimad-Bhagavatam describes, beginning with the hellish planets, then the middle planets, wherein the earth is situated, then the heavenly planets of the demigods, and then Brahmalo- ka, the highest planet in the material world. Above Brahmaloka, the observer would see the abode of Lord Siva, and above that the spiritual sky, or brahma- jyoti. Within the spiritual effulgence of the brahma- jyoti would be the self-illuminating Vaikuntha planets, inhabited by eternally liberated souls. And highest of all would be the supreme planet of Krsnaloka, where God in His original eternal form enjoys His pastimes with His most confidential devotees. The temple would also house a miniature palace in which the Deities of Radha and Krsna would reside, surrounded by silks and pillars of silver, gold, and jewels. The Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir and the Mayapur city would be ISKCON’s world headquarters. And why such a fabulous architectural wonder as this in such an obscure part of the world? The answer, Prabhupada explained, was that Mayapur was actually not obscure; it seemed so only from the
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