Bhaktivedanta Manor
| Bhaktivedanta Manor | |
| Hertfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Bhaktivedanta (Piggott's) Manor | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ15159763 |
| Location: | 51°39’56"N, 0°20’11"W |
| History | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to a Hindu temple |
| Owned by: | Hare Krishna movement |
Bhaktivedanta Manor, formerlly known as Piggott's Manor is a country house by Aldenham in Hertfordshire, which has been converted into a Hindu temple, known as a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple. The Manor is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna movement.
The manor is the Society’s largest property in the United Kingdom, and one of the most frequently visited of their temples in Europe. It stands in 70 acres of landscaped grounds, consisting of lawns, flower gardens, a children's playground, an artificial lake that attracts many waterfowl, and a substantial car park.
The house is a Grade II listed building.[1]
History
In the 12th century, the Abbot of Westminster granted land at Aldenham to a Thomas Picot, and his descendants are recorded as holding held the estate from the 13th century, giving it the name 'Picot's Manor', from which the modern name 'Piggott's Manor' derives.
In 1884, a mock-Tudor mansion was built on the site, replacing a much older real Tudor building, which by the 1920s was recorded as 'Piggott's Manor'.
From 1957 to 1972, Piggott's Manor was a nurses' training college, run by St Bartholomew's Hospital as the Preliminary Training School.[2]
In 1973, George Harrison of The Beatles bought Piggott's Manor along with 17 acres of land and gave it to the Hare Krishna movement: he had become a devotee of the cult and through his influence the movement had grown such that its 'Radha Krishna Temple' at Bury Place, in London.[3][4] The founder of the movement, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, prevailed upon one of the leading members to ask George Harrison to help, to which he replied: "I would be very much honoured."[5] Piggott's Manor was identified: the owner was considering a disposal at that point to use the house and 17 acres[6] as a nursing home.[5] Harrison purchased the property in February 1973 and donated it to London chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.[7]
Since 1973, the movement has acquired additional land.
The manor swiftly became a popular venue for London's growing Hindu community, not just those of the specific Krishna cult.
Beginning in 1981, the Hare Krishna community engaged in a campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor from closure as a public temple, as the popularity of the site led to increased traffic through Aldenham. During 1985, the devotees tried to buy adjoining land to make road access to the Manor that would bypass the village. Meanwhile, the council received many more local complaints, leading it to issue an enforcement notice in January 1987 to have the temple closed to the public, citing a breach of the 1000-person daily limit, and in 1990 the Secretary of State announced that Bhaktivedanta Manor would have to close as a temple. In the months leading up to the closure deadline, devotees bought the neighbouring land, and submitted a development proposal to Hertsmere Council, with a view to making a road that would bring all traffic into the Manor from the A41, on the opposite side of the property from the village.[8]
The road was approved after a planning appeal in 1996. With the improved access, the Manor hosts up to 60,000 visitors for annual religious festivals.
Inside the house and temple
All activity at Bhaktivedanta Manor focuses around the temple room with its altar of carved wood and gilt containing three domed shrines for Hindu deities. The rest of the property comprises a shop selling souvenirs and devotional paraphernalia, a bakery, a farm with working oxen, college facilities, ashrams, a primary school, and a small theatre. The latter is used for performances of the dramatic arts illustrating bhakti yoga and stories about Krishna. The theatre is frequently used as a venue for Vaishnava religious festivals, Hindu family gatherings, general open days and civil weddings.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bhaktivedanta Manor) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1173081: Bhaktivedanta Manor
- ↑ @Elaine Law, "The Rewards of an Unusual Change in Career", RLH League of Nurses, May 2005 (archived version retrieved 16 September 2014).
- ↑ Dwyer and Cole, pp. 31, 32.
- ↑ Lavezzoli, p. 195.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dhananjaya Das, in "Bhaktivedanta Manor Memories – The Definitive History"; event occurs between 1:20 and 2:14.
- ↑ Clayson, p. 306.
- ↑ Tillery, p. 111, 162.
- ↑ Dwyer and Cole, p. 45.