Bhaktivedanta Manor

About Bhaktivedanta Manor

Bhaktivedanta Manor, at Letchmore Heath near Watford in Hertfordshire, is the UK headquarters of ISKCON and one of the busiest Hindu temples in Britain. The temple is housed in a Grade II-listed mock-Tudor manor set in about 70 acres of countryside. Its deities are Radha-Gokulananda (Krishna), Gaura-Nitai, and Sita, Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman, on a carved wooden altar.

Beyond the temple room the estate has a theological college, a primary school, ashrams for around forty resident monks, a cow sanctuary with about sixty cows and bulls, an organic farm, a café serving sattvic food, a bakery, a gift shop, and a woodland walk with verses from the Bhagavad Gita. The George Harrison Memorial Garden opened in 2013.

Janmashtami is the Manor's biggest day, drawing tens of thousands of visitors — 60,000 attended in 1998 — and Diwali is also celebrated on a large scale. Check the Manor's website before visiting on a festival day, as access arrangements change for the big crowds.

History

The estate has medieval roots: in the 12th century the Abbot of Westminster granted land at Aldenham to Thomas Picot, and the present mansion was built in 1884. In February 1973 George Harrison of the Beatles bought the property and gave it to ISKCON, and the movement's founder, Srila Prabhupada, stayed there that summer. In the 1980s and 1990s the temple fought a long planning battle over the number of visitors; in 1994, 36,000 people marched in London to keep it open, and a new access road was later approved so worship could continue.