When Ram came to Spanish Fork

The golden lights inside the majestic temple stood out clear and bright against the darkened skies. Sweetly mingled with the smells of lush grass, mehendi, Indian food, hairy llamas, cackling parrots and chicken, peacock feathers and hundreds of pious devotees as well as curious minds, Rama emerged on the rolling hills crying for Sita. He stood there in the moonlight lamenting for her loss at the hands of Ravana and swore before Lakshmana that he would bring earth and water together to find his beloved Sita. The ten headed Ravana continued to admire Sita's beauty and pleaded for her to forget Rama and become his consort. Sita stood aloof with a blade of grass protecting her modesty and love. Hanuman jumped into the Ashoka garden bringing tidings of Rama to Sitadevi. Sugriva and Jambavan's armies had each stone engraved with the name of Lord Rama and then stacked them across the ocean. The 'setu' was built literally through the audience and we watched it snake up to the lake right where the ten headed Ravana stood tall and powerful above the waters. Sri Rama fired his weapon and Ravana heaved embers of nirvana at the hands of the Lord. Fireworks reached up to the deep blue skies. The Rocky mountains watched amused and patient from behind. They had witnessed Ravana's 'moksha prapti' 21 times before today. The gathered multi racial crowd cheered and celebrated as the evil of the world went up in a splendid work of fire and flames.

It was our first visit to the Iskon Temple at Spanish Fork, Utah for the Festival of India, also celebrating Ravana Dahana. Standing butter white against a backdrop of rolling blue hills the Iskon temple is a stupendous vision. Built on similar lines as the Kusum Sarovar of Rajasthan, it is an architechtural phenomenon.

Krishna among Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints?, I thought. Well, I reasoned, Gods have a social life too. If Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus and Mohammad decided to buy a small plot of Jerusalem and live there, then why not Krishna choosing Mormon land?

For the past 21 years the Utah Krishna temple has attracted thousands of devoteed to witness the India Fest. Their web page proudly proclaims ".... few people in Utah County are ignorant of the fact that, once a year, you can go to India without spending a lot of money. You can have India right in the middle, of all places, ... Spanish Fork!"

As we drove into the temple parking lot that evening, the chanting of "Jai Hari Radhe Krishna" could be heard from afar. The small stage at the entrance had seated half a dozen devotees on the harmonium, mridang, tabla, manjira and an electric guitar. The chantings of the many names of Krishna continued in the sweet western accent. They kept beautiful rythm and chanted for long. The crowds grew in number and when requested to, happily joined the chantings. Little white girls in lehengas, wearing bindis and waving peacock feathers ran about in joy of celebration. The llama farm right beside the temple had many visitors. These llamas were leased out for trecking packages on the Rockies.

There were Bharatnatyam and Mohiniattam performances from local Indian artists and also a beautiful sitar rendition in Raags Pilu and Pahadi by Sashi Kalaskar from Pune.

As the sun started to dip a bit, we moved to a larger stage on the other side of the temple. Everyone carried blankets, comforters and pillows. On the sloping outdoor amphitheater we made ourselves comfortable as a slight chill settled in. Orissi dance and Bharatnatyam alternated on stage. 'Pada bande Gana natha, Guna dhama Jaya he.. ' reverbated around the hills. I sat stunned and watched a pure white full moon grazing among the mountain tops. The dancers then made way for 'Manthara' and Kaikeyi 's conversation and that was the beginning of the pageant of Ramayana. The most wonderful production of Ramayana in English played in the background with music, dialogues and a slide presentation. The actors did a fantastic job. Anu and Shuma remembered and validated the story line with what they had heard from their grand parents and I was happy to be bestowing them the same joy as what I received 35 years back in my paternal grandfather's yard watching the village 'jatra'. The script for the drama was wonderfully written preserving the ethics of Indian modesty, chastity, courage and loyalty.

As Ravana's effigy continued to burn I did not wish to comtemplate on the differences between Iskon and Hindusim. As long as God/(s) continued to burn evil and sustain the good, I did not care how many Gods there were and who worshipped whom.

Kids with Ramayana cast

Band performing at the end of the day "Hare Krishna".

For more information visit:

http://utahkrishnas.com/

Ramayana Cast:
Kayikeyi: Ganga Shibonis

Manthara: Divya Drsti Frazier

Dasaratha: Richard Franklin
Bharata: Jai Krshna Perry

Ramachandra: Rajiv Sharma

Sita: Gita Sharma

Lakshmana: Ananda R. Rao
Supanakha: Vishnu Priya Shibonis

Ravana: Richard Franklin
Maricha: Zachary Perry

Ogresses: Ganga and Yamuna
Hanuman: Jai Krsna Perry

Monkey 1: Zachary Perry

Monkey 2: Julio Frazier

Bharatnatyam: Radhika Narasinghani (Indian origin) and Raslila (Bulgarian Origin)

Mohiniattanm: Divya Narayanan (Indian origin)

Orissi: 5 students from Nandita Behera's Orissi Dance School in LA