Govindas Swansea, Wales, UK, was smashed up and ransacked on Thursday night, the 19th of November.
Burglers broke a hole in the roof to get in, then they went through the whole building, smashing up anything of value on their way, and stealing cash and valuables, which were used in the worship there.
Govinda’s is home to a vegetarian cafe, and is the local ISKCON Temple. The presiding Deities are Sri Sri Pancha Tattva. The devotees are well known and liked in the area, and have been in this location for the last 15 years, led by Tarakanath prabhu. The community of devotees is a wonderful, selfless community, and, as well as being generous of heart, also have a great sense of humour and compassion. There are regular well attended programs, Harinamas, prasadam and book distribution going on.
It is heartbreaking to think that such a wonderful group of individuals, who give so much, have been prey to such a heartless, selfish and violent act.
The break in was discovered on the Friday morning by Danda Krt prabhu, the restaurant manager, and his wife, Vraja Varuna devi dasi. The thieves had broken through the roof, smashed up the office, ripped out the safe, gone downstairs, and destroyed the till in the hope of finding some cash inside. Then, to get out, they smashed their way through the office window. The most disturbing thing for the devotees, though, was that they had been on the altar. All the Deities jewellery had been stolen, but fortunately neither the Deities nor the altar had been damaged .
This community is small, and the cost of this for them is high. With this in mind, a page has been set up where donations can be sent. The devotees are extremely grateful for any help received:
https://www.gofundme.com/GovindasSwansea
All funds will go towards repairing the roof, fixing the broken window used as an escape route, repairing many other items, and replacing the crowns and other jewellery for the Pancha Tattva Deities in the Temple.
This is a link to the local news coverage:
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/City-temple-smashed-thieves/story-28214190-detail/story.html
Thank you for your prayers and support.
On behalf of the devotees at Govinda’s Swansea,
Your servant, Devaprastha das.