The history of FATE- Iskcon Museum Project (video)
Adi Deva das: Devotees named Srimati dd and Prabhas das were already working with Milan. Murti d, Bibhavati devi dasi, Madhavendra Puri das, Baradraj das, Rukmini devi dasi, Saptaratha das, and myself joined the team learning how to make clay tools from pieces of bamboo- how to find and dig up sticky clay and sandy clay. We learned how to mix clay with cow dung juice and other mysteries. We began sculpting fruits, vegetables, animals, birds, noses, eyes, ears, lips, fingers, toes, armatures, straw tying, clay application. We created small dolls, large dolls, sanding, painting, wigging, clothing and jeweling. Milan was expert and showed us everything.
On Gaura Purnima 1974 we put on a humble exhibition for Srila Prabhupada’s approval. He told us that we were" not yet expert" and should hire another teacher and continue learning. We hired another older artist who was very generous in helping us develop our skills.
Our group shrunk and the few of us left went to Vrndavana where for several months we created 8 Gopi dolls and presented them to Srila Prabhupada.
Bharadraj das and Rukmini Dasi were asked by Srila Prabhupada to travel to India and lead the project of bringing this dying Art of Putul (Clay Dolls) to the West and create museums explaining our philosophy thru this medium.
My friend Murti das received an inheritance shortly after we were invited to travel to India; so we got the initial paperwork and shots and off we went. Our plane (Air India) had problems; we stopped in NYC, then Kuwait, then Bombay and finally landed in the long cow pasture which was the Calcutta airport. Bhavananda Maharaj picked us up in an old Jeep and drove us the two hour bumpy drive to Sridham Mayapura. Mayapura sits upon the banks of the Ganges River and is a holy place of pilgrimage for saintly devotees from all over West Bengal and beyond.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a small group of devotees from Europe, Australia, and North and South America. I soon realized my new home was the vortex of a construction site. A half built, three story temple/guest house sat one- fifth of a mile from a little used main road. Other temples on that road looked tired and sleepy. Across the road were a series of fields, then the Ganges river, and the town of Navadvip on the other side.
To get from the main road (Bhaktisiddhanta Marg) to our temple in progress we had to walk through rice fields on a mud path about two feet wide; one slip and you were knee deep in mud.
The temple was covered in a web of bamboo scaffolding with many Bengali workers scurrying all over it, as they brought their bricks and buckets of cement. Encamped on one side of the temple in low huts and tents, they were a loud and jolly bunch. We slept in unfinished rooms on the first and second floor; Srila Prabhupada’s quarters and guest quarters on the third floor with sanyasis’ quarters on the roof.
All water came from one hand pump–for our bathing, cooking, pot washing, cement mixing, workers’ bathing–ONE HAND PUMP!
In this video I talk about the letter I received from Srila Prabhupada outlining his vision for the project.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Jr9EvG