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Vedic Cosmology and Planetarium



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   There are plans underway in Mayapur, West Bengal, located on the banks of the River Ganga near Navadvip, about 130 km north of Kolkata, to build a massive religious work: the tallest Hare Krishna temple in the world, one of the largest religious buildings ever constructed (the largest being the Ankgor Wat Hindu temple in Cambodia), and one of the largest religious complexes to be built in last 200 years. A temple that, at 35 storeys, and will be just shy of the Pyramids in Giza in height, and without major repair is built to last over a thousand years –the Sri Mayapur Vedic Planetarium and Temple.

The planetarium’s research centre will have scientists from NASA and the ISRO explaining the contributions of Vedic cosmology to the study of today’s space science, as well as regular symposia on the subject by astro-physicists. The project aims to make a the project a center of astrophysical and cosmological research.

Design and architecture of the Mandir

The temple is a modern interpretation of ancient Nagara (Northern) and Kalinga (Orissan) Hindu temple design. It has a consists of three connected domed structures.



    The first, the Exhibition Hall, will include many exhibits, a large planetarium, and a Garuda stambha (a column supporting the carved image of Garuda.) The smallest of the three structures, the Exhibition Hall will be about nine stories high. Construction for the Exhibition hall has already begun.

    The second building, the Kirtana Hall, will be approximately eighteen stories tall and features an enormous vyasana for Sri Prabhupada at its center.





Prerenderings of the inside chamber, showing general layout. The entire struture will be hand-carved in the Hindu temple style.

    The third structure, the Shikar, or main temple, will stand about thirty-five stories tall. This building will house a magnificent Deity chamber and a beautiful glass and marble gopuram.

Size of the Mandir

    The size that the temple will be is simply immense. A lot of the renderings don’t do justice to the scale of the project. Some comparisons with other major religious landmarks of the world:



Compared to the Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho (11th Century),

Compared to the Taj Mahal, Agra (17th Century)

Compared to Haga Sophia, Istanbul (6th Century)

Compared to St. Pauls Cathedral, London (17th Century)

Compared to St. Peters, Rome (16th Century)

Compared to The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt (2400 BC)


Ford project to bring NASA scientists, Vedic scholars together

Scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will join hands with Vedic scholars to explore mysteries of ancient Indian cosmology at a Vedic Planetarium about 100 km from Kolkata, once the initiative of Alfred Brush Ford, scion of the United States automobile giant Ford, bears fruit.

Planned at Mayapur, an ancient seat of Vaishnavism and global headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the plantarium forms part of a Rs 283-crore economic initiative by Ford, an ISKCON devotee.

"This will be unique project showcasing the scientific evidence on ancient consmological descriptions of space. We have conducted a series of research and found that the distance between planets, as mentioned in Vedic cosmology, are
profoundly accurate with the findings of modern studies,'' said ABF International senior vice-president Alister Taylor.

Recalling that Mayapur was a famous seat of scientific and cultural learning in medieval Bengal, he said, "through
our reasearch, we realised that something very interesting (cosmological studies) was happening here."

"At the planetarium's research centre, we will have NASA scientists explaining the contributions of vedic cosmology to the study of today's space science. There will be regular symposia on the subject by astro- physicists," Taylor added.