The new temple has a state-of-the-art-kitchen which will help them reach the homeless and prepare 700 healthy vegetarian meals per hour
The New Kulina Gram Dham congregation - followers of the Hare Krishna Movement - in Catonsville, United States inaugurated a 12,000-square-foot, three-story structure which can accommodate thousand worshipers on Friday, reported The Baltimore Sun.
The New Kulina Gram Dham — also known as ISKCON of Baltimore - is one of its kind planned by the ISKCON in the US this year.
Built on a budget of $3.6 million the temple includes a spacious worship hall, a meditation center, expanded space for the community's growing Sunday school program, and a state-of-the-art kitchen enabling the temple masters to prepare and serve 700 healthy vegetarian meals per hour, reported the daily.
With the rise in membership the old temple was not large enough for people and the kitchen was small to carry out community services.
In the new temple, officials say the kitchen will help congregation expand its food-service operation of six meals per day - all of which are blessed by the priests - offered to the public free of charge. Also, it will help them reach out the homeless shelters.
"It's not so much [our food service] inside, it's what we do outside. In this kitchen I can cook for 800 people without help. Now we can cook for the homeless without killing ourselves," Steve Szili, the temple's head chef told the daily.
At the celebrations - which began on Friday and ended on Saturday - about 150 devotees removed the replica of Prabpuhada from the old temple and carried into the new building.
The founder of ISKCON, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, known by his followers as Guru, had physically come to ISKCON Baltimore only once and had instantly created a holy place of pilgrimage for all Vaishnava devotees of Lord Sri Krishna in 1976.
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