{"id":47157,"date":"2017-03-10T12:12:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T06:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=47157"},"modified":"2017-03-10T12:12:08","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T06:42:08","slug":"new-zealand-temple-reborn-2011-earthquake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=47157","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Temple Reborn After 2011 Earthquake"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are going to be a lot of tears and smiles in Christchurch, New Zealand from March 3rd<\/sup> to 5th<\/sup>.
\nDuring what\u2019s set to be an emotional three-day festival, devotees will see their brand new temple open after their old one was destroyed in a devastating 2011 earthquake. And they\u2019ll see their beloved deities, Nitai Gaurachandra, reappear after being smashed to pieces in the disaster.
\nDevotees first purchased Bealy Manor in 1983, and opened it as a temple in January 1986. Five minutes\u2019 drive from the center of Christchurch, the largest city in New Zealand\u2019s South Island, Bealy Manor was a 100-year-old stately home.
\nOn September 4th<\/sup>, 2010, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, weakening the structure of the by now 130-year-old building.
\nThree thousand continual aftershocks followed for the next five-and-a-half months, leaving temple and city residents shaken. Then on February 22nd<\/sup>, 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake came. Although smaller, it hit much closer to the center of Christchurch and was at a shallower depth, so the damage was much worse \u2013 185 people were killed, mostly by collapsing buildings.
\n\"\"
\nThe original Sri Sri Nitai Gauracandra
\n<\/em>
\nIn the temple, pujari Sevananda Das had just finished offering midday arati, and several devotees were singing kirtan when intense tremors began shaking the three-foot marble deities of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra violently.
\nSevananda held tightly onto Them to protect Them, but Their Lordships were flung off the altar, taking Sevananda with Them. The heavy wooden altar followed, flying through the air and crashing on the ground, barely missing Sevananda.
\n\u201cLying there, dazed, I looked around,\u201d Sevananda told ISKCON News back then. \u201cThe Deities had completely shattered, and there was an arm lying here, a foot there, a hand there. In the background, I could hear a devotee wailing, just crying out, \u2018No!\u2019 It was the most devastating experience ever.\u201d
\nAlthough everyone hoped for a long time that Nitai Gaurachandra could be repaired, it was eventually deemed impossible, and according to custom they were placed in the sea in May 2011.
\n\"\"
\nRegional secretary and former Temple President Kalasamvara Das places Nitai Gaurachandra in the ocean<\/em>
\nMeanwhile whole sections of the temple were reduced to rubble, leaving the old building beyond repair.
\nNo devotees were seriously injured, and no one lost their homes. But many had to move out of their houses for months while they were repaired.
\n\u201cThe experience was extremely psychologically traumatic for everyone,\u201d says Mandira Mani, a university lecturer who moved to the Christchurch Hare Krishna community thirty-five years ago when she was six years old and grew up calling it home. \u201cAs well as losing our temple and Deities, the tremors continued for years after \u2013 to this day in fact \u2013 and each time we\u2019d think another earthquake was coming. Everybody was living on edge for years.\u201d
\n\"\"
\nThe temple was destroyed beyond repair in the February 2011 earthquake<\/em>
\nStill, the Christchurch devotees \u2013 a grihasta community balancing families and jobs with their volunteer work \u2013 soldiered on. They maintained programs in people\u2019s homes, welcoming visiting sannyasis and other senior devotees, and held Sunday Feasts every week at the local Ferrymeade community hall.
\nMeanwhile, they worked hard to build a new temple. With the\u00a0 insurance company in dire straits after the earthquake, it took years to get the insurance payout. Then they had to navigate building permissions red-tape, designs, and liasing with engineers and architects.
\n\u201cSpecifically it\u2019s all down to the efforts of our temple president Ramanuja Prabhu,\u201d says Mandira Mani. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for him, we wouldn\u2019t have a new temple. He saved us thousands of dollars by doing the research and finding cost-effective ways of doing things. And he\u2019s been on the building site for twelve hours every day for the past year-and-a-half.\u201d
\n\"\"
\nMandira Mani, who grew up in the Hare Krishna community in Christchurch, with her children Nadia Caitanya and Nila Madhava<\/em>
\nMandira Mani also got involved, helping to raise money for the shortfall through a Facebook campaign. A GBC construction grant helped, too.
\nThe old temple was demolished, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the new temple was held in January 2015. Construction began later that year, with the new temple rising on the same ideally located site as the beloved old temple.
\nThe new temple is modern and spacious, with a large prasadam hall, an industrial kitchen, a huge, beautiful temple room with a wrap-around balcony, big windows, deity kitchen and service areas, and offices.
\n\"\"
\nTemple president Ramanuja Das shows visiting devotees around the new temple’s building site in April 2016<\/em>
\nIn contrast to the old temple, it is ecologically built to save money on heating and cooling \u2013 a very important feature in New Zealand\u2019s always fluctuating island weather. It is also, of course, designed to withstand any future earthquakes.
\nThe new temple will open with a grand festival from Friday March 3rd<\/sup> to Sunday March 5th<\/sup>. Around 400 devotees are expected.
\nOn the first day, Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra will reappear in a wonderful installation ceremony. The story behind Their reappearance is astonishing.
\n\"\"
\nThe new temple will be ecologically designed and earthquake resistant<\/em>
\n\u201cOur original Deities, installed in 1986, were three feet tall marble Gaura Nitai Deities,\u201d says Mandira Mani. \u201cAt the same time as They were purchased for our temple, an identical set of Deities was purchased for the temple in Auckland, on the North Island. They planned to replace their small brass Gaura Nitai with large marble Deities to match their marble Radha Krishna.\u201d
\nBut when the Auckland devotees decided they didn\u2019t want to replace their brass Gaura Nitai after all because Srila Prabhupada had installed Them, the new Deities remained in storage in a devotee\u2019s cupboard for 31 years.
\n\u201c\u2026Until now,\u201d says Mandira Mani. \u201cThey are the exact same size as our original Nitai Gaurachandra, fit all Their old clothes, have identical features and were carved by the same craftsman! It\u2019s some kind of mystical arrangement.\u201d
\n\"\"
\nThe new temple is spacious and modern<\/em>
\nAfter the installation ceremony, various devotees who were present at the Christchurch temple\u2019s original opening in 1986 will share their memories. They include former temple presidents Kalasamvara Das and Alalanath Das, and Mandira Mani\u2019s mother Karunika Dasi, who sewed the installation outfit for the original Deities and will sew the new Deities\u2019 installation outfit too.
\nOn Saturday, the building will be officially opened with local government representatives attending, and there will be a Harinama in the city center. On Sunday, and throughout, there will be much chanting and feasting.
\nThe new temple and its facilities represent a chance for the community \u2013 which has shrunk down over the past few years \u2013 to expand and have a presence in Christchurch again.
\n\"\"
\nDevotees help onsite at the new temple<\/em>
\nBut most of all, it will be an emotional rebirth for the Christchurch devotees.
\n\u201cThe old temple was the site of all my happiest memories as a child and young adult,\u201d says Mandira Mani. \u201cSo for me, and many others, this new temple is like our new home. And now that I have my own children, I\u2019m so glad that they\u2019ll have a temple they can be a part of too. After everything the devotees here have been through, we\u2019re all so excited!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are going to be a lot of tears and smiles in Christchurch, New Zealand from March 3rd to 5th. During what\u2019s set to be an emotional three-day festival, devotees will see their brand new temple open after their old one was destroyed in a devastating 2011 earthquake. And they\u2019ll see their beloved deities, Nitai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}