Monday, July 14, 2014

Open Day at the Hare Krishna Manor

On Sunday we went to the family open day at the Hare Krishna temple, Bhaktivedanta Manor outside Watford. This is where we went last year for the wonderful event of letting the cows out after winter - see previous post Cow Fundamentalists to find out a bit more about the manor.

As soon as we arrived we had a tour of the grounds and manor with Deera (not sure if that's the correct spelling) who was a really lovely lady and so generous with the things she shared. I'm always fascinated to find out about other faiths and cultures and it turned out Deera is the same so we had some really good discussions.


One of the monks has obviously got very green thumbs as the flowers around the manor are stunning - so many beautiful displays in pots and hanging baskets.




One of the gardens is designed around medicinal plants and has been designed and looked after for years by one lady. It was a really pretty space. There was a man in the garden playing the Harmonium and singing - lovely.



There is  woodland walk which has lots of quotes from the Bhagavad-Gita which is the Hare Krishna scripture and was first written down about 5000 years ago. There are monks and nuns at the manor - the monks wear orange robes and the nuns are in white.


The manor is a beautiful old Tudor building which was gifted to the Hare Krishna by George Harrison - the inside is stunning. The picture below of the ox and cart was taken from the balcony of one of the bedrooms.


Our next adventure was an ox cart ride down to the farm so that we could say hello to the cows. Did I mention that the open day was free - it's a really great family event for people to come together and learn more about each other.






In the midst of the open day there was a wedding going on in the grounds with some really stunning Hindu outfits - below the bride and groom are posing for their wedding photos.


We then went and bought lunch from the onsite bakery - all vegetarian of course. There was a free lunch provided as part of the day but we thought we'd try some of the yummy looking things in the bakery instead. Whilst we were eating this family of ducks came to visit.


After lunch we visited the George Harrison garden which is a really peaceful space in the grounds. The garden features lots of plants that George loved and quotes from his songs.



I forgot to mention that Jamie, Ken's youngest son, was with us - let's just say he tolerated the experience. As you can see he's a little bit taller than his dad.


So that was our visit to the manor - if you ever get the chance to go to one of their open days then do, it's a great experience.

Until next time be good, stay safe, and do something new this week.

Pamela and Ken
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P.S: Final picture is of a beautiful fountain in the garden.



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