1. http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/michaelasanda-1552749-mayapur/

2. Mayapur is located on the banks ofthe Ganges river, at the pointof its confluence with theJalangi, near Navadvip, WestBengal, India, 130 km northof Kolkata (Calcutta). It is TheHead Quarters of ISKCON(the International Society ofKrishna Consciousness) andis considered a holy place bya number of other traditionswithin Hinduism, but is ofspecial significancetofollowersofGaudiyaVaishnavism as the birthplaceof Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,regarded as a specialincarnation of Krishna in themood of Radha. 3. MayapurIt is visited by over a millionpilgrims annually. The town isheavily centred around thisparticular Vaishnava religioustradition, officially known asthe Brahma-Madhva-GaudiyaSampradaya, with templesdevoted to Radha andKrishna or Gaura-Nitaithroughout; however, thereis asizeableMuslimpopulation in the historicalcentre, previously calledMiyapur. 4. Mayapur is famous for attractivefestivals celebrated throughoutthe year. The highlight of thefestivals are the spectacularabhisheka (bathing) to deities,gorgeous flower decorations,cultural programs, harinam andprasada distribution. 5. The Temple of The VedicPlanetarium is a uniqueand ambitious projectaiming to reconcile thetwo main aspects ofhuman search for truth:science and religion. It isbeing built on the bank ofthe holy river Ganges, inMayapur, West Bengal,India. Here is a 3Drendition of the differententrancessurroundingthe temple. The mainentrance will be lookingstraight at the templefrom the Jalangi River,and to the East, anotherentrance will be fromTarunpur Road. In thesepictures you can also seethe view from the Grhastacommunity, and a birds-eye-view of the piazza-like grounds in front of thetemple doors. 6. On the right side of the main altar at the Chandrodayatemple complex, the main deity is that of Sri RadhaMadhava along with their eight gopis, four in each sidealong with Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Giri-Govardhana.The deities are larger than life size and beautifullyadorned. 7. On the main altar are the presiding deities: the beautiful larger than life size Sri Sri Radha Madhava, surrounded by Their Ashta-sakhis (eight principal gopi friends) Sri Lalita, Sri Champakalata, Sri Chitra, Sri Tungavidya, Sri Vishaka, Sri Indulekha, SriRangadevi and Sri Sudevi, along with Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Giri-Govardhana. 8. Sri Sri Radha-Madhava and Visakha Devi, 9. Feet are considered to beunclean and therefore itsimportant to avoid pointing yourfeet at people, or touchingpeople or objects (particularlybooks) with your feet or shoes.If you accidentally do so, youshould apologize straight away.Also, note that Indians will oftentouch their head or eyes as ashow of apology. On the otherhand, its a sign of respect tobend down and touch an elderpersons feet in India. 10. The small Radha MadhavaDeities in the altar goes out inprocession during Ratha-yatra and other festivals likeJhulana-yatra (swing festival)or boat festival. These Deitiesalso come out in processionon a chariot every Saturdayafter Sandhya-arati duringwinter from the beginning oftheKartika(Damodara)month till Gaura-purnima. 11. Gopi is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning cow-herd girl. In Hinduismspecifically the name gopi (sometimes gopika) is used morecommonly to refer to the group of cow herding girls famous withinVaishnava Theology for their unconditional devotion (Bhakti) toKrishna as described in the stories of Bhagavata Purana and otherPuranic literatures. Of this group, one gopi known as Radha (orRadhika) holds a place of particularly high reverence and importancein a number of religious traditions, especially within GaudiyaVaishnavism. 12. Srimati Sudevi 13. On the left altar are larger than life-size Deities of the Panca Tattva, who are from left to right Advaita Acarya, LordNityananda, Lord Caitanya, Gadadhara, and Srivasa Thakur. 14. The most attractive andmagnificient larger than lifedieties of Sri ChaitanyaMahaprabhu withHisassociates Sri NityanandaPrabhu, Sri Advaita Acharya,Sri Gadhadhara Pandita andSri Srivasa Thakura wereinstalled in 2004, which was aremarkable event in thehistory of ISKCON.The small Pancha-tattvadeities were installed earlier,in 1996.These deities are very uniqueand are the tallest deities inthe world made of asta dhatu(eight auspicious metals). 15. After the Mayapur temple was attacked in March, 1984 a decisionwas made to get a Deity of Lord Narasimhadeva. The Deity wasinstalled in July, 1986.The pujari who worships Narasimhadeva must be a naisthika-brahmacari (celibate from birth), and the worship must be very strictand regulated.The Deity is Ugra Narasimhadeva. Ugra means ferocious, veryangry. There are nine forms of Ugra Narasimha. This one is Sthanu-Narasimhastepping out of the pillar. He has a searching glancelooking around ferociously, His knees are bent with one foot forwardready to jump from the pillar. This Deity weights about one ton. 16. Text & pictures: Internet Copyright: All the images belong to their authors Arangement: Sanda Foioreanu www.slideshare.net/michaelasandaSound: Jay Sri Krishna from Namaste, album Magical Healing Mantras 17. Indian Jewelry art is mostly divided into three kinds - temple jewelry, spiritualjewelry and bridal jewelry. Temple jewelry of India initially was described in themanner as the jewelry used to adorn the idols of Gods and Goddesses. The statues oridols in India were ornamented with chunky necklaces that were either strung withbeads or crafted with intricate filigree. Amongst the other ornaments whichadorned statues of deities were large chunky bangles, usually studded with gems. Inaddition, earrings, nose rings and anklets were also used.The jewelry used to adorn the idols were later worn by temple dancers and slowly, thedesigns became a part of the Indian womans bridal jewelry trousseau. Today, templejewelry has become one of the most popular among the crafts of India.During the festival occasions of worship of Gods, women wear temple jewelry, believedto be auspicious and offer good luck. Jewelry items come in different varieties likependants, bracelets, belts and brooches. Temple jewelry is very popular amongstwomen, during auspicious times, and wearing these is believed to bring fortuity tothe person. The favorite design for pendants is that of Lord Ganesha - the elephantheaded god known to bestow good luck and good fortune. The other emblem, whichis also, very much in demand, is that of the sacred syllable "OM". These days, thetemple jewelry of India is finding a flavor amongst foreigners too.