Sept 5 - the Palace of Gold

We spent several hours at the Palace of Gold which is about 8 miles east of Moundsville, WV (our motel was in Moundsville).


In the first image, Ann is in front of the visitors entrance to the Palace. 

The Palace was originally built to be a residence for the beloved leader of the Krishna Consciousness Movement, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (aka 'Pada'). Pada was famously a mentor to the Beatles and various other important persons in the 60s and 70s (the tour guide said I looked like the poet Alan Ginsberg who was also a devotee of Pada during the 60s). 

The second image (off the internet) shows George Harrison (in the center) with Pada (on the right). It was taken September 14, 1969 in New York. Pada had taught Harrison the Krishna mantra which partially appears in the song "My Sweet Lord" (which was released in November 1970). In the song, Krishna is the 'sweet lord' and the first half or so of the mantra is chanted.

Among the treasures of the palace are works of art which contain imported precious gems, semi precious stones and teak wood. The third image (from a West Virginia tourism website) shows a work of art with a lot of such material.   



The fourth image is from the Palace of Gold's own website. It shows one of the gardens that surround the palace. The image is a few years old as the gardens are all being redone in a way that will not use insecticide and/or commercial fertilizer.


Pada died before he could use the residence and the Krishna movement decided to convert the residence into a memorial.  No leader of the movement has replaced Pada in prestige or influence. 

The fifth image is of Ann on the side of the Palace.