A note on Sri Krishnaprem: A little known Vaishnava Luminary

Abstract

<p>It is not surprising that the most conspicuous Gaudiya Vaishnava stories knownin the West are those associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and Bhaktivedanta Swami. Second to these are the lesser-known yet persistent accounts in the West connected to saints of the Gaud-iya Math established by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. This article deals with what I deem is a mostly hidden Gaudiya story, that of Yogi Sri Krishnaprem and several of his associates. I extend previous considerations of Krishnaprem as a human symbol of "cross-cultural adventuring" by reflecting on how an outsider can inspire insiders about their own insider culture. I also detail the outcome of the spiritual and ecological-natural experiments conducted in the Uttar Vrindavan temple in Mirtola, near Almora in what is now Uttarkhand, the temple in which Krishnaprem spent decades of his life.</p>