Congratulations SCPR/Explore Utah Valley for being published in Elliott Advocacy and OZY Magazine.
Published by:
Laura Siciliano-Rosen
Oct 14, 2019
The ornate Hindu temple complex is perched on a hill next to a llama farm, rugged mountains rising in the distance. Inside, a group of us on a tour remove our shoes. A Krishna devotee leads us up the stairs to a large metal bell at the temple’s entrance and rings it once as if announcing dinner. “That’s the sound of om,” he says, noting that many Hindu temples in India have such a bell. Only we aren’t in India: We’re in Utah.
In Spanish Fork — part of Utah County, which is 82 percent Mormon — the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple is a surreal sight. Believed to be the only example of Rajasthani architecture in the U.S., the temple, which opened in 2001, looks straight out of India, with scalloped archways, soaring domes and a hand-carved teak altar. A place of worship for Hare Krishnas — devotees of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, a branch of Hinduism — in the middle of Mormon country, the temple runs religious services but largely functions as a tourist destination. Visitors will find tours, a llama farm and bird sanctuary, yoga classes, a vegetarian Indian buffet and huge festival celebrations. It’s been so well received that in August the owners opened a second temple in Salt Lake City, the more religiously diverse state capital.
Read the full article in OZY Magazine here.
Read the full article in Elliott Advocacy here.