By Mukunda Goswami
In 1981 devotees posed for a photograph that appeared in a publication called The Wonderful World of Hare Krishna in Australia. A sankirtana party of approximately 40 devotees clearly showed the Sydney Opera House in the background. The Opera House has become a worldwide symbol for what Donald Horne in his 1964 book called The Lucky Country.
On Saturday, 20 August 2016 devotees of ISKCON will perform sankirtana inside this iconic structure. Srila Prabhupada’s singular fault, according to Srila Prabhupada himself, was that he couldn’t “think small”. Staging a Hare Krishna event inside the Sydney Opera House is an example of “thinking big”, and the credit goes to Damodara Pandit dasa of the New Govardhana community of Australia, who for nearly three months negotiated with Opera House personnel to obtain this venue.
For those who don’t know, the iconic Sydney Opera House has won a number of prestigious awards for its impressive architecture. Among these are the RAIA (Royal Australian Institute of Architects) Merit Award, 1974, the Meritorious Light Award of the Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia, 1974, the RAIA Civil Design Award, 1980, and the RAIA Commemorative Award for Jorn Utzon (main architect), 1992.