Leicester's Hare Krishna Temple destroyed by an explosion.
3 September 2010

The ISKCON Hare Krishna temple on Thoresby Street, Leicester suffered a massive explosion on 3rd September 2010 although there were no casualties. The cause of the explosion has now been confirmed to be a gas leak in the kitchen area. A third of the temple building has been demolished and the rest has been severely impacted throughout. At present temple devotees are unsure of the extent of structural damage and whether the property will be functional again.

Temple President, Pradyumna Das comments, "I am relieved to say that the 30 devotees who were inside the temple managed to vacate the building before the main explosion. Looking at the devastation throughout the building it truly is a miracle that our worshipable deities on our main shrine were unharmed. The deities are being temporarily taken care of at the home of a devotee. We've gratefully received messages of support and prayers from all over the world, which gives us great strength and courage to be resilient at this time and to look forward to plans for rebuilding our temple in the near future. The support from the local Hindu community leaders and other faith leaders has been overwhelming and we are greatly appreciative of all their support and well-wishers."

Spokes person for the ISKCON Leicester Community, Nimai Devi Dasi who was present at the temple with her two young children at the time of the explosion says; "Our community has been shaken to the core by this incident however we believe everything happens for a good reason although we are unclear what that reason is at present, we have faith that with united
prayer things will become clearer".

For further information visit www.iskconleicester.org