January 6, 1968 : Los Angeles
Satsvarupa: The building at 5364 West Pico Boulevard was a small storefront in a middle-class black neighborhood of Los Angeles. With his key, Aniruddha opened the rear door, and Srila Prabhupada entered, followed by a few disciples. The room was stark. A Brijabasi print of Lord Krishna sat atop the altar, which was no more than two orange crates covered with an old madras. A tamboura and a mridanga on end stood in one corner, and a curtain hung over the front window. Prabhupada's seat, a simple raised platform, was the only furniture.
Prabhupada, dressed in saffron robes and walking with a cane, crossed the room, opened the front door, and stepped outside. Glancing up and down the street, he saw small, run-down houses. It was a quiet, out-of-the-way neighborhood, unlike the more vital locations his disciples had found in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury and Manhattan's Lower East Side. But it was a place in Los Angeles, a start.
Srila Prabhupada had been in India when Dayananda and Nandarani had moved to Los Angeles and found this little storefront. Immediately, they had written to him about the new "temple" and the warm, sunny Los Angeles climate, which they said would be good for his health. He had expressed his eagerness to join them. Dayananda and Nandarani had written to Prabhupada that people in Los Angeles weren't as receptive as in San Francisco and New York, but Prabhupada had assured them that if they chanted with devotion, success would come. Krishna would help them.
Prabhupada, dressed in saffron robes and walking with a cane, crossed the room, opened the front door, and stepped outside. Glancing up and down the street, he saw small, run-down houses. It was a quiet, out-of-the-way neighborhood, unlike the more vital locations his disciples had found in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury and Manhattan's Lower East Side. But it was a place in Los Angeles, a start.
Srila Prabhupada had been in India when Dayananda and Nandarani had moved to Los Angeles and found this little storefront. Immediately, they had written to him about the new "temple" and the warm, sunny Los Angeles climate, which they said would be good for his health. He had expressed his eagerness to join them. Dayananda and Nandarani had written to Prabhupada that people in Los Angeles weren't as receptive as in San Francisco and New York, but Prabhupada had assured them that if they chanted with devotion, success would come. Krishna would help them.
Reference: Prabhupada-lila - Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
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