Krishna Balarama temple cornerstone laying ceremony, 1972.

Yamuna : On March 13, 1972, Srila Prabhupada laid the cornerstone for the Krishna Balarama temple and ashrama, just within a fortnight of the Mayapur cornerstone ceremony and only a day after the legal signing. Again, according to scripture, a hole was dug at least 15 feet deep and included the following five kinds of each item offered to the Lord:

Flowers: jasmine, lotus, tulasi, parijata, mogra;

Grains: rice, wheat, barley, mung, urad;

Leaf: mango, peepal, neem, bael, banyan;

Metal: gold, silver, copper, lead, nickel;

Nectar: sugar, honey, ghee, yogurt, cream;

Powder: yellow, blue, green, red, white;

Fruit: mango, apple, grape, banana, chiku;

Jewel: coral, diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald.

Ksirodakasayi Vishnu Dasa : So I took all these ingredients for this and that and chanted Vedic mantras, the brahmanas chanted, and the devotees had kirtana. So when I was down in the hole, Srila Prabhupada said, "You should stay down there." This was some sweet nectar of rasa with Srila Prabhupada, but at this time he wanted me to stay in Vrindavana, so he said, "You stay there [in the hole]."