700816 - Letter to P. Gangulee written from Tokyo

Letters by Date, 1970

Letter to Sriman P. Gangulee, Minister of Education & Culture

6-16, 2-chome, Ohhashi
Meguro-ku, Tokyo,
Japan-153

16th August                     70



Dear Sriman P. Gangulee,

Please accept my greetings. I beg to thank you for your kind letter, reference number F.562/01/M, dated 10 August, 1970.

In this connection I may inform you that although there is no law by which the Temples can bar anyone's entry in India, still sometimes practically I have felt the difficulty in respect of my American and European disciples. Last time when I was in India one of my students, Harivilas Brahmacary, felt the same difficulty when he was in the Temple of Jagannath Puri. Similarly one disciple was refused entry in the Ranganath Temple in Vrndavana.

So if you kindly issue a general letter, suggestively reading as follows:

"Certified disciple of Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta, the missionary preacher of Vaisnava cult in the Western world, is strictly following the Vaisnava regulations. They are regularly initiated in Vaisnava culture. They have changed their names in the form of Krsna das or servant of God, and are following the regulative principles very strictly, worshiping the Lord in the Temple, and thus they are converted Vaisnavas in the strict sense of the term. No Temple authority of India should therefore restrict them in the matter of offering their respects to the Deities or chanting the Hare Krsna Mahamantra within the vicinity of the Temple."

Of course each and everyone of my students will carry an authorized certificate of initiation and if it is accompanied by a copy of letter as above mentioned, I think that will be a great satisfaction for me.

I hope you will kindly send me this letter and in the meantime I am advising Sriman Dinesh Chandra Dasa Adhikary to see the Consular Division of your Embassy in the matter of getting the necessary visa.

With my best wishes, I am

Your ever well-wisher,

c.c. Sriman Dinesh Chandra [handwritten]

Sri. P. Gangulee
Minister of Education & Culture
Embassy of India
2107 Mass. Av. Wash. DC. [handwritten]