Page added on January 1, 2010

Historical Overview

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The estate of Bhaktivedanta Manor is situated in the Parish of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, just over a mile from Radlett and four miles from Watford.

The presence of the estate was first recorded in 1261 as belonging to Geoffrey Picot. In the 16th Century a Tudor house was built on the site. In 1884 it was purchased by George Villies who demolished the house and constructed the mock-Tudor building we see today. Still named after Mr Picot, the building was remained as â€œPiggots Manorâ€ until 1973 when, as St Bartholomewâ€™s Nursing College, it was sold to George Harrison of the Beatles. It was not for his private use but as a gift to ISKCON; the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The property, which at that time included 17 acres of land, it was renamed â€œBhaktivedanta Manorâ€ after the Societyâ€™s founder.

Although ISKCON itself is quite recent, it is part of an important and distinctive tradition of devotional faith which began in the sixteenth century with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It participates in a much older culture dating back thousands of years, and embraces the timeless, non-sectarian values of sanatana-dharma (or the eternal religion) as found in the Vedic scriptures.

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