Rick Gifford
05-16-2009, 11:33 AM
Yesterday me and my wife took advantage of the nice weather and went off on a motorcycle ride. Decided to head up to Moundsville WV and see the Palace of Gold, a Hare Krishna homage to one of their religious leaders Prabhupada. They also have a compound there too where they live and worship.
Anyway, no photography was allowed inside the palace while on tour. These photos are from their webpage.
What I wanted to show were these carvings. Besides having over 254 tons of marble in its construction, the palace is full of intricate carvings. All teak.
From their webpage: "The palace woodwork was carved by Mistri Dhirijam and Sons of Bombay, a devotee family famous throughout India for this art Imported from India and usually carved by individual families."
An altar located in a bedroom:
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A wardrobe:
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This woodwork enclosed the 'seat of the teacher' where the religious leader sits. It is much larger than it looks here. Probably 15 feet high and 10 feet across. Standing close and seeing the workmanship is impressive. The doors are open here but it has two large carved doors that close the opening:
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This is the entrance to the shrine hall:
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That's it. You can find their webpage if you search for palace of Gold in West Virginia. It has photos of the outside as well as marble work. Which is impressive as well.
I dont think I am ready to start carving on this much teak. Maybe I will start on a nice pine board...
Anyway, no photography was allowed inside the palace while on tour. These photos are from their webpage.
What I wanted to show were these carvings. Besides having over 254 tons of marble in its construction, the palace is full of intricate carvings. All teak.
From their webpage: "The palace woodwork was carved by Mistri Dhirijam and Sons of Bombay, a devotee family famous throughout India for this art Imported from India and usually carved by individual families."
An altar located in a bedroom:
118481
A wardrobe:
118482
This woodwork enclosed the 'seat of the teacher' where the religious leader sits. It is much larger than it looks here. Probably 15 feet high and 10 feet across. Standing close and seeing the workmanship is impressive. The doors are open here but it has two large carved doors that close the opening:
118483
This is the entrance to the shrine hall:
118484
That's it. You can find their webpage if you search for palace of Gold in West Virginia. It has photos of the outside as well as marble work. Which is impressive as well.
I dont think I am ready to start carving on this much teak. Maybe I will start on a nice pine board...