Malati : After Lord Jagannatha appeared in the temple, there was a simple installation ceremony. The room was quite tall, and the altar was a high platform with a canopy over it that Shyamasundara had constructed at Prabhupada’s request, and as an added touch there were some lights. Prabhupada said there must be lights, so we put flashers in the light bulbs so the light bulbs blinked on and off, on and off. Srila Prabhupada liked these flashing lights on the Deities. We didn’t dress Them, as Prabhupada hadn’t explained that to us yet. They were up there as They are.
Prabhupada said, “Now, you must offer all your food to Them. They must have Their own plate, and nobody else should eat from that plate.” This was the beginning of Deity worship in ISKCON. For the installation ceremony we simply put Them on Their altar, closed the curtain, opened it, and everybody took turns offering a brass tray with a candle on it by circling it before the Deities while someone rang a bell. We didn’t know to touch the flame and then touch our head, but that was the installation of Lord Jagannatha.
There is a famous picture of Srila Prabhupada in Golden Gate Park surrounded by hippies. Mukunda, Hayagriva, and Subala are in the picture, and Lord Jagannatha is standing there. On that day we were chanting in the park, and we thought, “Let’s surprise Swamiji.” He was going to join us later. So we didn’t take Subhadra and Baladeva, we just left Them and took Jagannatha to the park and put Him down. Swamiji was very surprised. He explained to us that first of all Lord Jagannatha never goes anywhere without His Brother and Sister and that we shouldn’t arbitrarily take Him out of the temple. He comes out of the temple for ratha yatra.
