Prem Mandir temple in Vrindaban India during one of the nightly light shows that draw crowds for the Las Vegas style display.
By Karen Jonson (Rishika)
Published: 9 January 2024
I lived in the USA ashram of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat during the early building phase of the Prem Mandir temple in the holy city of Vrindaban, India. I even stood on the land when the temple was just beginning to be constructed. I saw the piles of expensive building materials. The tracks of railroad they built to ship in the materials. And the low-paid workers laboring in the hot July sun. This was during my first trip to India in the summer of 2000.
At that time, when I was still a devotee of” “Jagadguru” Shri Kripalu Maharaj, I envisioned the finished Prem Mandir temple as being a thing of beauty, grace, and peace.
But it turns out it’s just a garish tourist trap frequented by crowds of people, including social media influencers. The influencers are attracted primarily to the gaudy light and water fountain show, which occurs every evening after sunset. They flock there like moths to a burning flame.
Recently, an Indian woman contacted me to tell me her story about the abuse she experienced from my ex-cult, JKP. In our conversation, she mentioned the ostentatious temples the organization has built and keeps expanding in three locations in India — Vrindaban, Barsana, and Mangarh — all small, remote villages. So, I researched for myself. Here’s what I discovered.
Bringing “Sin City” to a Holy Town
Vrindavan is an ancient village founded about 5,000 years ago. It is considered one of the holiest places in India. People believe it’s where Lord Shri Krishna appeared as a child and engaged in hundreds of loving interactions with locals, all of which are documented in Hindu religious books. Nearly every temple in the area is dedicated to Krishna and his female consort, Shri Radha Rani.
Today, the town has a population of about 63,000 and has over 5,500 temples, with the oldest having been built in 1542. That is nearly one temple for every 12 residents. But it also attracts large crowds of visitors due to its historical significance. For centuries, people have visited the area to experience a deep spiritual retreat from the modern world and its excesses.
My ex-cult has flipped that holy purpose on its back. Rather than adding another purely spiritual temple to the area, JKP has, instead, created a monstrosity that is ridiculously garish and exudes a carnival-like atmosphere. It’s as if you combined the trashy flashiness of Las Vegas and the overhyped spectacle of Disneyland.
What stands out for visitors of Prem Mandir is not the holy memory of a spiritually meaningful experience, but the carnivalesque experience of a poor-man’s laser light and water fountain show.
Light Show is a Hit with Travel Influencers
What I found truly astonishing is something else I learned from the Indian woman. It seems that travel influencers’ main takeaway from a trip to Prem Mandir is the nightly light and water displays. The shows last for about 30 minutes and include a water fountain dance timed to music and flashing colored lights.
The display is similar to (but nowhere near as grand as) the famous water and light show at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The Prem Mandir temple and surrounding property are also filled with an excess of statues and three-dimensional carvings. Right behind the temple is a food court selling wares to the nightly crowds.
In fact, the light and fountain shows in Las Vegas were the inspiration for the light and fountain shows in JKP temples. When I lived in the Austin ashram in the 1990s, the head guru there, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati (the convicted child abuse felon who escaped justice), took a few trips to Las Vegas with his entourage.
It was ostensibly to attend trade shows, such as one for video equipment, but he also toured around and took notes. Another idea he got from Vegas was to paint the ceilings in temple buildings to look like blue skies with puffs of white clouds floating through them.
The influencers I found who write about Prem Mandir are not talking about any spiritual experience at Prem Mandir. They are promoting the worldly aspects of the spectacle. Here are a few examples:
- Shipwreck on Reddit wrote: “The temple is very large, and almost all the devotees at Vrindavan go to the temple at night.”
- Fauji Tours and Travels said on its blog: “Prem Mandir is famous for its evening light show. After sunset, the temple is lit up with colorful laser lights. Another popular attraction is the musical fountain show.”
- Travel with a Wrap said on Instagram: “Marvel at the stunning light show and intricate carvings at Prem Mandir.”
The Sin City Legacy of “Jagadguru” Kripalu Maharaj
In the USA, Las Vegas has a nickname — Sin City. This name speaks to the city’s purpose — gambling, drinking alcohol, and prostitution.
So, in many ways, it’s entirely on brand for JKP to create a replica of the infamous location halfway around the world. After all, the entire organization is founded on sin — starting with the sins of its founder, Shri Kripalu Maharaj (aka, Ram Tripathi).
As I detailed in my two books about JKP, Kripalu, and Prakashanand (Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus, and Sex God — The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru), Kripalu is one of the most (if not the most) prolific rapists in the entire pantheon of rapist gurus.
Creating God-Awful Temples
JKP also built over-the-top temples with the same carnival atmosphere in its two other India locations — Mangarh (Kripalu’s birthplace) and Barsana. It seems JKP people just can’t help themselves when it comes to excessively large and garishly ornate buildings.
Two things about this story should be noted. One is that my ex-cult did not have to create God-awful temples to bring Sin City to Vrindavan, Barsana, and Mangarh. Kripalu brought a version of “sin city” to any place he stayed during his 70-year guru career. His secret sex factory was a traveling show and kicked into gear wherever he was in residence.
Secondly, the name of the Vrindavan temple is not just by chance. In Prem Mandir (aka, temple of love), Kripalu built the ultimate symbol of his legacy: a temple of “lovemaking.” However, in his case, it was not true love — it was a dark and disturbing form of physical love with willing women and underage girls.
But Where is the Charity?
JKP appears to be very proud of this monstrosity. Do they pay influencers to write glowing reviews of the place? There are plenty of them, which seems excessive. But then they do have a whole pack of devotees working on their “internet team.” From the puff posts, I learned that the temple is 125 feet tall and sits on 54 acres of land. Also, it took allegedly 1,000 artists 11 years to create everything.
What they don’t say is that it’s filled with very expensive pink marble from Italy. This required JKP to build a railroad from the coast to transport the marble.
With the land, rare materials, workers, and size of the structure it’s my guess that it costs billions of dollars.
Imagine how much charity JKP could have done. Imagine how many poor people they could have housed, clothed, fed, and healed. But no. Instead, they built a place to glorify their rapist guru and give hordes of people an hour or so of Las Vegas-style worldly entertainment.
See for Yourself
In case you are curious to see the Prem Mandir light show, here is a link created by a vlogger called Homeout Traveller. The Prem Mandir portion is from 3:50 to 7:00.
As a palate cleanser, here are two better videos from Vrindaban:
- A video of the original (non-JKP blemished) holy village of Vrindavan posted by travel vlogger Aron Kiss.
- A video of the seven Gosvami temples of Vrindaban by I love Mayapur.
Learn More About “Jagadguru” Shri Kripalu Maharaj
BY Rishika
Read: Sex God — The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru
Copyright © 2012-2026 Karen Jonson/RishikaXcult. All rights reserved. No part of this blog post may be copied or duplicated without the express permission of the author.
