Great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, Alfred Ford, has joined in the mission to build the Temple of the Vedim Planetarium, with the world's second tallest dome. Chairman of the ISKCON project, Ford was initiated into Vaishanavism by Srila Prabhupada in 1974, Hawaii.
During his tour of Gujarat, he visited Ahmedabad on February 4, where he held meetings at ISKCON temples, and raised funds for the projects. Vice-president of ISKCON, Kalanath Chaitanya Das said that during his visit to the city, he gave a talk in the planned temple to be constructed in Mayapur, West Bengal, birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He visited Vallabh Vidyanagar, Vadodara, and Surat, before he came to Ahmedabad. Alfred has already donated approximately £25 million to the project, that is expected to cost £50 to 70 million. Not only that, he has also been actively involved in numerous ISKCON projects around the world, including Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center in Detroit, the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies at Oxford University, and Srila Prabhupada's Pushpa Samadhi in Sridham Mayapur.
The to-be-constructed temple will depict the Vedic perspective on life- and a huge detailed model of the universe as described in Srimad Bhagvat, will be created within the planetarium. Spread across 350 acres, the Mayapur complex will flaunt a 113 metres high dome, only second in height to St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, which is 138 metres tall.
