Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a story about a Perth-based woman in the 83rd episode of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday.
Narendra Modi told the story of Sacred India Gallery and its founder Jagattarini, who has set up a mini Vrindavan in the Western Australian city of Bennett Springs near Perth.
According to the gallery’s website, Jagattarini, originally from Melbourne, settled in Vrindavan (the land of Krishna), a sacred town two hours south of New Delhi, where she stayed for twelve years.
“She became fascinated by the people, their traditions, food, and art, and it wasn’t long before she was exploring this sacred and ancient land,” reads an article about her on the website.
“In the 1980s, it was difficult for a modern Western woman to gain entrance into Vrindavan’s culture, but Jagattarini worked hard to win the trust of the people, and gradually, she was allowed an intimate glimpse into their lives and spiritual traditions, which included their time-honoured stories of Krishna.”
“Over time, she began to take visitors to Vrindavan on tours of the places she had explored, sharing with them what she had learned. She also travelled to other spiritual locations around India, sometimes alone and sometimes leading tours, but always with an eye to learning all she could about local traditions.”
“In 1996, Jagattarini and her family moved back to Australia. To her, Vrindavan had become home, and now she deeply missed everything about it.”
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Narendra Modi said, “Jagattarini left India but could not forget Vrindavan. So to remain connected with this place spiritually, she built a Vrindavan in Australia.”
Jagattarini says it took nearly 11 years of hard work to complete the gallery.
