New Vrindaban, West Virginia: Prabhupada's Palace of Gold
RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- 3759 McCreary's Ridge Rd, New Vrindaban, WV
- Directions:
- I-470 exit 2 (Bethlehem). At the end of the ramp turn left, get in the right lane, then turn right onto Hwy 88. Drive south eight miles. At the stop sign, turn left onto Hwy 250 toward Cameron. Drive south 1.5 miles (past Limestone General Store). Turn left onto McCreary's Ridge Rd (County Road 44). Stay left on the paved road (which becomes CR 7) with the double yellow center line, and in less than four miles you'll reach the Palace of Gold.
- Hours:
- Th-M 10-5 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 304-843-1600
- Admission:
- Donations are requested for Palace upkeep.
- RA Rates:
- The Best
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Built and run by the Hare Krishnas, the Palace is an unexpected and majestic tourist attraction, reached at the end of four miles of serpentine road. Palace tour, or wander the gardens, look at statues. Ambience of royal India.
Roadsideamerica.com Report... [10/07/2013]Visitor Tips and News About Prabhupada's Palace of Gold
Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.
The Hare Krishna Temple at New Vrindaban is a separate attraction from the Palace of Gold (which seems to get all the press) and located just down the cobblestone lane. It's not much to look at on the outside, but inside -- wow! Bright stained glass, shiny gold leaf, stunning paintings, beautifully carved teakwood and elaborately dressed deities. As a place of worship and meditation, we found it amazingly low key and casual.
Everyone is welcome to experience services and musical performances throughout the day (get a schedule online before your visit). A young volunteer dressed in a traditional sari showed us around and explained everything to us -- even the fact that those elaborately dressed deities at the alters get changed into their equally elaborate pajamas every evening at 7:30. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for that.
[Mike Gassmann, 11/19/2021]
A sign at the entrance says Prabhupada's Palace of Gold is undergoing an enormous renovation and should be done by Spring 2022. All of the Palace domes are being rebuilt. We visited on a rainy day, and as we watched water drip from the ceiling in almost every room, our tour guide confirmed the contractors seem to be creating more problems than they're fixing. The place is still beautiful. Hopefully renovation efforts will extend to other parts of the campus to included the chipped and cracked larger-than-life kneeling elephant down the lane. Who, by the way, looks completely stoned.
[Mike Gassmann, 09/06/2021]
Prabhupada's Palace of Gold -- a bit of Bollywood bling in the rural hills of West Virginia -- has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. According to a story in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, the announcement was greeted with cheers by Krishna devotees; they unveiled a plaque recognizing the palace as a historic site and carried a wax statue of Prabhupada several times around the large building. One Krishna told the News and Sentinel that the recognition was deserved because the palace brought tourists to West Virginia and Prabhupada brought "elevated consciousness" to the western world.
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 10/10/2019]
Worth a peek.
[Steve Palmer, 03/16/2017]The Palace of Gold is accessible in the winter, snow and roads permitting.
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Since 1985, when we first wrote about this unusual attraction, we've lumped them together -- Palace of Gold, the temple, gardens, swan boats, and dancing acolyte statues. It's all in the same isolated community in the WV hills. Agreed though -- the temple by itself is a surprise and a stunning display.