pranams. all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

sad that those devotees won't be with us here any longer. but what a glorious way to leave in the mayapur-ganga lila! May i be so fortunate.

manu sadhu ....

yes. so I just take it that Krishna doesn't want me to contribute in that so called Siva tribe. Those people are there for whatever reason attracts them and they can entertain one another with whatever reasoning they like. You are right on about the dogma stuff. In reading through the posts on that tribe it usually oscillated between either total sentimentalism (let all hold hands together - we are all God nonsense) or someone pushing their own concocted dogma on others. But if one of us even suggests something there then its "DOGMATIC PROSTELITIZING - GET OUT!!!!!!" but then they do the same dogma pushing to eachother ???? and delete the posts by devotees that are full of reasoning and sound logic so as to distort our position. Such are the ways of the age of quarrel and hypocrisy . but anywaaaaaaaaaay .........

yes prabhu. I think Mayapur is the obvious place to get the neem deities. There are also carvers in Puri who are expert and I particularly like the Oriya artistic style. There is one place I know of there that is fair and honest to ISKCON devotees. I've purchased deities from them before and they were very devotional about the whole exchange. They even invited me to their home and eagerly fed me Jagannatha Prasadam from the temple and never tried to cheat me or heavy me to pay money for any services other than the ones that obviously cost money to them. He has a shop that faces the Simha-Dvara just on the other side of the Grand road (the big wide one) and the name is Jagannatha Patra and Sons. I wish I could post a picture of the Sad-Bhuja deity he carved for me but I left Him in our apartment in Mayapur because the quarantine laws are so strict coming into Australia and New Zealand that they confiscate things made of wood all the time at the airport. I didn't want to take the risk. (I'm just having a look around my hard drive to see if I have any shots ... and yes! we just bought a digital camera then and were snapping shots of anything and everything. I'll upload them now.)

done.

Now all of these deities were carved from the Siddha-bakul (tree that Haridas Thakura chanted beneath) when the big branch broke off after the cyclone a few years back. Thats why the wood looks as it does. The main point of posting these images is to discuss if you like the style of carving though. I like it a lot ...

deityworship.tribe.net/photos...97ef290 - Sri Narasimha

deityworship.tribe.net/photos...791bc71 - Chota Narasimha and Sri Sadbhuj (They ended up painting Sad-bhuj for us and now He is living in Mayapur. I would have prefered to just keep the rough wood look of the Siddha-bakul but I didn't get back in time to communicate this and didn't think they could paint them in such short time but they did - miscommunication)

deityworship.tribe.net/photos...2c7a9a2 - Here's the carver himself Sriman Jagannatha Patra Prabhu

deityworship.tribe.net/photos...e8b5a83 - and a pic of me just in case you are like me and prefer to have a face to match with who you are corresponding with. Those cows sure love Jagannatha Prasadam don't they?

So this is my personal opinion and recommendation. If you prefer the Mayapur style then there are some shops just inside the ISKCON boundary and some just on the other side of the wall. In Navadwipa there are some pooja shops around the Srimati Visnupriya temple and some on the main roads towards the market with the Siva and Kali temple inside.

Just to take advantage of the opportunity to show Sri Sri Nitai-Gauracandra who were found in Vrindavana and who are with us here in Australia at the moment:

deityworship.tribe.net/photos...439e511

Their Lordships are carved from soft stone and painted according to the descriptions in Caitanya Bhagavat which is why they are slightly different in colour.

so its nice to be able to serve you in this way. I hope that any information here helps you on your quest.

your servant, ekendra das

$1500!
wow, you must post some photos of what you got! You must have had an amzing time in the holy Dhams, esp going on that deity shopping spree! Indeed, my fav type of shopping is just for them! :)

Haribol prabhus,

I was wondering if anyone knows if one can get neemwood deities in Vrindavan?

I heard that they are available, but not widely, and...apparently, "you need to know people..." and unfortunately I don't! So I thought I'd ask those with more knowledge and experience than myself...

your servant,

SriRKd