Quiet and unassuming, Colin 53, says he met Srila Prabhupada founder of the Hare Krishna movement, twice in the 1970s, and in the following years he lived in Australia with his devotee wife and daughter, where he started a screen printing business.

After his wife and daughter went missing in 1978, Colin dedicated himself to caring for his invalid mother until 2001. She was bed-ridden in her last three years of life and when she passed away Colin took her ashes to India to scatter in the holy rivers. His mother had always been interested in his chosen religion of Krishna Consciousness.

Following her death Colin sold his mother’s house and travelled to Auckland, New Zealand in 2001. He said it was here that he found his daughter, Ananda Bhakti who was now initiated into Krishna Consciousness. He discovered through Ananda Bhakti that the Radha Giridhari temple was not completed. Seven months before completion of the temple, he began to assist with the project and decided he wanted to start life over again. He helped assemble Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana, and he also applied the gold to the external wooden doors, and helped put in the altar gates.

Following the opening of the temple, Colin left for India. He had always wanted to be an artist, and had an interest in art galleries and museums. Colin was attracted to Puri in South India where ancient vedic art is still pure and without Moslem influence. Puri is a city with very little industry. Life is still simple there and many artists and craftsman continue the traditions handed down for many generations. Puri is famous for its beautiful Jagannatha temple where foreigners are not permitted to enter.

In the first year he was in Puri Colin described how he painted, framed, and later donated 23 paintings to the Radha Giridhari temple. They are valued at around $10,000 and they can now be seen displayed in the dining halls.

His next project for the Radha Giridhari temple was to craft the stained glass windows surrounding the doors in the main temple foyer. He also made stained glass panels for the proposed restaurant by the entrance to the farm. Since being trained by a master in vedic art, Colin says he is not happy with his first stained glass work as it is not in the pure vedic style he is now studying.

While In Puri, a well known businessman had donated a house for Colin to do his work, and Colin describes how after some time he discovered that this man was a cheater and a fraud. He publicly denounced the man, and dishonoured him in front of the brahmins at the Jagannatha temple, and artists of the area. Colin left the donated building and continued to work and complete a Jagannatha painting in a hotel room.

Pressure from brahmins from Jagannatha temple and local artisans, forced the man in order to salvage his repurtion, to return the house to Colin. With the help of local artists, Colin is turning it into a beautiful temple and plans to add a school in the future. The colourfully painted temple will house deities of Radha and Krishna, Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, and Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. From this temple there is a panoramic view of the famous Jagannatha temple situated close by, and Colin says he is happy because he believes he is working at the feet of the Lord.

After exposing the man who was part of the Puri ‘mafia’, Colin, because of his sincerity and courage, gained the respect of the local brahmins and artisans, and he believes that doors began opening for him because of this. One particular opportunity arose when he was invited to attend an art workshop taught by nine art gurus in Orissa, who were the best vedic artists in India. The workshop was organised by the Indian Tourist Board and the Art Academy of Orissa. It was a miracle, Colin said, for an artist from outside of India to attend, especially someone from the West.

Ramesh Candra Maharana, a Master Artist at the Jagannatha Puri Temple in Orissa, and considered the best in his field, has spent many years learning, preserving, and teaching the traditional vedic art of Orissa. He and generations of his family have served at the Jagannatha temple.

Mr Maharana has collaborated with Colin on a Jagannatha painting to be auctioned at Janmastami on August 16, 2006 and is teaching Colin the vedic form of art. Colin explains that although he is illiterate he always has help when he needs it, and he is currently working on illustrating a book written by Janananda. He is also planning an exhibition in Moscow, Russia of some of his recent paintings.

He spends about eight months a year in India and finances the temple from a small Australian pension and earnings from work he has been commissioned to do in Australia. Colin was recently commissioned to work in the Blue Mountains for two months and with the money he earned from this project he was able to financehis projects in India.

Rarely leaving New Varshan farm where the Auckland temple is situated, Colin virtually lives the life of a renunciate, living simply and owning nothing except what can be carried in a bag. He spends six days a week in his studio where he is frequently so absorbed in his work he is unaware of where he is or what time of day it might be.

Colin wishes he could have dedicated his life sooner to serving Krishna using the special gift he has been given.