For the summer gathering devotees made a bold decision to convert the shed at Glen Lodge into a kirtan hall. The creative energy of Shiva Shakti, combined with the talents of Sarasvati, Madonna, Satchitananda and Gayatri, transformed this severely functional structure, an unadorned space where Swamiji had worked and stored his tools, into a ‘Bollywood palace’, softly candle-lit and opulently decorated with hangings and drapes of many colours. A long table flanked with comfortable chairs and covered with cloths ran almost the whole length of the carpeted floor, and at the end was a shrine where images of Swami Ambikananda, Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi watched benignly over the proceedings.

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