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FERRYBRIDGE
SQUARE
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Walking into Ferrybridge Square recently I passed the site of the Old Greyhound pub that is now being developed for housing.
I was surprised to see someone had stuck posters on the surrounding fence spelling out Gouranga, I have seen this before on motorway bridges etc and wondered what it meant and why it was done.Looking at the Internet I was able to find out that Gauranga (Gouranga) was a nickname of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a monk in India who 500 years ago founded the branch of Hinduism that during the 20th century was brought to the west by ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the "Hare Krishna" sect).
Years ago the name Gouranga appeared on motorway bridges in the North of England and on various stickers, causing people to wonder what it was all about. It has been rumoured that the Scottish branch of ISKCON has been trying to spread the name of their spiritual ancestor through a guerrilla-type campaign. We have no idea if there is any substance to these rumours. It's equally plausible that this is just somebody's sense of humour.
I am not aware of any local "Hare Krishna" organisations, it seems strange to me that someone will take the trouble to have printed such posters and paste them, it seems to mean be happy, which is a good sentiment, but who would pay for this locally and what do they think they can gain, it is still a puzzle to me.
