New Vrindaban is an unincorporated area and an ISKCON (Hare Krishna) intentional community located in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, near Moundsville.
In addition to ISKCON, the town is the location of McCreary Cemetery, resting place of West Virginia pioneer Lewis Wetzel; various locally owned businesses; and other ISKCON-affiliated organizations.
The chief components in New Vrindaban's economy are tourism, agriculture, and cottage industries as well as income from fracking on the community's land.
[7] New Vrindaban developed under the guidance of Kirtanananda Swami (honored as "Srila Bhaktipada" after March 1979), and by the mid-1970s the live-in population had grown to over 100.
Alcoholic beverages and illegal substances (such as drugs) are prohibited in the main holy sites around the Temple of Understanding Circle Drive.
[13] On March 16, 1987, during their annual meeting at Mayapur, India, the ISKCON Governing Body Commission expelled Kirtanananda from the society for "moral and theological deviations.
"[27] Beginning in the early 1990s, a lack of sufficient financial resources caused palace maintenance to be neglected; nevertheless, as of 2008, 50,000 tourists and Hindu pilgrims reportedly continued to visit each year.